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Kolkata Style Chicken Biryani

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This recipe does not fall into the 30 minute criterion of this site. However Diwali is a special occasion, so
a little bit more time in kitchen will not hurt anybody.

After I left my home town I missed Biryani like any other Bengali. Whenever I had an opportunity I used
to visit Bangalore and try Kolkata style Biryani at Lazeez in Commercial Street. Then my requirement of
visiting Bangalore ended, and ever since I missed my Biryani. My hubby went one step further, he
ordered Biryani at any shop, whoever had one to offer in their menu and in every case (other than at
Dindigul Ponram Biryani) he did not go beyond a spoonful.

I had to try my hand at it. After trying for three long years I finally mastered the art of Kolkata style Food of the World
chicken Biryani and here I share my wisdom with my fellow Biryani lovers. Lets begin!
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I have tried a lot of biryani recipes but it never was as good as a real Kolkata style chicken biryani. Then I
found this recipe and tweaked it to my advantage. The following is the recipe for two people. Advertisement

Main Pieces of a Biryani

1. Mashla (Spices)
2. Rice
3. Chicken
4. Potato

I will explain how to prepare each of them one by one. While cooking you can obviously multitask, like while
the chicken is cooking you can start cooking your rice etc.

Biryani Mashla (Spice)

Biryani spice-mix is the soul of the prep. The amount you will get from the ingredients listed below is a lot, and
can be used to make biryanis many times over. However, it is easy to make larger amounts. This spice-mix can
be used in daily cooking as garam masala.

1 tbs cumin seeds (Saah Jeera)

1 tbs coriander seeds

Hi! This is Sharmistha. Welcome to my food blog. The main
intent of this site is to provide you with quick, tasty and
1 tbs black pepper
somewhat healthy recipes. All the recipes posted here can be
1 tbs white pepper prepared under 30 mins! Let's experiment and cook some
good food.
2 or 3 black cardamom

7 or 8 green cardamom Cloud of Food

1 whole nutmeg (jaifol) Baby Food Bengali Breakfast Chicken Chinese
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2 whole maces (javetri flower)
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5 or 6 whole cloves

1 inch long cinnamon stick Advertisement

Dry roast all the whole spices on a hot tawa, till they start to release their aroma.

Take them off the heat and let them cool a little following which blend them to get the powdered spice.

You can sieve coarse grounded spices to get finer powder if you wish. Keep the powder in an air tight container
for longer use.

Other Ingredients

2 cups of fine quality Basmati Rice (Use aged rice as it is less starchy, hence less sticky)

4 Tbs of White Vegetable Oil (Most of the Biryani recipes use ghee, but I like oil better, they dont
make the dish as heavy as ghee)

2 tsp Rose water or 1 tsp Rose Essence

1 tsp Keora Water (this gives the Biryani its flavor, so this item is important. I usually get this from my
hometown, since it is not always available locally)

1 Dollop of ghee

4 Pieces of Chicken Legs

2 Medium sized Potatoes

4 or 5 big Onions

20 to 25 cloves of Garlic (I know they are a lot!)

1 inch long Ginger

150 gms plain Curd

1 tbs Red chilli powder

A pinch of sugar

2 Tbs warm milk

A pinch of saffron

Salt

Rice
You need to have some good quality Basmati rice. If you use aged rice even better. Wash the rice under running
water and then immerse them in water for at least half an hour. This will get rid of excess starch, resulting
beautiful non-sticky rice grains.

To prepare the rice, take 4 or 5 cups of water in a pan and bring it to a boil. Add couple of green cardamom, 1
clove and a cinnamon stick. Add a pinch of salt.

When the water starts to boil, add the rice and cook till it is done. Drain the extra water. Clean under running
water to get rid of excess starch and salt. Take a flat plate and spread the rice.

Chicken
Prepare Onions
Cut 4 or 5 onions and fry them with a pinch of sugar in 2 tbs of oil till they caramelize.

We will use half of the onions to cook the chicken and half for assembling the final dish.

Prepare Ginger Garlic paste

We will need a lot of garlic for this dish. The ratio to ginger and garlic should be approximately 1:3.

After you peel the garlic and ginger blend them in a blender with a spoonful of water till you get a smooth
paste.

Preparing Saffron
Take 2 spoonful of warm milk (or water) and add a pinch of saffron strands and keep it aside so the milk gets
the color.

If you do not have saffron handy then take same amount of water and add a pinch of turmeric. The
effect will be the same. But be careful, do not add a lot of turmeric, it will ruin the aroma of the dish.

Cooking the Chicken

Wash the chicken pieces and pat them dry with a kitchen towel or clean cloth. I usually use whole leg pieces for
this preparation, as they taste better.

Heat 2 tbs of oil in a pan and sear all the chicken pieces.

Searing means, frying all the sides till they start getting a golden color. This also seals the moisture in
the meat. This also stops the meat from releasing a lot of water while cooking.

After the chicken pieces starts to get a golden brown color, add half of the fried onions, all the ginger-garlic
paste, plain curd, 1 tbs biryani spice-mix, 1 tbs red chili powder, 2 tsp rose water (if you are using rose essence
then use 1 tsp), 1 tsp Keora water and salt.

Do not use a lot of keora water, it tends to make the dish taste bitter

Mix well and bring it to a simmer. Reduce the heat and let it cook for at least 20 mins. Check occasionally, if
required add a little water. We do not want a lot of gravy.

When done take the chickens off the heat and keep them in a separate bowl. We will use the pan to fry the
potatoes. We will use the chicken pieces and gravy separately. You can sieve the gravy to get rid of all the
chunky pieces, but I am too lazy to do that.

Prepare Potatoes
Take two potatoes, cut them into four pieces each and cook them in a pressure cooker with a pinch of salt.
When done keep them aside.

In the same pan, after finishing the chicken, fry the boiled potatoes till they start to acquire some golden color.
Turn off the heat.

It is now time to assemble all the pieces to get our Holy-Grail.

Assembly
Now that we have all the elements of biryani ready, we just need to assemble them.

Take a heavy bottom pan.

Since we are going to cook the biryani on a low heat for a long time, we need to use a heavy bottom pan;
else there is a possibility of burning the lower portion which eventually sticks to the pan.

In the pan put the potatoes, chicken legs at the bottom, top it up with 2 tbs of gravy, some fried onion and a
pinch of biryani spices.

Now add a layer of rice. Top it up with fried onion, 1 tbs of gravy, a pinch of biryani spice-mix and 1 tsp of
saffron water (or milk). Put another layer of rice. Top it up with fried onion, 1 tbs of gravy, a pinch of biryani
spice and a tsp of saffron water (or milk). Add the last layer of rice. Top it up with fried onion, a pinch of biryani
spices and 1 tsp of saffron water (or milk). Finish it with a dollop of ghee .

Cover the pan with a lid. Try to use a pan with a fitting cover. We want the aroma to be sealed as much as
possible. Put the pan on low flame and cook it for 10 mins. Turn off the heat and let it rest for another 5 mins.

Your Biryani is ready to serve.

A Quick Recap
1. Prepare the Biryani masala.
2. Immerse the rice in water for at least 30 mins.
3. Cook the rice in boiling water with a pinch of salt and some whole spices.
4. Cut the onions and fry them in lot of oil. We need nicely caramelized onions.
5. Slow cook the chicken pieces with oil, spices, curd, chili powder and ginger garlic paste
6. Cut the potatoes in big chunks and cook them in a pressure cooker till tender.
7. Fry the potatoes in the same pan after you remove the chicken.
8. Assemble the layers in a heavy bottomed pan and cover with a lid
9. Cook for another 10 mins on a very low flame
10. Biryani is ready to serve

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Tagged on: Bengali Chicken Non-veg Specials

Sharmistha October 21, 2014 Bengali, Chicken, Non-Veg, Special Recipes 45 Comments

Veg Tikki Pan Fried Chicken Nuggets

45 thoughts on Kolkata Style Chicken Biryani

Piyali
October 22, 2014 at 10:47 am
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How to identify aged rice?

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

October 22, 2014 at 11:10 pm
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Hi Piyali,

Its usually mentioned on the pack.

Reply

Frenie
March 2, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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.thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. I really enjoyed it and its very helpful .. Keep it up !!

Reply

Atin Banerjee
March 4, 2015 at 2:26 pm
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Hello Sarmistha your details recipe on kolkata style chiken biriyani will be tried and prepare on Holi
2015 by me. It will be very much helpful to me as Iam looking for it only. I would like to know that in
Biriyani it is said that Star Anise, Kabab Chini, Khoa kheer and Alubalhra are the essential and
important components of biriyani, without its uses biriyani wont make its taste. Please enlighten me
in this regard, that it realy need or not.Atin

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

March 12, 2015 at 5:48 pm
Permalink

Hello Atin,

If you check my recipe, I have not used any of the ingredients you mentioned (Star Anise, Kabab
Chini, Khoa kheer and Alubalhra). however everybody has their own recipe. If you are going to try
mine, I hope you like the end dish.

Reply

Atin Banerjee
March 4, 2015 at 2:30 pm
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Hello Sarmistha please tell me how to prepare kolkata style Mutton Biriyani alongwith Mutton &
Chiken Chap, all Kolkata style..my ph no. xxxxxxxxxx andwhatsap no. xxxxxxxxxx..Atin
Banerjee

Reply

Naina Mandal
April 10, 2015 at 5:29 pm
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Nice recipe.I make mine using onion paste so we get to do away with sieving the masala.your pic
looks yummy.thanks

Reply

Pankoj Roy
April 25, 2015 at 11:02 pm
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You made my dream true. I cant believe i have prepared kolkata biriyani in my house at bangalore. I
am a big fan of kolkata biriyani and this is like my dream come true. I made it so perfect. same
essence, same teast. just perfect. Thanks a lot.

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

May 1, 2015 at 11:00 pm
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Thank you for your comment Pankoj, you made my day too. Thanks

Reply

sneha majumdar
May 19, 2015 at 10:34 pm
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Hiii sharmistha aunty..i am 18 years old.I tried your recipe & i think .east or west yours this recipe
is the best.

Reply

sagar
May 31, 2015 at 12:43 pm
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This dish is nice but little spicy and hot,I

Think we should use less amount of spices

Reply

tapan giri
June 3, 2015 at 8:33 pm
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birani my fabaet dis

Reply

Tanusree Dhar
August 2, 2015 at 11:47 pm
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Hello Sarmishtha di, Im a big fan of yours since Radhuni in Akash Bangla, and now I miss u so much
that I left to watch the program. Its really helpful for me as a hard core fan of Kolkata style Biryani &
I made it today for my family. It tastes so similar & the aroma is exactly like any outlets Biryani of our
city.thanks a lot

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

August 4, 2015 at 12:13 am
Permalink

Thank you Tanusree for trying my recipe. It feels good to know that I was able to make a fellow
Biryani lover happy. However one small correction, I am not the famous Sharmistha Dey from the
the show Randhuni. Thanks again :).

Reply

Abhishek
August 4, 2015 at 8:06 am
Permalink

Haha. Doesnt matter. Your recipe seems very precise and exciting. I am gonna try out this
weekend and get back to you. What I loved about it is the simplicity.

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

August 4, 2015 at 3:50 pm
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Thank you Abhishek :), let me know how it went.

Reply

Abhishek
August 29, 2015 at 10:44 pm
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Hi Sharmistha, the biryani went good for me, but I think I can better it more with time
Thanks for the recipe!

Dibyendu Chakraborty
September 14, 2015 at 8:12 am
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Hello !! Yesterday, finally I cooked biriyani. Ur recipe was helpful. Thanks for sharing.

Reply

Debjani
October 14, 2015 at 2:39 am
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Hi Sarmistha, your biriyani recipe really did well for me. Thanks for it.

Reply

Titir
October 17, 2015 at 8:36 am
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I am going to prepare your recipe tomorrow. Do I need to prepare more of biriyani spice mix if I
amount of rice is 5 cups?

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

October 23, 2015 at 10:03 am
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sorry for the late reply, I guess you have already found out that the amount of spice mixture will
be a lot and can be used many a time more.

Reply

Suryani
October 24, 2015 at 9:59 pm
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Hello Maam,
I will be trying your recipe tomorrow.I have one question for you that is.In your recipe you
havent marinate the chicken. ..is it okk to go without the marinating. .because all other recipes
includes marinating. .Please do let me know..

Reply

Suryani
October 24, 2015 at 10:05 pm
Permalink

Hello Maam,
I will be trying your recipe tomorrow.I have one question for you that is.In your recipe you
havent marinate the chicken. ..is it okk to go without the marination??? .because other recipes
are telling us that marination is importantPlease do let me know..

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

November 3, 2015 at 5:23 pm
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Hello Suryani, I do not marinate the chicken

Reply

Nilanjan
November 1, 2015 at 12:52 pm
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Hi sharmistha di,
Recipe tar jonno oshonkho dhonnobad. Aj eta try korlam. With your exact ingredients, it is just bang
on target. Biryani just phataphati hoyeche. Sobai bolbo try korte.
Thanks a lot.

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

November 8, 2015 at 11:45 pm
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Thank you very much Nilanjan

Reply

Begum Gulbadan
November 23, 2015 at 4:04 pm
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Hi Di,, without saffron can i use this recipe???

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

December 30, 2015 at 11:06 pm
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Sorry to reply this late, you can use little bit turmeric instead of saffron

Reply

Suraj sur
December 13, 2015 at 9:39 pm
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Good but not easy

Reply

Suraj sur
December 13, 2015 at 9:40 pm
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My mother can make better than this

Reply

Bella
December 18, 2015 at 11:45 am
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Hi, you have mentioned Keora & Rose water in the ingredients list but i guess in the method its not
mentioned. Thanks for the recipe though! Turned out well.

Reply

k.barman
December 19, 2015 at 10:27 am
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Hello Sharmistha, your recipe is good , but sorry to say .. its not awadhi style biryani. There are some
places in kolkatta , like arsalan , and aminia who claim their biryani to be of awadhi style..though
the taste is similar, it feels like something ia missing in their biryanithe best awadhi biryani I ever
ate is from a small shop in Lucknow called Idris. I am fortunate to have authentic awadhi biryani
recipe which I gained from khansamas of Nawabs in lucknow ,and its not as you described. Believe it
or not..they actually call the recipe as Pulao not biryani. Though I cant share the entire recipe I sure
can share a few tips1) they dont use curd or any watery liquid such as rose water or kewra water ,
the entire recipe is based on oil 2) they use potli ka masala ( khus ki jad , pan ki jad, ashwagandha,
joth, Timor, kabab chini, maratha maggu, pathar ke phool etc..) 3) They use pure animal fat along with
vanaspati ghee instead of oil 4) The rice is actually steamed in huge steamers and not put into so
called DUMwhich makes their rice extremely fluffy .5) meat balls are used along with meat
instead of potatoes and eggs.6) Many prefer to use basmati sella instead of basmati rice . So these
are some features of authentic awadhi biryani.

Reply

Charu
March 24, 2016 at 8:22 pm
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K. Barman, am curious. Why cannot you share the recipe of an authentic Avadhi biryani? Please
share it. I have been looking high and low for an authentic avadhi biryani recipe. Sharing on line
will keep it alive for eternity. Thanks

Reply

Mireille
January 5, 2016 at 10:43 pm
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Your explanation is so good and detailed will definitely be trying this

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

January 5, 2016 at 11:46 pm
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Thank you

Reply

Tausif Hayat Khan

January 17, 2016 at 1:35 am
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Thanks Dear

Reply

dr rafik
January 15, 2016 at 9:36 pm
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done, thx madam

Reply

Mahib
February 1, 2016 at 12:37 am
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Almost exactly the way my mom cooks. Just she adds a little sugar with raw milk and saffron. Before
putting on dum

She cooks any day with same grandeur. Dunno how. I love u mom.

Reply

Manashi Chowdhury
March 26, 2016 at 10:57 am
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Hey Sharmishtha!!Thanks for sharing this recipe..It turned out really good..

Reply

Uday
June 18, 2016 at 8:29 pm
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Apnar explanation ta darun, jst pic perfct

Reply

Punam
July 17, 2016 at 4:06 pm
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It was super hit. I have made biriyani at home earlier as well, but this recipe is faster, easier and wow
taste. Thanks!

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

July 18, 2016 at 10:59 pm
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Thank you

Reply

Pingback: Kolkatta Egg Dum Biryani | Sunday Biryani Recipes Cooking From My Heart

debal
September 10, 2016 at 10:27 pm
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hello Sarmishtha madam, I m a big crazy fan of biriyani. I have tried ur recepie today. u wouldnt
believe but it was as perfect as u shared. its taste was so good and aromaticthanks for ur tips..

Reply

Sharmistha Post author

September 25, 2016 at 5:03 pm
Permalink

Thank you

Reply

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