Chicken Biryani in Slow Cooker

Biryani !! The mention of this dish always makes me drool and undoubtedly I can have a serving of biryani even with a full stomach. And I know nobody can resist a plate full of yummy biryani. But whenever I think about preparing the same, I feel really tired by thinking the elaborate process involved in cooking of biryani and I can totally not prepare it, no matter how much I'm craving for it. I'm sure you know the feeling of craving something and then not being able to have it because you are too tired to prepare it and you know you won't get that awesome dish anywhere else.

But now, you actually can! And without tiring yourself out and also without putting in much of an effort and time. Believe me, we had this biryani on a weeknight dinner which was a working day, all because my slow cooker was putting in all the efforts to make this yummy biryani, bursting with flavors, while I was at work. It's so simple you could actually put in just 15 minutes of your time and can relish this dish any day. It requires some before hand preparation though, but 15 minutes, for a biryani, I'm sure that's not asking a lot.

Ingredients:

For marination:

Chicken: 300 gm
Ginger-garlic paste: 6 tsp.
Yogurt: 1 cup
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Cumin powder: 1 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.
Mango powder: 1 tsp.
Lemon juice: 4 tsp.

For masala:

Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Onion (chopped): 1
Ginger (chopped): 6 cloves
Garlic (chopped): 1 inch
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Tomato (chopped): 2
Butter: 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.
Kasoori methi: 1 tsp.
Yogurt: 1/4 cup

For biryani:

Rice: 2 cups
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Onion (sliced): 2
Cashews: a few
Home made biryani masala: 2 tsp. (Recipe: Home made biryani masala)
Milk: 1/4 cup
Saffron strands: a few
Mint leaves: a handful
Coriander leaves for garnish

1. Wash and clean the chicken and marinate the chicken in marinating ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight or 8 hours. 
2. Take out the marinated chicken 30 minutes before you begin the preparation to bring it to room temperature.  
3. Turn on your slow cooker and add oil to it. Add the marinated chicken and mix it. 
4. Add the chopped onions, garlic, ginger, green chili and mix well. 
5. Add the salt and red chili, mix well. Add the dollop of butter and cover the slow cooker. Turn it on the low mode and leave for work. Let it cook slowly for about 8 hours. 
6. After 8 hours, add the chopped tomatoes and the yogurt. Mix well and cover again and turn on the mode to high. 
7. Boil rice: How to make the perfect boiled rice. 
8. Turn off the slow cooker. Take out all the contents in a big bowl. Now layer the rice at the base of slow cooker bowl and then a layer of chicken. Add another layer of rice and sprinkle the mint leaves. Add the remaining chicken and cover it with another layer of rice. 
9. Sprinkle the biryani masala over this rice layer. Add the saffron strands and sprinkle the milk. Cover the slow cooker and turn on again on slow mode. Leave for an hour. 
10. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan and fry the sliced onions until they are brown and crisp. Toast the cashews in the same oil. 
11. Open the slow cooker, add the sliced onions and cashews, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot !! 

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100 Chicken Recipes

Chicken has been one of the favorite in my household ever since I have begun to experiment with various kinds of chicken recipes. I still remember the first time I made Sri Lankan Chicken Curry; that dates back to a regular Sunday afternoon; March 9, 2014. At the beginning of this journey, I never imagined I would get to a whooping 100 different kinds of recipes just with chicken as it was just a out of the ordinary experiment. 

I haven't stopped ever since and it's just today I have completed cooking my 100th chicken recipe; Peshawari chicken Curry. The journey went about with chicken curries, marinated chicken, non-marinated chicken, grilled chicken, chicken stir fries, chicken biryanis; you name it !! I haven't found the time to write all the recipes so will keep on updating this post with the recipe links which are missing. Till then, keep cooking, keep enjoying and leaving your valuable feedback which always means a lot. 

Achaari Chicken Tikka

Ambur Chicken Biryani

Amritsari Murg Makhani

Beetroot Chicken

Bhuna Kadhai Chicken

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken with a twist

Chettinad Chicken

Chicken Achaari

Chicken Biryani in slow cooker

Chicken Cafreal

Chicken Curry Masala

Chicken Do Pyaza

Chicken Keema Curry

Chicken Lababdar 
Chicken Lazeez

Chicken Makhani 

Chicken Rezala

Chicken Salna

Chicken Tikka Biryani 

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka on Skewers

Chicken Xacuti

Coconut Coriander Chicken

Coorgi Gawti Chicken

Coriander Chicken Biryani 
Daddy's Chicken curry (Authentic family recipe)

Dahi masala kadhai chicken

Dhaba Style Chicken Curry

Dindigul Chicken Biryani

Dogri Chicken Masala

Fusion Chicken (Greek- Indian Chicken curry)

Ghee Chicken (Manglorean Style)

Green Walnut Chicken Curry

Grilled Chicken Jalfrezi

Grilled Coriander Chicken (and 8 marinating mixes)

Grilled Tomato Chicken

Hara Masala Chicken 

Hariyali Grilled Chicken

Hasselback Chicken in Tomato curry

Herbal Chicken

Himachali Tawa Murg

Hyderabadi Biryani

Hyderabadi Chicken Curry

Incredible Chilli chicken

Jaipuri Chicken

Jasha Maroo (Bhutanese Minced Chicken)

Kadhai Chicken Masala

Kaju Murgh

Kala Jeera Murgh

Kashmiri Chicken Curry

Kasoori Methi Chicken

Khara Chicken

Kodi Kura (Andhra Style Chicken Curry)

Kodi Veppude (Andhra style chicken fry)

Kolhapuri Chicken

Kolhapuri Pandhra Rassa

Kolhapuri Tambda Rassa (Grilled Chicken)

Konkani Chicken curry

Kori Ghassi (Manglorean Chicken)

Kozhi Milagu (Pepper Chicken Curry)

"Kuch Bhi" Chicken

Lahori Chicken Biryani

Lehsuni Murgh

Lemon Chicken

Madras Chicken Curry

Malabar Dum Chicken Biryani
Mel-Jol Chicken

Mint Chicken Korma

Mughlai Chicken Biryani

Murgh Dahi Masala

Murgh Hyderabadi

Nawabi Chicken Curry

Olive Green Chicken
Onion Chicken

Orange Chicken

Panch Phoran Chicken Curry 
Peshawari Chicken (Pakistani chicken curry)

Red Chicken

Rogan Josh (Chicken Masala)

Royal Chicken Shorma

Rustic Kadhai Murgh
Saffron Chicken

Shahi Malai Chicken

Shahjahani Chicken

Simple Chicken Biryani

Simple Chicken Cury

Spinach Chicken

Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

Tandoori Chicken

Talawa Chicken

Tari Wala Murgh (Chicken curry gravy)

Tawa Chicken Biryani 

Teekha Murg

Thai Chicken Curry

Thai Red chicken curry 

Walnut Chicken Curry

Yoghurt Chicken Curry

Zafrani Chicken Biryani

Zafrani Chicken Curry

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Simple Chicken Biryani

Ingredients:

Chicken: 200 gm
Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Yoghurt: 1/2 cup
Lemon juice: 2 tsp.
Garam masala: 1 tsp.
Coriander seeds: 1 tsp.
Dried red chilli: 1
Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsp.
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Onion (chopped): 1
Tomato (chopped): 1
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp.
Rice: 2 cups

1. Marinate the chicken in yoghurt, lemon juice, salt and garam masala for 2-6 hours. 
2. Boil the rice as you normally do and keep aside. Also read here: How to make the perfect boiled rice.
3. Heat oil and add coriander seeds and dried red chilli. After 10 seconds add ginger-garlic paste and green chilli and mix well. Fry for 2 minutes.
4. Add the chopped onions and fry until they are transparent. Add the tomato and sprinkle a little salt. Cook well until the tomatoes are mushy.
5. Add red chilli powder and cumin powder and mix well. After 30 seconds, add the marinated chicken and mix well. Cover and let cook on medium flame for 15 minutes.
6. Remove cover and mix well. Add the boiled rice and mix well. Fry for about 2 minutes, turn off the flame and serve.

Zafrani Chicken Biryani

My love for biryani will never end !! Third weekend in a row with Mughlai Chicken Biryani and Ambur Chicken Biryani, I prepared Zafrani Chicken Biryani.. yet another style in making of biryani, yet another wonderful, finger-licking meal for the weekend.. this biryani is sure to leave anyone asking for more..

Ingredients:

Rice: 1 cup 
Chicken: 300 gm
Green chili (thin slit): 1  
Onion (chopped): 1  
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tablespoon 
Cloves: 2  
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch 
Star Anise: 2  
Bay leaves: 2  
Cardamom: 2  
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp. 
Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp. 
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp. 
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp. 
Yogurt: 1 cup 
Mint leaves: a handful 
Lemon juice: 2 tbsp. 
Cooking oil: 2 tbsp.
Butter: 1 tbsp. 
Salt to taste 
Biryani Masala: 1 tsp.

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the slit green chili. Fry them for a while till they get cooked. 
2. Drain oil and take out the chili on a kitchen paper and keep aside. 
3. In the same pan, add the butter and add the whole spices: cloves, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves, cardamom seeds. Sauté for a while and add chopped onions. 
4. When the onions are light brown, add the finely chopped mint leaves and ginger garlic paste. Mix well and cook for a while. 
5. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder and yogurt. 
6. Add the chicken pieces and the salt. Mix well and let cook for about 10 minutes. 
   
7. Add a bit of water if required. Mix well and cover. Let cook for about 15 minutes covered till the chicken is almost done. 
8. By the time, we can cook rice. Boil the rice with lemon juice and when they are almost done, drain the water and keep aside. 
9. When the chicken is done, turn off the flame. Now, in another container, add a layer of rice at the bottom and a layer of the chicken curry over it. 
   
10. Repeat this process until all of the rice and the curry is done; the top and bottom layer should always be rice. 
11. Sprinkle the biryani masala over it and add the fried green chili. 
    
12. Cover with a tight lid and cook on low flame for 15-20 minutes. Remove the cover, mix and serve hot. 

Ambur Chicken Biryani

I simply love experimenting with food, and I love biryanis. "Ambur biryani" is the one biryani that drew me because of its name. Hmm.. never heard of before.. did you? Unless you are related to South India in some way, I guess not.. I asked a lot of my friends but they were simply clueless about this term, did not even know it existed. So, I'm not alone.. wow ! When I read about this, I was curious to make this and of course it was weekend, so I tried my hand at making this wonderful, aromatic, mouth-watering biryani.. and it instantly became my husband's favorite. He now wants me to prepare this again.. next weekend !! He loved it this much..

He has lived away from home about 10 years so has tasted a lot, and biryanis of so many kinds; but this one simply drew him as he had never experienced this kind of taste before in a biryani. Needless to say, I was happy; and I felt accomplished !! Yay.. Of course even I loved this because it is simple in making, much unlike the other biryanis I prepared which took so much time and energy: Mughlai Chicken biryani, Malabar Dum Biryani or Hyderabadi Biryani.. (These are awesome as well and a big hit in my blog).

Call me crazy, but I just love these spices.. no, no.. I don't mean the taste of these spices, but I am sort of obsessed by their external appearance. I love to look at cloves and bay leaves, a big, beautiful cinnamon stick makes me fall in love; and I am simply in love with star anise.. funny right? But look carefully at the beauty of the star anise (which fascinates me the most).. what an amazing structure.. isn't it? No? Probably my architect mind takes over sometimes.. anyway.. these are the pictures of the biryani..  

The colour of the curry.. like never before..

 The recipe:

Chicken 250 grams Onion (chopped) 1 number Tomato (chopped) 1 number Green chilli (chopped) 1 number Ginger-Garlic paste 3 tablespoons Mint powder 1 tablespoon Turmeric powder 1/2 tablespoon Red chilli powder 1/2 tablespoon Coriander powder 1/2 tablespoon Yoghurt 1 cup Salt to taste Cooking oil 3 tablespoons Cloves 2 numbers Cinnamon stick 1 number Bay leaves 2 numbers Star Anise 2 numbers Cardamom 1 number Lemon juice 1 tablespoon Basmati Rice 1 cup Saffron



Wash and dry the chicken pieces. Keep them in a bowl and sprinkle turmeric powder. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add the whole spices: bay leaves, star anise, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon. Let them fry for about 2 minutes; they will release the fragrance. Add ginger garlic paste and half the yoghurt. Mix well and cook for about a minute. Add the chicken and salt. Mix and cover. Let it cook for about 10 minutes. Do not add any water. Remove the lid and add onions and green chilli. Mix and let cook for 2 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and let cook until soft. Add mint powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and the remaining yoghurt. Mix well and cook for about a minute. Turn off the heat and transfer the contents to another bowl. Meanwhile, boil the rice the way you prefer to. Add the lemon juice to the boiled rice and mix well. In the same pan in which the chicken was cooked, add half the chicken and spread it on the base. Add half rice, then the remaining chicken and the remaining rice; in layers. Sprinkle saffron over it. Cover and let cook for another 10 minutes on low flame.  Remove cover and serve hot.

Mughlai Chicken Biryani

The name itself sounds so amazing that it is sure to make people drool over.. Yes, the Mughlai Chicken Biryani is another royal dish which is very light and does not use a lot of spices. It is a yoghurt based cooking which is light on platter and light on stomach.

When I prepared this for the first time it was a complete disaster. I added a lot of water and what not. I forgot some ingredients and cooked for a longer time. So today I decided to prepare this again in a different way, because this is the only biryani which my husband did not find appetizing to the eyes, as he mentioned this looks like "khichdi".. That, nonetheless tasted amazing but it was sort of an insult to the term "Mughlai Chicken Biryani" itself. So this was the outcome of today's biryani preparation..

Here goes the recipe:

Chicken pieces 4 Rice 2 Cups Yoghurt 1 Cup Onion (Sliced) 1 Ginger Slice 1 Garlic 4 Cloves Tomato (chopped) 1 Cumin seeds 1/2 Tablespoon Coriander seeds 1/2 Tablespoon Garam masala 1/2 Tablespoon Peppercorns 1/2 Tablespoon Cardamom 2 Cloves 2 Almonds 6 numbers Cinnamon Stick 1 Green chilli (chopped) 1 Saffron 2 Pinchs Mint leaves 6 Salt To Taste Cooking oil 4 Tablespoons Coriander leaves 1 bunch


Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly and keep aside. Add ginger, garlic, peppercorns, garam masala, salt, coriander seeds and almonds with the yoghurt in a mixer and blend well. Transfer this mixture in a big bowl and roll each piece of chicken in the mixture and keep aside. Pour the remaining mixture over the chicken pieces and let it marinate for an hour. Wash the rice and soak in water till needed in the cooking. Keep aside. In a pan, heat the oil and add cumin seeds, cloves, cardamom seeds and cinnamon. Let the spices cook for about a minute. Now add onions and sauté them till they become transparent. Add mint leaves and green chilli and cook well for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook till they become soft and leave juices. Add the marinated chicken and all the marinate to the pan and mix very well. Cover and let it cook for 15 minutes. Prepare rice in another container by the time and keep aside. After 15 minutes, remove cover and mix the rice with the chicken and mix really well. Let cook for about 2 minutes and turn off the flame. Sprinkle saffron powder on it and garnish with coriander leaves. Mix and serve hot with green chutney and raita.

Malabar Dum Chicken Biryani

 MALABAR BIRYANI... Ah! Pleasure... With the goodness and richness of the world, it is indeed one of the most lip-smacking, finger licking good dish I have ever prepared. Writing this post on a Tuesday, makes me crave to eat something of the sort again; and impatiently I begin to wait for Friday again, as I scroll through the pictures of this amazing dish I prepared at the Midsummer weekend; so that I can again dig into some another amazing dish.

I was trying to lose weight for the midsummer weekend for about 3 weeks, and I was pretty much going the right way (Oh! I so wanted to look attractive for the day). But alas! I decide to prepare this dish on the previous day of the celebration, and lo! I gorged in it so much I forgot the world and gained back whatever I had lost in ONE SINGLE DAY.. OMG !!! Needless to say I looked one big fat punch bag for the midsummer.. !! Thanks to this recipe.. !

Are you trying to lose weight? No. Then what are you waiting for? Just go ahead and enjoy the experience. Yes. Ah! But... Also, do you want to gorge in something made in your own kitchen of absolute goodness, and want to experience heaven as you take each bite? Well, then try it anyway.. The weight can be taken care of later.. right?

So here I present my absolutely tasty (add all other synonyms) Malabar Dum Chicken Biryani..

Here goes my pictures from preparations for the biryani.. After all, every great thing takes a great effort till the end product as well.. So here we go..

The goodness of Kesar in warm milk.. to be added to the Biryani

Fried cashews and raisins.. This is what delivers the royal goodness !!

The fried onions.. Now here's a little warning: they are addictive.. :)

ANNNDDDD.... THIS is the Final Product of My Biryani....

Find the recipe here:

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryani.. Aha !! Mouth-watering.. isn't it?
My mouth waters every time I see pictures of biryani, cooked by self or someone else and I crave it immediately. I had heard a lot about the famous "Hyderabadi Biryani", but never did I think I would make it in my kitchen.. 

It is time-consuming, and not very easy to make, as the ingredients must be perfect, otherwise it won't taste half as good, with all the effort wasted, sadly !! So, after thinking for weeks on and pondering over weather should I make it myself or just wait to get back to India to have it in a nice restaurant, finally I decided to give it a shot.. and whoa !! It turned out to be perfect, and though it has been more than a month I prepared it, my mouth still waters when I look at the pictures.. Oh! It was just perfect.. I could only capture how it looked, I wish I could capture how it tasted as well. 

Biryani was introduced when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb conquered southern India. The blending of Mughlai and Telugu cuisines in the kitchens of the Nizam, rulers of the historic Hyderabad State, resulted in the creation of Hyderabadi Biryani.

These perfect pictures of the biryani remind me of the amazing taste and I drool over and over!!

Hyderabadi Biryani is made in two ways: Kacchi biryani and Pakki biryani.

In Kacchi biryani, we marinate the chicken for a longer time and cook it in steam, layered with rice. This is more difficult version of the Hyderabadi Biryani.

In Pakki biryani, we marinate the chicken for the shorter time, and is cooked before layering with the rice; which is the easier version.

I have cooked the Kacchi Biryani version, and here goes the recipe for the same:

Ingredients: 

Basmati Rice 2 Cups 

Chicken 500 gm 

Onions (sliced) 4 

Ginger (grated) 1 inch 

Garlic (grated) 3 cloves 

Green chilli (chopped) 2 

Mint leaves (or mint powder) a handful/ 2 tsp.  

Cumin seeds (or shah jeera) 1/2 Tablespoon 

Biryani Masala 1/2 tsp.  

Hyderabadi Masala: 1/2 tsp. 

Yogurt: 1 Cup 

Saffron: 2 Pinches 

Lemon juice 4 tsp.  

Orange food color 1/2 Tablespoon 

Milk 1/4 Cup 

Ghee 2 Tablespoons 

Cinnamon stick: 1 inch

Cloves 2 

Green cardamom 2 

Bay leaf: 1

Salt To Taste 

Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp. 

Cooking oil: 4 Tablespoons

1. Wash and clean the chicken and keep aside. 
2. Heat 2 tsp. oil in a pan and add 2 sliced onions. Fry them until brown. Remove from heat and keep aside. 
3. Mix yogurt, salt, red chili powder, ginger, garlic, Hyderabadi masala, cumin seeds, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 green chili (finely chopped) and half the mint leaves. 
4. Mix this with the fried onions. Marinate the chicken pieces in this mixture for about 4-6 hours. The longer the better.  
5. Wash and soak the rice for 1 hour in water. In a big pot, boil water with cloves, cardamom seeds (and covers), cinnamon, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 green chili, 2 tsp. salt and a few coriander leaves (optional). 
6. When the water starts to boil, add the soaked rice. Cook until the rice is boiled and done. Drain all the water and keep boiled rice aside. 
7. In a pan, fry the remaining 2 onions in a little oil (as done for the marinade). All the onions can be fried together also. Then use half for marinade and half for layering. 
8. Add 2 tsp. oil to the marinated chicken and mix well. 
9. Now, in a big pot (which can be covered tightly), add 1 tbsp. ghee and the bay leaf. This will keep the rice from sticking to the bottom. 
10. Now spread a very thin layer of boiled rice. 
11. Then add the marinated chicken with all its contents above the thin layer of rice. 
12. Now from the remaining rice, add half in the next layer and spread evenly. Then add fried onions and mint leaves (or mint powder) and spread evenly. 
13. Add the remaining boiled rice to the top layer and spread evenly. 
14. Mix food color in 2 tsp. water and sprinkle on the top. You could use turmeric powder also if you don't have the food color. 
15. Sprinkle the biryani masala and the saffron above it. 
16. Add the milk and ghee on the top layer. 
17. Now cover the container with the lid and tighten it with atta dough on all the sides. Keep it on lowest flame and let it cook for 60 minutes. Do not remove the lid in between to check. After 60 minutes, remove the lid, mix and serve hot with raita or achaar or Tamatar ka salan or Baby onion ka salan.