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Dumh Murgh Aloo Biryani - 'Chicken and Potato Biryani'

Biryani! It is so very difficult to authentically describe in words what this Biryani truly is. Delicious is an understatement! Flavorful to the fullest. Moist and perfectly seasoned chicken, fried potatoes soaked in saffron milk and then layered with perfectly cooked long grains of steamed Basmati rice. This Dum Murgh Aloo Biryani is a winner on any party table-Biryani redefined!
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Marinating time12 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Desi, Hyderabadi, Indian
Keyword: Chicken Biryani, Murgh Aloo Biryani
Servings: 8
Author: Afreen Sayeed

Ingredients

For Chicken Marination

  • 4 lbs Whole Chicken pieces *cleaned, rinsed, cut into medium pieces (only the meaty pieces) and pat dry
  • 2 tbsp fresh ginger paste
  • 2.5 tbsp fresh garlic paste
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 cup fried onions
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri Lal Mirch
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala Powder *freshly ground is best, see recipe in Notes
  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp Kosher salt *or to taste

For Basmati Rice

  • 5 cups long-grain Basmati rice *Ocean Pearl, Zafrani Reserve are really good quality (soaked for 40 minutes prior)
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 tsp caraway seeds *Shah Zeera
  • 3 cloves
  • 4 cardamom pods
  • 4 tsp Kosher salt *or to taste
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice *freshly squeezed

For final Chicken gravy ('Akhni')

  • 3 tbsp Canola oil
  • 2 cups plain yogurt
  • 2 cups fried onions *freshly fried
  • 2 tbsp ghee *clarified butter
  • 1 cup fresh coriander leaves *rinsed, stemmed and chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves *rinsed, stemmed and chopped

For Potatoes

  • 3 medium potatoes *rinsed, peeled and sliced (3-4 thick slices for each potato)
  • 1/4 cup saffron milk *warm milk + 1/4 tsp saffron
  • Canola oil *as needed for deep frying
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt *or to taste

For final Biryani layering

  • 4 tbsp lemon juice *freshly squeezed
  • 1 cup fried onions
  • 1 cup fresh coriander leaves *rinsed, stemmed and chopped
  • 1 cup fresh mint leaves *rinsed, stemmed and chopped
  • 3 tbsp ghee *freshly made
  • 1-2 tsp Garam masala *as previously prepared
  • 2 tsp Rose Water
  • 1 cup saffron water (warm water + 1/2 tsp saffron threads crushed)

For Garam Masala powder

  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 7 cloves
  • 3 tsp cardamom pods
  • 1.5 tsp caraway seeds *Shah Zeera
  • 1 star anise
  • 1/4 inch nutmeg piece
  • 1 Bay leaf

Instructions

For Chicken Gravy ('Akhni')

  • After cleaning, rinsing and drying chicken pieces, place in a large glass bowl (or any container with lid) and add all the spices, yogurt, fried onions, salt, ginger/garlic paste as listed above under "For Chicken Marination." Wear food handling gloves and mix and massage chicken with all the added ingredients for about 5 minutes. Cover with tight lid and refrigerate overnight. *This is important!
  • Grind all the whole spices as listed under "For Garam Masala powder" in a blender to a fine powder. Store in air-tight container for later use.
  • One hour prior to making the chicken gravy (also known as the Biryani 'Akhni'), remove marinated chicken and bring to room temperature. Then, in a large cooking vessel, add 3 tbsp of Canola oil and heat on medium high heat. Once oil is hot, turn heat to medium and add the marinated chicken. Mix well until chicken changes color and releases water (about 5-7 minutes). Now turn heat to medium low, cover and continue to cook chicken for 15 minutes.
  • While chicken is cooking on low heat, in a blender, make a paste of the 2 cups fried onions and 2 cups yogurt. Place this mixture in a separate glass bowl and set aside.
  • After approximately 15 minutes of cooking the chicken on medium low heat, uncover and if there is a lot of water content, increase heat to medium high and cook for about 5 minutes. When water content decreases and oils are released, turn heat to medium and now add the blended fried onion/yogurt mixture and carefully mix to incorporate. With heat on medium, continue to cook the Chicken gravy ('Akhni') for an additional 10 minutes and then add 2 tbsp of ghee and the freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves. Remove from heat and set aside.

For the Potatoes

  • In a wok or frying vessel, heat enough Canola oil as needed for deep frying on high heat. Once oil is hot, turn heat to medium and fry the sliced potatoes in batches until almost cooked. The goal is to get a nice even golden color on the potatoes and partially cook them. This takes about 8-10 minutes for each batch. Remove potatoes and place on paper-towel lined sheet. Sprinkle potatoes with some Kosher salt and let slightly cool. Once potatoes are somewhat cooled, place in a glass mixing bowl and add/soak them in the 1/4 cup of saffron milk for about 5-7 minutes.

For the Basmati Rice

  • Heat approximately 20 cups of water in a large cooking vessel on high heat. While the water is heating, and before parboiling the Basmati rice, have all the necessary ingredients under "For final Biryani layering," ready to go. I set up a Biryani layering station on a clean counter top BEFORE I start on my Basmati rice cooking process, as the final assembly of the Biryani (layering) has to be done quickly and efficiently. Once your Biryani layering station is ready and the water reaches a boil, add the whole spices (as listed under "For Basmatic Rice) and 4 tsp of salt into the boiling water. Once there is a rolling boil, add the Basmati rice, carefully mix, turn heat to medium high and let rice boil for about 8 minutes. You do not want to completely cook the rice because it will continue to cook with the chicken when layered and steamed at the end. So cook the rice until it is approximately 3/4th cooked, carefully stirring a few times in between as needed. After about 5 minutes of boiling the rice, add the 3 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice and carefully stir. Once rice is parboiled (approximately 8 minutes but it depends on the rice!), drain the rice in a large colander and place colander under large bowl to remove excess water.

For Final Layering of the Biryani

  • In the same large cooking vessel that you used to parboil the rice (wipe it with a paper towel if necessary) add 1 tbsp of ghee and spread evenly. Now add 1/3 of the rice on the bottom and evenly spread, layer with 1/2 the chicken gravy ('Akhni'), add some of the potatoes, freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves, some fried onions, some lemon juice, any remaining saffron milk that the potatoes were soaked in and then add another 1/3 of the rice on top. Now add the remaining half of the chicken gravy and spread evenly (a heat-resistant spatula works well here), add all remaining potatoes and spread evenly. Then top with the final remaining 1/3 of the rice. Now directly on this final rice layer, add the remaining fried onions, lemon juice, coriander and mint leaves, 2 tbsp of ghee, remaining garam masala powder (1-2 tsp) and the 1 cup of warm saffron water and rose water. Cover tightly and fully with aluminum foil, seal with lid and place on stove on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes. Then turn heat to medium low and continue to steam/cook for 25 minutes. Turn heat off and let rest (do NOT uncover yet!) for an additional 10 minutes. If you are concerned about burning the bottom layer, you can place the entire cooking vessel on a heat diffuser (which I do sometimes!)
  • Dumh Murgh Aloo Biryani is now ready to serve (excellent when paired with Hyderabadi Baghaar-e-Baingan) or Raita (yogurt sauce, recipe to be posted soon!). Honestly, this Biryani is so flavorful and delicious that you can truly enjoy it on its own! Nosh Farma'aiye!

Notes

For the chicken pieces, I usually get 3 whole chickens cut into medium-sized pieces and then choose the best, meatiest pieces for a total of 4 pounds of chicken pieces (I remove any wings or bony pieces and freeze those for chicken stock/soups/etc, for later use).