Recipe for South Indian Chettinadu style chicken biryani with a special biryani masala made from scratch.
Here is another easy recipe for making your biryani Sunday extra special. The spices are roasted and ground to a paste. The chicken is cooked in this aromatic masala paste making it very flavourful.
Here are the things you can buy online for making this recipe
Deep Pressure Pan https://amzn.to/3HhD74p
Heavy Duty Indian Mixie https://amzn.to/3GptNKD
Aged Basmati Rice https://amzn.to/3s2Vjsp
Basmati Rice https://amzn.to/3IUeD1S
Stone Flower Spice – Kalpasi https://amzn.to/3GlOKGh
Here is the video of how to make Chettinadu Chicken Biryani
Chettinadu Chicken Biryani
Recipe for South Indian Chettinadu style chicken biryani with a special biryani masala made from scratch.
- Total Time: 60m
- Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Biryani Masala
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
1 star anise
2 inch piece cinnamon (cassia)
4 cloves
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cardamom
1 small piece kal pasi
1 teaspoon poppy seed
2 pods garlic
2 inch piece ginger
6 green chillies
1 handful shallots
1/4 cup water
Other Ingredients
2 cups basmati rice
2 tablespoon ghee
2 tablespoon groundnut oil
2 bay leaf
2 sprigs curry leaves, chopped
1/2 cup onions, sliced
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoon mint leaves, chopped
2 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped
1/4 cup plain curd
750 grams chicken bone-in
2 teaspoon salt
3 cups water
1/2 of a lime, juiced
Instructions
For the Biryani Masala
First let’s make a masala paste for the biryani from scratch.
We will be roasting all the spices and herbs in oil and then grinding them to make an aromatic biryani masala paste. Here is how to do it.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan. I used groundnut oil today. Any kind of vegetable oil will work just fine. Add in the spices. star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, black pepper, cardamom, a small piece of kalpasi, and little poppy seeds.
Keep the flame on low and saute the spices till they are aromatic and slightly change in colour. It will take about a couple of minutes.
Add in the garlic, ginger and green chillies. Adjust the amount of green chillies according to your taste. Add in a handful of shallots along and saute them for a couple of minutes. After a couple of minutes, the masalas are roasted and ready to be ground.
Transfer the ground masalas to a mixie. Add in about a quarter cup of water and grind to a smooth paste. Make sure to grind the masalas to a really fine paste.
To make the biryani
We shall be doing the biryani in a pressure cooker. Add little ghee to the pan. Add in a little oil along. Add a couple of bay leaves. Add in chopped curry leaves. Add in the sliced onions. Saute the onions till they are slightly brown in colour. It will take about 3-4 minutes on medium flame. Once the onions are slightly brown, add in the red chilli powder. Add in the turmeric powder. Saute for a few seconds.
Add in the tomatoes and saute for a minute. Add in the mint leaves and the coriander leaves. Make sure to chop the leaves and then add. Saute for a minute. Add in the ground biryani masala paste. Along with the masala paste, add in plain curd / yogurt. Mix well to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a low flame for five minutes. Once the masalas are cooked, add in the chicken pieces. Always use chicken with bone in as the bone has a lot of flavours that will penetrate into the rice and make the biryani more tasty. Add in the salt. Mix well to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a low flame for 10-12 minutes. No need to add any water as the chicken will release water while cooking and that will suffice. Saute once in a while so the masalas do not scorch at the bottom.
While the chicken is cooking, wash and soak the basmati rice in water for about 15 minutes.
Once the chicken is cooked, add in about 3 cups of water. We used about two cups of rice today. We will have to add 1.5 cups of water for every cup of rice used.
After adding the water, mix well to combine. Let it come to a boil. Once the water comes to a boil, add in juice of half a lime. Taste for seasoning at this stage and adjust for salt if necessary.
Add in the soaked and drained rice at this stage and mix well. Cover the pressure pan with lid and add in the whistle weight. Cook for 5-6 minutes on medium flame or two whistles. Cook on medium flame.
After the said two whistles, remove from heat and wait for the pressure to release naturally.
Our Chettinadu style chicken biryani is ready. Serve hot.
- Prep Time: 15m
- Cook Time: 45m
I made this yesterday for my dad’s birthday, and it tasted yummy! Thank you.
Thank you!
Is it not traditional to use coconut or coconut milk in this biryani?
Hi Suguna,
I am a big fan of your recipes. Could you please tell me which brand sauté pan you are using for the recipe. The deep sauté pan is what I am looking to buy. Thanks
This is a brand called Kirkland
Thanks a lot. Tried the chicken biryani yesterday and it came out so well
Thank you!
Hi,
Would love to try the recipe. Just had a query. What would be the quantity of water for 2 cups of seeraga samba rice? I plan on making this in a pot and not a pressure cooker.
If using a open pot use 1:2 rice to water. Thanks.
Hi Suguna!
My family loved this Biryani! I only added one chilli because my husband and kid don’t eat spicy food. The flavour was amazing!!!
For the last step I made in the instant pot as I don’t have a pressure cooker. Thank you!!
Thank you so much.
Hi, how much time did you put the biryani in the instant pot for? Thank you!
If kalpasi not available wat to use
just omit it. There is no substitute for kalpasi.
Came out very well. Instructions were very clear! BTW, is one cup of rice=250ml?How much will two cups be in grams?
Hi Prisca, Thank you so much.
Yes. 1 cup is approx 250ml
What a great recipe, will definitely try this.
Thank you!
Hi ma’am Biriyani was super duper hit ma’am 😋😋😋 my family enjoyed Biriyani with ur madras chicken curry kulambu recipe.., especially my 5 years old daughter loved this Biriyani 🥰 thank you ma’am for a fantastic recipe 🤗 as usual you rocked it 👍
Thank you! Am super happy that your kid enjoyed it.