Butter Chicken Biryani Recipe

Butter Chicken Biryani

Butter Chicken Biryani , as the name says it all , is an aromatic , flavorful and colorful biryani which has a gravy of Butter Chicken. Butter Chicken Biryani is one of the best one after the authentic chicken biryani , served with boondi raita or onion curd raita or curd mint dip . In fact I remember I first time had butter chicken biryani in one of the Mumbai ‘s Restaurant where they served with hung curd mint dip and I instantly fell in love with it. Since then I always serve my Authentic Biryani and Butter Chicken Biryani with hung curd mint dip.

Though in Restaurants , they do not add potatoes in Biryani’s , but at home I always make sure to add fried potatoes in my authentic Biryani but not in this one. Some do add potatoes in all Biryani’s be it any variation or authentic ones . Here in this recipe I have not added potatoes and have tried to keep it the way they serve in Restaurants. Without much ado , here is my delicious , delectable and lip smacking Butter Chicken Biryani recipe.

You may also like

INGREDIENTS FOR MARINATION :

1 kg boneless chicken
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp tandoori masala
1/4 cup curd
1 tbsp lemon
1/4 tsp garam masala powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
salt to taste
1-2 tbsp oil
1 tsp red chilly powder
Pinch of red food color ( optional )

OTHER INGREDIENTS :

1 small piece Coal
2 tbsp ghee/butter/oil

INGREDIENTS FOR GRAVY:

3 -4 finely chopped onions or birista
3-4 large chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2-4 peppercorns
1 small cinnamon stick
1-2 green cardamom
1 big cardamom
4 cloves
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp red chilly powder
3 – 4 finely chopped green chilies
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 small tsp sugar
1/2 cup yogurt

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup kewra water ( rose water )
Few strands of saffron
Few dry fruits ( cashews , raisins ,pine nuts )
Pinch of food color ( optional )
1/2 cup coriander leaves chopped
3 -4 tbsp mint leaves for garnishing
2 -3 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp cream ( fresh cream )
1 finely chopped green chilies
Salt
Oil

INGREDIENTS FOR RICE:

3 cups of basmati rice
1 bay leaf
3-4 peppercorns
3-5 cloves
1 small stick cinnamon
1 green cardamom
5 -6 cups of water
Salt

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER CHICKEN BIRYANI

Clean , wash and chop chicken boneless into 1.5 inch thick pieces (make few slits on each pieces if your pieces are bigger like we get in restaurants ) and marinate them with salt , ginger garlic paste, curd , garam masala, tandoori masala , red chilly powder , oil , lemon juice , cumin powder and food colour ( optional ) for few hours , I mostly marinate them a night before preparing biryani and refrigerate them.
In a fry pan add 2 tbsp butter and fry the marinated chicken pieces for about 3-4 minutes , flip and fry the other side too until done . ( note : this frying shall not take more than 10 -15 minutes ) OR
Alternatively you can grill the chicken pieces in oven too , weave the chicken pieces on skewers and grill them in pre heat oven at 180 degree C for 20 minutes or until done . Make sure you keep an oven tray beneath so that the masala that drips will be later added to the gravy . Grill the chicken pieces for 10 minutes , bast with butter , flip and grill the other side too until slightly charred and done. ( my oven has a rotary system so I just baste the pieces at few intervals )
Heat the coal on gas . In a pot add all the chicken pieces and once the coal is red hot , place it in between the chicken pieces on a small piece of foil or small steel bowl , add 1 tbsp oil or butter on the coal and cover immediately , this step will give a smoky flavor to the chicken pieces . After sometime discard the coal and keep the chicken pieces aside.
If you have prepared the chicken tikkas in pan instead of oven, after you give smoke to the tikkas , weave only the chicken pieces on skewers , baste with butter and directly grill them from all over to give charred effect . Preserve the gravy or you can say marinade for further use .

PREPARATION OF GRAVY:

In a kadhai , add oil and sliced onions, fry until golden brown . Drain some of the fried onions and keep aside ( as this will be added in the end at the time of assembling the biryani ).
In a food processor , grind cashews , fried onions ( birista ) and blanched tomatoes and keep aside.
In the same oil add whole garam masala like bay leaf ,peppercorns , cinnamon stick , green cardamom , cardamom , cloves . Let it splutter.
Add ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell disappears.
Add this cashew paste and fry until oil separates.
Now add salt , red chilly powder , coriander powder and roast for a minute.
Add 1/2 cup water and fry until oil separates. Now add curd and marinade ( the preserved gravy ) and fry for sometime.
Lastly add cumin powder , garam masala powder and sugar . Cook for 5 minutes and adjust salt and red chilly powder.
Add milk , cream , mix well and cook on low flame for 2-3 minutes .
Now add chicken tikkas and mix well , cook for 7 – 10 minutes , adjust the gravy and off the gas.
Garnish with coriander leaves and here your butter chicken is ready to assemble into Butter chicken biryani.

PREPARATION OF RICE:

Wash rice 2-3 times in running water and soak in water for 30 minutes .
Side by side as the gravy is being prepared , in a large deep pan or pot , boil water with salt .
Add whole garam masala mentioned under the INGREDIENTS FOR RICE “section directly in the boiling water.
Drain the soaked rice and add to the boiling water , cook until the rice is 3/4 th done, drain the rice and keep on strainer until all the water has drained out.
Roughly hand pick the whole garam masala and discard them .

ASSEMBLING OF CHICKEN TIKKA BIRYANI / BUTTER CHICKEN BIRYANI:

In a vessel or deep pot , make one small layer of rice , then add the chicken tikkas with gravy , sprinkle some coriander leaves and place fried thick potatoes cubes ( if you adding them , though I dis not add in thia biryani ) and 1 finely chopped green chillies .
Now add rest of the remaining rice all over the chicken tikka gravy , sprinkle some crispy fried onions which we preserved for further use ( birista ) , coriander leaves , few chopped mint leaves , 2 tsp ghee all over the rice . Lastly add milk with saffron and food colour mixed in rose water . ( if you feel that saffron alone is not giving that desired colour to your biryani then add food colour or else just add plain rose water ) .
If you want you can add fried cashews , pine nuts and raisins too. ( this step is optional )
Cover with the lid and keep something heavy on it so that the steam remains inside. Cook on low flame until the steam starts coming out or for 20 minutes. ( preferably keep a hot griddle under the vessel in which biryani is being made , so that it does not stick too much from the bottom )
Serve hot with dahi pyaz raita or boondi raita or hung curd mint dip.

NOTE:

Adding of food color in Butter Chicken Biryani is optional .
You can adjust the spice, increase or decrease the chilly powder and green chillies as per your taste and preferences.
You can skip cream , but adding makes it more flavorful butter chicken biryani.
You can skip sugar too but I always prefer adding sugar as it gives the balance taste and more over tastes like restaurant style butter chicken biryani.
Restaurants do not serve potatoes in Butter Chicken Biryani , but if you want to add them , its your choice.
Instead of adding blanched tomatoes , you can add chopped tomatoes. Once the onions are golden in color after preserving few fried onions for later use , add tomatoes and fry until soft . ( at the time when you keep aside few fried onions , make sure you remove excess oil too in which you fried the onions , and keep aside separately ). Let it cool and now grind this soft and semi cooked tomatoes with fried onions and cashews.
If you have birista ( golden fried onions ) pre hand , you can use them but it is better if you make fresh birista.