No.60 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Chicken biryani

Made famous by Swasthi Shreekanth

Photo: Dheerajk88, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Swasthi's Recipes (IndianHealthyRecipes.com). Swasthi's Recipes is No. 16 on the Hot 100.

Biryani is India's most ordered dish online year after year, and Swasthi's step-by-step dum biryani is one of the most cooked versions on the internet.

Ingredients

• For the chicken: 2 lb (900 g) bone-in chicken pieces
• 1 cup (240 g) plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1 1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chile powder, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 1/2 tsp garam masala (or biryani masala)
• 1 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped mint and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• For the onions: 3 large onions, thinly sliced, and 1/2 cup (120 ml) oil or ghee
• For the rice: 2 1/2 cups (500 g) aged basmati rice, rinsed and soaked 30 minutes
• Whole spices: 1 bay leaf, 4 green cardamom, 4 cloves, 1-inch cinnamon, 1 tsp shahi jeera (caraway)
• 1 tbsp fine salt for the rice water
• Large pinch of saffron soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk
• 2 tbsp ghee

Steps

1. Mix the chicken with the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, spices, salt, lemon and half the mint and cilantro. Marinate at least 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge.
2. Fry the onions in the oil in a heavy, wide pot over medium heat, stirring, until deep golden and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Lift out half onto paper towels and leave the rest and the oil in the pot.
3. Add the chicken to the pot and cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes, then cover and cook on medium-low 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is about three-quarters cooked and the sauce is thick, not watery.
4. Meanwhile bring 12 cups water to a boil with the whole spices and salt. Add the drained rice and boil 4 to 6 minutes, until the grains are about 70 percent cooked: they break when pressed but still have a firm core. Drain at once.
5. Spread the rice over the chicken in an even layer. Top with the reserved onions, remaining mint and cilantro, the saffron milk and the ghee.
6. Seal the pot with a tight lid (wrap the edge with foil or dough). Cook on high heat 2 to 3 minutes until you hear steam, then on the lowest heat 20 to 25 minutes.
7. Rest 10 minutes off the heat. Fluff gently from the side, bringing up chicken and rice together, and serve with raita.

Chef's tips

• Aged basmati is key: the grains stay long and separate.
• If you have a heat diffuser or a cast-iron tawa, set the pot on it for the dum so the bottom doesn't burn.

← No. 59Thai green curry→ No. 61Chana masala