Kolkata chicken biryani recipe is an amazing combination of fragrant rice, succulent chicken, soft golden potatoes, and glistering boiled egg. A mild, flavorful, hearty meal that no one can ever resist.
Kolkata biryani is a delight for biryani lovers. No Bengali occasion would complete without a chicken or mutton biryani on the menu. Calcutta biryani is believed to be adopted from Awadhi biryani. The indigenous flavor, mouth-watering taste of this biryani is just incredible.
I am a big fan of Biryani in almost any form and this Biryani is one among them. While I do not claim that this recipe yields you the authentic Kolkata chicken biryani, but I have tried my best to put together the Kolkata recipe. You can also make Kolkata Mutton biryani by using the same recipe.
In this chicken biryani, the marinated chicken and rice are cooked separately first, then cooked dum style in layers. This recipe does require a little bit of planning and preparation to do. But once you are ready with the ingredients, you can do the cooking part simultaneously.
This chicken biryani is a flavorsome and tasty meal in itself. Even kids love this. Serve this as it is or with shahi chicken changezi or chicken lababdar accompanied with raita for weekend dinner or lunch and relish with your loved ones!
Some more chicken recipes
Few more delicious meals:
If you try this recipe, please leave a feedback and rating. You can also tag me @spoonofflavor on Instagram.
Kolkata Chicken Biryani Recipe
Ingredients
For Biryani Masala
- 1 mace/javitri whole
- ½ nutmeg/jaipal whole
- 1 black cardamom
- 8 green cardamoms
- 8 cloves
- 2 cinnamon stick/cacia approx 3 cm
- ⅓ teaspoon shah jeera
- ⅓ teaspoon shah marich/white paper
- ⅓ teaspoon kabab chini
- ½ teaspoon dried rose petals
For Marinade
- 1 kg chicken bone-in large pieces
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- ¼ cup curd
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon homemade biriyani masala
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- salt as needed
For barista
- 3 finely sliced onions large size
- oil for deep frying I used sunflower oil
For Rice
- 500 g basmati rice aged, long-grained
- 3 l water
- salt
- 1 teaspoon ghee/clarified butter
- 4 green cardamoms
- 4 cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 bay leaves
Other Ingredients
- 3 large potatoes peeled, washed & cut into halves
- 4 boiled eggs
- 1 finely sliced onion large size
- 2 tablespoon ghee
- 1 tablespoon biryani masala powder
- ¼ teaspoon kewra water
- ¼ cup warm milk
- 1 pinch saffron/kesar
- whole wheat dough for sealing
- 4 tablespoon oil for cooking I have used sunflower oil
Instructions
Preparing Biryani Masala Powder
- Dry roast all the biryani masala ingredients in batches over medium flame until you get a nice aroma and transfer to a plate to cool down.
- Then grind them into a smooth powder.
Marinating the Chicken
- In a large bowl, beat curd, mix all ingredients except chicken to make a smooth paste. Add chicken to the mixture. Mix well and keep aside for at least 1 hr.
Other Preparations
- Rinse the basmati rice well in the running water to get rid of all the starch. Then soak in water for 30 minutes.
- Mix saffron and warm milk together in a bowl and keep aside.
- Boil the potato for 7-8 minutes in water. then drain the water and set them aside.
- Heat 1-2 tablespoon oil. Once the oil is hot enough add boiled eggs, saute for a minute, and set aside.
- Fry the potatoes in the same oil by adding a pinch of turmeric powder until sightly golden.
- Deep fry the thinly sliced onions until light brown. Place them on a kitchen towel to drain off excess oil.
Making Chicken Biryani
- Heat oil in a pan add sliced onions. Stir and cook until golden brown. Add the marinated chicken. Cover and cook until the chicken is 50% cooked.
- In the meanwhile, boil water by adding all ingredients (written under rice preparation) together except rice. The water should be a bit salty. Once the water starts boiling add soaked and drained basmati rice. Let it cook over a high flame until the rice is 60% done.
- Now start assembling. Take a heavy bottom pan and grease oil. Put a layer of bay leaves first. It will prevent the biryani from sticking to the bottom.
- Spread a layer of chicken with some liquid and a few drops of kewra water. The rice should be ready now. Strain the rice with a colander and directly add to the pan and spread the rice to make a layer. Top the rice with some barista and sprinkle ¼ teaspoon biryani masala.
- Spread another layer of chicken with the remaining liquid followed by a final layer of rice, topped with fried egg and potato. Spread some barista, saffron milk, few drops of kewra water, two tablespoons of melted ghee, and ¼ teaspoon biryani masala.
- For placing the biryani in dum, cover with a tight-fitting lid and seal the sides well with the whole wheat dough so that no steam escapes. Now cook on a high flame for 5 minutes and 20 minutes over a low flame. Once done turn off the flame and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Calcutta-style chicken biryani is ready to serve. Serve hot.
Notes
- The biryani masala can be used as garam masala in curries/gravies. Keep it in an airtight container for longer use.
- The basmati rice for this biryani should be long-grained and of good quality.
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