Dum Pukht awadhi chicken biryani is popular in Lucknow and other norther parts of India. Mild, flavorful and aromatic biryani rice dum cooked with chicken.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 6
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Awadhi

Ingredients

  • 420 grams basmati rice ((2 ½ cups) (aged rice))
  • 1 large onion (thinly sliced about 1 heaped cup (or handful of fried onions))
  • ¼ cup ghee
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 bay leaf (, small, / tej patta)
  • 4 green cardamoms (/ elaichi)
  • 1 to 2 cinnamon sticks (/ dalchini)
  • ½ shahi jeera (/ caraway seeds)
  • ½ tsp kewra water
  • 2 drops meeta attar ((optional) (prefer organic))
  • 3 to 4 green chilies
  • 1 Pinch saffron (, soaked in 1 tbsp water)
  • 4 tbsp cream
  • 1 ½ cup mint ((pudina chopped) (not used in authentic awadhi biryani, but some places they are used))
  • 1 kg chicken (or lamb meat (bone-in))
  • 1 ½ gram cinnamon (/ dalchini)
  • 6 green cardamoms (/ elaichi)
  • ½ tsp cloves (/ lavang)
  • 2 bay leaves (/ tej patta)
  • ¾ tsp salt (or as needed)
  • ½ tsp cardamom powder (/ eliachi powder)
  • 150 grams curd (, or ¾ cup, / yogurt (semi thick) (do not use sour))
  • 1 ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste (or ginger juliennes)
  • ½ tsp Yellow chili powder (, (Substitute with Red chilli powder))
  • 1 pinch mace powder (, or substitute with 2 to 3 strands of mace / javitri)
  • 1 tsp rose water
  • ½ tsp kewra water
  • ½ tsp shahi jeera
  • 1 to 2 bay leaf ((optional))
  • 2 to 4 green cardamoms (/ elaichi (optional))
  • Cinnamon stick ((optional))
  • 1 tsp oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice ((optional))
  • 1 tsp salt (or as needed)

Method

  1. Please follow the instructions from the step by step photo instructions.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.