Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani is an easy method for making delicious chicken biryani. This spicy Indian rice dish is made with Basmati Rice, chicken, spices, coriander and mint leaves and whole spices. Biryani is made variety of different ways including this chicken dum biryani which is made by layering of rice to chicken. Learn how to cook the best chicken biryani in pressure cooker that is served with raita, mirchi ka salan & biryani brinjal.
Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani
Making Biryani can never get easier than this. I love biryani and make them more often than anything else. You can check out my biryani making days here. Most of the time it is made in a pressure cooker, but somedays I feel like having the real taste of authentic biryani, so go for the layered dum version. Check out my veg dum biryani, hyderabadi dum biryani, dum chicken kofta biryaniand mughlai chicken biryani, Fish Dum Biryani.
Table of Contents
About Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani
Who would have thought that you could make a delicious tasting biryani in pressure cooker. Amma always make vegetable biryani in pressure cooker so do I. Thats when I started making chicken biryani in cooker.
This biryani is one of the recipe which I have made countless times. It is a tried and tested recipe. It is so simple to make, but I found that the flavours goes so well when we make biryani like this.
Making chicken biryani in pressure cooker is so easy than you think. Wash and soak basmati rice for at least 30 minutes for fluffier biryani rice. You make all the base masala in a pressure cooker.
Depending on the amount of rice choose your pressure cooker size. I used a 6 litre pressure cooker for making this amount of chicken biryani. Choose wider pressure cooker like a pressure pan for making biryani which helps getting fluffier rice. If you use a narrow smaller cooker, then there are chances of the biryani rice getting mushy.
Watch Cooker Biryani Video
Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani Ingredients
Basmati Rice - I made this recipe using the finest quality basmati rice. You have to wash rice in several changes of water & Soak them for 30 minutes to make them fluffier. You can use seera samba rice instead of basmati. If you are using seera samba rice the water quantity will be 1 cup seera samba rice and 2 cups water.
Chicken - I prefer to use skinless chicken for chicken biryani. Bone-in curry cut chicken is used for maximum flavour.
Whole Spices - cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, fennel, cumin and bay leaf are some of the common spices.
Ginger & Garlic - the most important duo of flavours in any biryani. Use fresh ginger and garlic and grind them into a paste.
Fresh Herbs - coriander and mint leaves adds the aroma to the biryani.
Spices to Use - I use a combo of chilli, turmeric, cumin, coriander and my homemade garam masala powder.
Oil or Ghee - use a combo of oil and ghee to make biryani.
Garnishing - fried nuts like cashews, raisins, coriander leaves, fried onions is added for garnishing.
Cooker Biryani Making
Pre-preparation
Wash and Soak the basmati rice for around 30 min,Then drain it and set aside. In a pressure cooker heat oil and ghee, Fry some cashews and raisins in that til golden. Drain them and set aside.
Making Base for Biryani
In the same oil Add onion, green chilli and fry on a low heat till brown. Add in ginger garlic paste and saute for a min. Add in tomatoes, spice powders, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Mix this well. Pour in yogurt and give a good mix. Now add in the chicken pieces and saute it for 10 mins till the chicken is well coated in the masala. Add in the soaked Basmati rice and combine well. Pour in 3 cups of water and season with some salt and mix well.
Cooking biryani in pressure cooker
Now bring this mixture to a boil and reduce the flame, cover the pressure cooker and cook it for 1 whistle, then simmer the flame and cook for 15 mins. Now turn off the heat and let the steam go all by itself. Once cooked, open the pressure cooker and fluff it with a fork. You can squeeze some lemon juice at this point and mix well. Garnish with Fried Cashew and Raisins and sprinkle some coriander leaves. Serve it with Onion Raita.
How to Make Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani (Stepwise Pictures)
Soaking Basmati Rice
1)For making perfect biryani use the finest quality of basmati rice you can find. Wash basmati rice in several changes of water till the water runs clear. Take it in a bowl and cover with fresh cold water. Leave it to soak for 30 minutes.
Frying Nuts
2)Heat ghee and oil in a pressure cooker. I added some cashews and kishmish (golden raisins). Fry them for 1 to 2 minutes till golden brown.
3)Once nuts are fried, remove it to a bowl and set aside.
Making biryani base
4)In the same ghee, add in whole spices and let them sizzle for few seconds.
5)Add in sliced onions, green chillies, pandan leaves or bay leaf.
6)Saute onions till golden brown in colour.
7)Add in fresh ginger and garlic paste to the fried onion mixture.
8)Saute till raw smell leaves from it.
9)Now add in chopped tomatoes and mix well.
10) Add in chopped coriander leaves and mint leaves.
11)Add in salt and spice powders
12)Mix till the spice powders is sauted in the oil.
13)Now reduce the flame to a low and Add in thick yogurt into the onion mixture. You can add some lemon juice at this point.
14)Mix well and cook this for 2 more minutes. Now the masala base is ready.
Cooking Chicken
15)Now add in the cleaned chicken into the masala. I used skinless and bone-in chicken. Chicken with bones adds so much flavour to the biryani.
16)Toss and coat the chicken in the masala for at least 5 to 6 minutes. The chicken will absorb the flavours from the spices.
Add in Rice
17)Now add in the soaked drained basmati rice.
18)Toss the rice gently in the masala so it gets combined.
19)Pour in water.
Cooking biryani
20)Bring this mixture to a full boil, stir one last time and reduce the flame.
21)Cover the pressure cooker with the lid, put on the whistle (weight) and cook it for 1 whistle. After 1 whistle simmer the flame to the lowest possible and cook for 5 mins. Now turn off the heat and let the pressure release all by itself.
22)Once pressure is released, open the lid and give a gentle stir.
23)Garnish the biryani with fried nuts, coriander leaves and mint leaves. You can garnish with fried onions too. Serve hot with raita.
Expert Tips
- Wash rice really well and soak them for at least 30 minutes is important.
- Use chicken that is cut into medium pieces for better flavour absorption.
- You can taste the base masala and adjust the salt and lemon juice as needed.
- Skinless chicken is preferred.
- Use fresh ginger garlic paste for flavour.
Why does my biryani get mushy when I cook it in pressure cooker?
Depending on the amount of rice choose your pressure cooker size. I used a 6 litre pressure cooker for making this amount of chicken biryani. Choose wider pressure cooker like a pressure pan for making biryani which helps getting fluffier rice. If you use a narrow smaller cooker, then there are chances of the biryani rice getting mushy.
Once chicken, rice, water is added in cooker. Bring this mixture to a full boil, stir one last time and reduce the flame. Cover the pressure cooker with the lid, put on the whistle (weight) and cook it for 1 whistle. After 1 whistle simmer the flame to the lowest possible and cook for 5 mins. Now turn off the heat and let the pressure release all by itself. Open the cooker and gently mix and serve.
Storage
Leftover chicken biryani can be stored in an air tight container in fridge for upto 3 days. Reheat in microwave for a minutes covered and enjoy.
More Biryani Recipes to Try
📖 Recipe Card
Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani (Cooker Biryani Recipe)
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups Basmati Rice
- 3 cups Water
- ½ kg Chicken
For Biryani base
- 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 2 tbsp Ghee
- 2 large Onion sliced thinly
- 1 large Tomato chopped finely
- 3 no Green chilli slit
- 3 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 no Pandan leaf or bay leaf
- ¼ cup Coriander Leaves
- ¼ cup Mint leaves
- ½ cup Plain Yogurt curd (unsour)
- 2 tsp Red chilli powder
- 2 tsp Garam Masala powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
Whole Spices to Use
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 1 stick Cinnamon
- 5 no Cloves
- 5 no Cardamom
- 1 no Bay Leaf
For Garnish
- 2 tbsp Cashews
- 2 tbsp Golden Raisins sultanas or kishmish
Instructions
- Wash and Soak the basmati rice for around 30 minutes. Strain and set aside.
- In a pressure cooker heat oil and ghee, Fry some cashews and raisins in that till golden. strain them and set aside.
- Now in the same oil, add all the whole spices ingredients and pandan leaves. Let them sizzle for few seconds. Add in the onion, green chilli and fry on a low heat till brown. Add in ginger garlic paste and saute for a min. Add in tomatoes, spice powders, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Add in yogurt, lemon juice and give a good mix. Now add in the chicken pieces and saute it for 5 to 6 mins till the chicken is well coated in the masala.
- Add in the soaked strained basmati rice and gently combine well. Pour in 3 cups of water and season with some salt and mix well. For every 1 cup of basmati rice we are using 1.5 cups of water.
- Bring this mixture to a full boil, stir one last time and reduce the flame. Cover the pressure cooker with the lid, put on the whistle (weight) and cook it for 1 whistle. After 1 whistle simmer the flame to the lowest possible and cook for 5 mins. Now turn off the heat and let the pressure release all by itself.
- Once pressure is released, open the pressure cooker and fluff it with a fork very gently. Spoon into a serving dish. Garnish with fried cashew and raisins and sprinkle some coriander leaves. You can add some fried onions on top. Serve it with salan and raita.
Video
Notes
- Wash rice really well and soak them for at least 30 minutes is important.
- Use chicken that is cut into medium pieces for better flavour absorption.
- You can taste the base masala and adjust the salt and lemon juice as needed.
- Skinless chicken is preferred.
- Use fresh ginger garlic paste for flavour.
Why does my biryani get mushy when I cook it in pressure cooker?
Depending on the amount of rice choose your pressure cooker size. I used a 6 litre pressure cooker for making this amount of chicken biryani. Choose wider pressure cooker like a pressure pan for making biryani which helps getting fluffier rice. If you use a narrow smaller cooker, then there are chances of the biryani rice getting mushy. Once chicken, rice, water is added in cooker. Bring this mixture to a full boil, stir one last time and reduce the flame. Cover the pressure cooker with the lid, put on the whistle (weight) and cook it for 1 whistle. After 1 whistle simmer the flame to the lowest possible and cook for 5 mins. Now turn off the heat and let the pressure release all by itself. Open the cooker and gently mix and serve.Storage
Leftover chicken biryani can be stored in an air tight container in fridge for upto 3 days. Reheat in microwave for a minutes covered and enjoy.Nutrition
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.
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Venisri Senthan
Never used pressure cooker before...your briyani looks amazing dear! So yumm 😉
Rumana Ambrin
Even I cook briyani in pressure cooker.. Delicious..
Coral Crue
this looks extremely yummy
Eid Mubarak to everyone!
azmi
I like the way you describe it with pictures. I absolutely love it !
azmi
I really appreciate the way you describe with pictures.. loving it absolutely !
Charles
How long should it cook for, roughly? I have a pressure cooker but almost never use it so I have no idea really!
Nisha
Bookmarked , Very nicely done
Anonymous
pl give the measurements in grams.Is cup measurements are US standard measurement?How much rice & water you have taken in grams & ml respectively?
Savitha Francis
Hi Aarti,
Ur biriyani looks yum! Pls let me know where did u get tat pandan leaves?! tat isn't easily available in the market!
Aarthi
@Savitha FrancisPandan leaf grows in our garden. You can use dry bay leaf instead of pandan
Unknown
I tried.. it was amazing aarthi.. I m impressed by ur recipes 🙂
Swathi Eada
Love the Pics! So tempting. I have never tried biryani in a pressure cooker i use the oven. I will definately try this recipe.
Anonymous
can i knw d basmati rice brand u have used..i never used basmati rice...
Aarthi
@AnonymousI used india gate or kohinoor
Abby
Wow!!! Very impressed !!!!
Do you have more recipes in pressure cook ?????
Aarthi
@Abby
check my index
http://yummytummyrecipeindex.blogspot.in/
Ruch
Looks delicious, and easier than dum, gonna try it after navratras.
Anonymous
Love the idea but chicken cooked like this doesn't smell bad? We do lot of bhunaee of chicken with ginger garlic paste to do away the smell...
Anonymous
Can I use a regular cooking pot instead of pressure cooker? What's the purpose of pressure cooker bcoz chicken easily get cook not like beef or any other meat.
Aarthi
@AnonymousNo it wont
Aarthi
@AnonymousYes u can use normal pot,
Anonymous
This is by far my favorite biryani recipe. The only thing is my rice is overcooked so i cooked 1 whistle then cooked without lid. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe
fathima
Tried this recipe today....came out wonderfully good.....thanks for recipe.....
Anonymous
Great......yummy
Smi
Hi Aarthi,
Tried it today. Will post pic. Still in cooker. Doing the resting time :). Smells awesome. Can't wait till opened to comment.
Smitha
Sudhakar S
Hi Ma'am, I would like to prepare Biryani with Seeraga Samba rice. Do I have to soak the rice else Can I cook directly ? If I have to soak what would be the water to rice ratio and if direct what would be the ratio. Please reply.
Aarthi
@Sudhakar SU dont have to soak it , use it as it is..for 1 cup rice use 1.5 cup of water.
Sudhakar S
1.5 cup of water excluding the curd and coconut milk(If I'm adding) and how many whistles do I cook it in the cooker ?
Aarthi
@Sudhakar SIf u adding coconut milk, reduce the water level accordingly
Sudhakar S
Thanks for your reply
Banasree Nag
Hi...I tried many of your recipes..Most of them came out well..Thanks For those..I tried today your biriyani recipe..bt it W's little disappointing....as when 8 open the cooker I found overcooked rice....I used same measurement as u mentioned.the rice stick at the bottom n got burnt...when I add youghurt it leaves water..that is y I put little less water than 3 cups..still rice become sticky n overcooked ...Please gv sm tips to make yummy biriyani like urs...
Anonymous
Can this recipe be cooked in a electric rice cooker instead of pressure cooker.
Aarthi
@Anonymousyes u can cook this in rice cooker.
Aarthi
@Banasree NagOnce the water comes to a boil, lower the flame to a simmer and cook as mentioned. U must have cooked at high flame.
Anonymous
Mouth watering recipe. If i have to cook for two people , should i halve the ingredients?
Aarthi
@Anonymousyes
Anonymous
Why do we soak basmati rice?
Aarthi
@Anonymousit reduces the cooking time and make the rice grains longer.
Anonymous
Today I cooked this biryani. It was really yummy
Anonymous
I tried it today and the rice burnt out...i threw it away and had fud frm outside...really a lot of time got wasted
Aarthi
@AnonymousU must have cooked it on high heat. Once the mix comes to a boil, lower the heat to the minimum simmer and cook. So the rice wont get burnt
Padmasini Paventhan
It was very flavorful and tasted super yummy.My husband loved it.
Padmasini Paventhan
It was very flavorful and super yummy.My husband loved it so much 😄
Arti Mhamankar
Hey dear.......my chicken biryani flavours great...as well as so tasty...Thanks a lot for delicious recipe..
Apsara Mishra
very nice article. loved cooker Malabar Chicken biryani recipe .
hey please post vegetable biriyani recipe as well.
Aarthi
@Apsara Mishracheck this out
http://yummytummyrecipeindex.blogspot.com/2010/12/biryani.html
Vichitra
Ive tried your biryani today & I would say thats the bestest biryani ive ever tried. Im gona stick to this recipe forever!! Thanks for sharing!!
Malaysian Fan
The recipe worked like a charm... I've already used two recipes of yours. Both came out perfect. Genius!
fashionista
Hi aarthi.. Your recipe looks awesome. Planning to try it. Is this boneless chicken breast or chicken with bones. Also let me know if i want to use boneless chicken breast in same preparation will the time differ or it will be same
Aarthi
@fashionistait is chicken with bones. That adds nice flavour.
Anonymous
Hi Aarti,
you mentioned (then simmer the flame and cook for 15 mins. Now turn off the heat and let the steam go all by itself), does that mean I need to release the pressure & slow the fire?
Aarthi
@Anonymousno dont realese the pressure, just simmer it and cook
Nikhil Anne
Awesome briyani! I tried it with brown rice it came mushy. Any suggestions for brown rice in pressure cooker?!
Aarthi
@Nikhil Annereduce the water level
Anonymous
Hey aarthi
I tried this recipe.Although it tasted really good but it was mushy. Earlier I kept water level less but the rice were uncooked, later on I add some water but briyani was nt dry like we get in restaurants.
Please help with that. How to get that dryness
Anonymous
I have an instant pot pressure cooker - how many minutes should I cook for in the pressure cooker after it reaches a boil? should the chicken be mostly cooked before turning on the pressure cooker? thanks! -anu
Vanitha Loganathan
I tried this recipe and came out very good.Thanks for posting this easy recipe.
Anonymous
Hi mam..if it s to be done for 3cups of BASMATI rice how many whistles have to be given...and how much time to be kept in simmer..please kindly answer to my doubts man..
shanthini kammu
Mam if it is to be done for 4 CUPS OF BASMATI RICE ..how many whistles have to be given and how much time to be kept in simmer please kindly reply to my doubt as early as possible please mam..
Unknown
Not at all the biryani type... Might be the chicken pulaao or something else... Total waste 😔😔😔
Unknown
Not at all the biryani type... Might be the chicken pulaao or something else... Total waste 😔😔😔
Unknown
Not at all the biryani type... Might be the chicken pulaao or something else... Total waste 😔😔😔
Shomil
Not at all a chicken biryani... Can be a chicken pulaao or something else... Total waste �� �� ��
kalai
What is Bandan leaf - Briyani leaf?
irfana zahir
Hi. Tried This recipe today..instead of chicken i used prawn...prawn biriyani IN pressure cooker..came out really well...tnx for the recipe
sugu
Tried out the briyani. It came very well. Thanks aarthi..
gayathri g3
hai sis..today i made this chicken biryani...it came really superb..thank u soooooooo much sis..this is my first biryani and i was amazed whether i did this biryani like that sis..once again thank you so much sis..
Mathi
Super
Anonymous
Whenever I cook chicken as mentioned in various recipes, it turns rubbery or overcooked. I'm afraid, the same thing will happen here. How to avoid chicken becoming rubbery? Thanks.
Aarthi
after adding chicken cover it and pressure cook for 1 whistle. then add rice, this way the chicken wont be rubbery.
drteddy70
Thank you for posting the recipe. I tried the recipe closely and the dish came out quite tasty. Unfortunately the rice was too soft and mushy. I think some factors contributing to the problems include: rice might be "new", therefore has more moisture content; soaking the rice increased the water content, so might not need to add so much water. In future, I will reduce the amount of water I use or not soak the rice. FYI, I cooked the biryani in an electronic pressure cooker for 15 minutes. I let the pressure vent naturally instead of venting the pressure cooker immediately. That might have also contributed to overcooking the rice. I will try again with the changes I have stated above. Hope it turns out better the next time.
Moti Mahal Robot Theme Restaurant
Wow !!! What an awesome post regarding biriyani. Like it too much. Thanks for sharing such an amazing post.