Most of us have tasted restaurant-style chicken biryani or home-cooked biryani many times but getting to eat village-style chicken biryani is an experience of another level. This authentic chicken biryani is a village-style version of biryani that features long-grain basmati rice cooked with chicken and yogurt on dum. Our traditional chicken biryani recipe is inspired by the biryani that is traditionally made in Andhra village households on a wood-fired stove. While open-fire cooking is a rare privilege, but we can still make South Indian chicken biryani with this biryani recipe in our kitchens on our modern gas hobs and make it taste equally good. Jump to the recipe here.
▲ Traditionally made on a wooden fire, this village style chicken biryani is best served hot straight from the handi.
Though the place of origin of biryani is a subject of heated debate among biryani connoisseurs, the origin of the word Biryani itself has been traced back to Persia. The word Biryani comes from the Persian word ‘Birian’ which means 'fried before cooking'. However, upon landing in India, biryani is known to have evolved drastically and taken various forms and developed a range of varieties that are hard even for a biryani connoisseur to keep up with. Mughlai, Lucknowi, Bombay, Hyderabadi, Malabar, Ambur, Calcutta, Moplah, Bengaluru, Dindigul, and Kashmiri biryani are only a few famous ones in the endless list of different types of biryanis you encounter in India. Based on the ingredients and spices found, and the preferred regional taste profile, the cooking method and the flavour of the biryani vary from each other.
▲ Add the prepared marinade and green chillies and mix well. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
This village-style biryani is placed on dum to allow better infusion of the flavours with the rice which is added at a later stage of the cooking. The juicy and moist chicken in the biryani acquires fall-off the bones texture due to cooking on dum. The aromatic and long-grain basmati rice is coated in the juices from the curry, though fully cooked, is still firm to bite. The spices like cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger, fenugreek, and garam masala provide a delectable aroma to the entire dish, which is further enhanced on being liberated from extended dum.
▲ Bring the rice to a boil in ample water with salt and turmeric till almost cooked. It should not be fully cooked.
Cooking this village-style chicken biryani from scratch can be time-consuming but the experience and the result are surely rewarding. The process of making biryani is pretty straightforward and you will definitely enjoy cooking it for your entire family. In fact, you can easily turn this experience into a fun family cookout by assigning various tasks to each of the families’ members. The recipe can broadly be divided into five main steps - marinating the chicken, boiling rice, cooking chicken in masala, layering rice with masala, and lastly, setting biryani on dum, mixing the rice with masala, and setting it on dum again. Follow the village-style chicken biryani recipe video above for step-by-step instructions.
▲ Tip the marinated chicken into the lightly coloured onions cooking in the copper handi
Or see all our Rice Recipes right here!
▲ Pour yogurt into the handi with the chicken cooking with onion, tomatoes, and other spices. Sauté for about 10 min before adding lime juice.
Once you taste this Andhra biryani recipe, it is hard to miss that this biryani recipe is unlike any other. The difference between any regular biryani and village-style recipe lies in the minimal use of fine spices and condiments. Another feature of this biryani is a special style of providing dum to the biryani, which involves sealing the degh with a cloth wrapped lid, to absorb the steam, further weighed down with stones or a heavy grinding stone. This chicken biryani Andhra village style also does not have separate layers of masala and rice because the last step involves combining the two before setting it on dum for the second time. If you do not mind going another step further, then consider cooking biryani on a wood-fired stove which would provide it a special flavour that will make this biryani authentically village-style in a true sense.
▲ Tip the rice over the chicken and spread in an even layer
Following a good recipe accurately and with patience are some secret ingredients to cooking a delicious biryani. Making biryani is a multi-step process that requires various ingredients to be processed separately. Therefore, not rushing through the cooking process will result in an awesome tasting biryani.
▲ Cover the handi with a cloth, top with the lid, bring the cloth over the lid, then weigh down with heavy stones to give the chicken biryani dum on low heat.
As popularly known, the Hyderabadi dum biryani is cooked with a dough seal around the lid to provide dum, so that the flavours do no escape as they are sealed in, whereas this village-style biryani is set on dum differently. A cloth-covered lid is used to seal the handi and it is weighed down by stones or a heavy utensil filled with water.
▲ Allow the biryani to rest for about 10 minutes still sealed in the handi after taking off the heat. Then serve hot.
Traditionally biryani is cooked and served on special occasions. The aroma wafting from biryani commemorates the celebration of life itself. A biryani cooked with special attention and served with love can never miss the mark. Make sure to remove the biryani from dum a little ahead of serving it so that it gets enough resting time for the flavours to steep in the leftover steam from dum. Serve hot and plate up immediately after opening the seal. Biryani being the main entree is served with a host of sides like cumin-infused yogurt raita, pickled onions, and fresh salad made of cucumber and carrots with a drizzle of lemon. You can try our homemade Kachumber and pomegranate raita as the perfect accompaniments. For an authentic village-style experience, you can serve the biryani on a banana leaf.
▲ Once you taste this Andhra biryani recipe, it is hard to miss that this biryani recipe is unlike any other. Dig in and enjoy!
Get a delicious upgrade on regular chicken biryani by preparing this traditional village style chicken biryani recipe at home. Relish the amazing taste of tender chicken pieces and aromatic rice coated in spicy masala. You are sure to lose yourself in this biryani’s unforgettable taste!