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Kolkata Style Chicken Biryani Recipe (Easy to make)

Madhushree Dutta
Recipe to make delicious Kolkata-style chicken Biryani at home. Simple ingredients, instructions, and equipment to cook Bengali-style Biriyani easily.
Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine Bengali, Indian
Servings 4 servings

Equipment

  • 1 Kadhai
  • 1 Induction Cooktop
  • 1 Mixer Grinder
  • 1 Dekchi

Ingredients
  

For marinating the chicken

  • 500 g Chicken curry cut
  • 1 tbsp Oil or Ghee
  • 4 tbsp Sour Curd
  • 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
  • ½ tsp Turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp Red Chili powder
  • 1 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 2 Green Chilis
  • Salt to taste

For the Biriyani Masala

  • ½ tsp Fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp Cumin seeds Sahi Jeera
  • 1 Black Cardamom
  • 7-8 Green Cardamoms
  • 1½ -2 tbsp Black peppercorns
  • 5 Cloves
  • 2 inch Cinnamon stick
  • 2 Javitri Maze
  • ¼ Jaiphal Nutmeg
  • For preparing the chicken
  • 1 Onion medium
  • Oil

For the Rice

  • cup Basmati Rice
  • 5-7 Black peppercorns
  • 2 Bay leaf
  • 1 Black Cardamom
  • 3 Green Cardamoms
  • 1 Star Anise
  • 1 inch Cinnamon stick
  • Salt to taste
  • Water
  • Other ingredients
  • 2 Potatoes large
  • 3 Onions large
  • 4 Eggs
  • 3-4 Green Cardamom extra
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1 pinch Saffron Strand
  • 1 tsp Kewra water
  • 5-6 drops Meetha Attar
  • Oil

Instructions
 

Marinate the Chicken

  • First start by marinating the Chicken.
  • Make a paste of the green chilis and whisk the sour curd until smooth.
  • In a large bowl, add the chicken, sour curd (whisked), ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, oil (or ghee), and salt to taste.
  • Mix all of these really well and coat the chicken pieces nicely with the marinade.
  • Cover and keep this aside.

Boil the Potatoes

  • Take a boiling pot and pour water in it to boil the potatoes.
  • Add salt and let the water come to a boil. Put the potatoes in it and let them cook to perfection.
  • After the potatoes are boiled, take them out of the water and let them cool down completely.
  • When they are cooled, peel them and gently cut them from the middle. Do not break them.

Fry the potatoes

  • Next, take a kadhai or a frying pan and put oil.
  • Let the oil heat until it smokes a little and put in the potatoes.
  • Fry them until golden in color from all sides. Add a bit of salt if needed.
  • Transfer them onto a plate and move on to the onions.

Fry the onions

  • Peel and cut the onions from the middle and then slice them.
  • After that put them in the same oil (add if needed) as the potatoes and fry them until golden brown. Keep the flame on medium.
  • Take them out of the oil and transfer them to a plate.

Prepare the Biryani Masala

  • Take a pan and heat it nice.
  • Add the cumin seeds (Sahi Jeera), fennel seeds, green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, black peppercorn, cinnamon stick, jaiphal (nutmeg), and javitri (mase).
  • Dry roast them until the aromatics give out the fragrance. Keep the flame on low.
  • When they are roasted, let them cool down.
  • Then transfer them into the blender and grind them into a fine powder. Keep them aside.

Cook the Chicken

  • To the marinated chicken add some biriyani masala and two tbsp of fried onions.
  • Mix them well and keep them for about 10 minutes.
  • After that, take the same kadhai as the potatoes and add oil. Heat it until it smokes a little.
  • Put the marinated chicken into the kadhai. Cover it and let it cook for about 10 minutes.
  • Stir occasionally. Cook until it is perfectly cooked, both the masala and the chicken. Keep the flame on medium.

Prepare the egg

  • While the chicken is getting cooked, hard boil the eggs.
  • After they are boiled, let them cool and then peel. Keep the aside.
  • When the chicken is cooked, transfer it into a bowl.

Prepare the rice for Biriyani

  • For the rice, take the long grain or Basmati rice and wash them gently 3 times.
  • After that, soak the rice for around 40 minutes before starting to cook it.
  • Then, take a boiling pot and fill it with a generous amount of water.
  • Keep the flame on high and in the pot add oil, salt, bay leaves, cloves, green cardamom, and 2-3 small pieces of cinnamon sticks.
  • Next, give them a stir and let the water come to a boil.
  • Now strain the soaked basmati rice and add it to the boiling water.
  • Let the rice cook. Stir consistently and occasionally check if the rice is cooked 80%. (We do not want to overcook the rice).
  • When it is cooked to 80 %, take the boiling pot out of the flame and immediately strain the rice. Let the rice cool down completely by keeping it in a larger vessel.
  • While the rice is cooling down, in the meantime prepare the saffron milk.

Prepare the Saffron Milk

  • For this, take 1 cup of milk in a saucepan and heat it until warm.
  • Next, transfer it into a bowl and then add one pinch full of saffron strand.
  • Cover the bowl and keep it aside. Let the strands release the color into the milk.

Prepare the Chicken Biryani

  • Take a handi (preferred) or any vessel with a thick bottom and a wide mouth. Make sure any vessel you are using is dry.
  • Next, align the bay leaves well at the bottom of the handi.
  • Now, make a ½ inch thick layer of basmati rice and spread them well.
  • On the rice layer place a few pieces of chicken with some gravy.
  • Again, place a layer of rice for the third layer. Spread them well and sprinkle the already-made biryani masala.
  • On that, place the rest of the chicken pieces and the gravy, the hard-boiled eggs, and the potatoes. Spready the biryani masala in this layer as well.
  • Next, cover them with the final layer of rice.
  • On this sprinkle the biryani masala, the fried onions, 2 tsp ghee, and the saffron milk.
  • Add the mitha attar and the kewra water. Also, add salt to taste.
  • Now, cover the vessel with a lid. Seal the lid either with aluminum foil or dough made of atta or maida (all-purpose flour).

Cook the Chicken Biryani

  • When the vessel is sealed, place it on a low flame.
  • Let the biryani cook on dum for around 30-40 minutes.
  • After that turn off the flame but do not open the seal.
  • Let the biryani rest for about 10 minutes and then open the seal to serve.
Keyword Bengali Recipe, Homemade Recipes, Non Veg Recipes, Recipes for Dinner, Recipes for Lunch