Kolkata Style Chicken Dum Biriyani to make at Home

"Learn to prepare authentic Kolkata- Style Chicken Dum Biriyani with aromatic spices, potatoes and eggs. A traditional Bengali delicacy made easy!"

 

Chicken Biryani is the most ordered dish in India. This is a aromatic dish that includes layers of chicken, rice, and aromatics that are steamed together that has spread across a wide swath of South Asia, reaching as far west as Iraq and as far east as Indonesia. This immensely popular dish resulted in a wide variety of ingredients; Basmati Rice, ghee (clarified butter), nutmeg, mace, pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, onions, tomatoes, green chilies others with premium ingredient saffron and a patience process of cooking then layering seasoned chicken with aromatic rice and steaming them together. Detailing of making the Biryani gives enough logical conclusions that why it is the most ordered dish in India.

Kolkata-style Chicken Biryani isn’t just a dish—it’s a memory wrapped in layers of rice, soft chicken, and that one iconic potato that makes all the difference. Unlike other versions, Kolkata biryani whispers its spices rather than shouting them, letting the aroma do the talking. Growing up, it was always a special Sunday affair or something we waited for during festivals. The fragrance of ghee, the delicate saffron rice, and the joy of finding the perfectly cooked aloo hidden inside—these are moments etched in my heart. Making it at home isn’t just about food, it’s about recreating that feeling of warmth, nostalgia, and celebration that Kolkata carries in every grain.

I often make my Biryani and make it clubbed with cooling raita made with yogurt, chopped mint, cucumber and onion with a pinch of salt, red chili powder but this is also good green salad. Now, comes the process of making Biryani. My Biryani is Kolkata style so I am using potatoes.

A good Biriyani starts with the right vessel- 

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Ingredients:

1.    Basmati Rice- 700 gram

1.1 Chicken (breast and drum stick)- 500 gram

2.     Birista- 1 cup

3.     Salt- As required

4.     Peeled Potatoes-: 6

5.     Boiled Eggs- 6

6.     Ghee- 6 tablespoon

7.     White Oil- 6 tablespoon

8.     Saffron- few

9.     Milk- 1/4^th cup

10.  Kewra Water- few drops

11.  Meetha Ittar- 2 drops

12.  Aloobukhara- 6 ( Soaked in at least 10  minutes in luke warm water

13.  Cloves-6

14.  Star Anise-1

15.  Cinnamon Stick- 1 inch

16.  Carawey Seeds/ Shahi Jeera Powder- 1 and 1/2   teaspoon

17.  White Pepper Powder- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon

18.  1 Strand Mace powder 

19.  Bay leaves-12

20.  Biryani Masala- 1 teaspoon

 

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For Chicken Margination-:

1.     Onion chopped- 1 and 1/2 cup

2.     Curd-100 grams

3.     Garlic Paste- 2 tablespoon

4.     Ginger Paste- 1 Tablespoon

5.     Birista- ½ cup

6.     Salt- As Required

7.     Green Chili Paste- 1 tablespoon

8.     Turmeric Powder- 1 teaspoon

9.     Biryani Masala- ½  teaspoon

10.  Coriander Powder- 2 Teaspoon

11.  Garam Masala Powder- 1 teaspoon

12.  Mint leaves- 1 bunch

13.  Chopped coriander leaves- 1 bunch

14.  Refined oil for frying potatoes- As required

15.  Lemon juice- 2 tablespoon

16.  Oil- 2  to 3 tablespoon (oil is that one in which barista was made) 

Mix well with spatula very minutely

 

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Making Process-:

Step 1-: Boiled the egg and potatoes separately and peel off

Step-2 Cooking Chicken

·   Marinate the chicken with all ingredients except onion and keep covered for 30 minutes.

·  Heat oil in a pan and make the barista (the process of making barista in the tips section) Keep aside.

·    In the same oil add and one table spoon of ghee and add the chopped onion cook till transparent. Now add marinated chicken to it. Cook in high flame for 2-3 minutes. Then shimmer the flame and cook until the separates from the spices.  Add little water and cook till the chicken done. Keep the chicken aside in separate dish. Remember to use heavy bottom pot and cook on low flame. Don’t Overcook the chicken. Cook it to 85 to 90 percent.

·   When chicken is done, in same pan without washing add eggs and potatoes. Fry and cook  for 5 to 7 minutes till golden color.

Step -3-: Cooking Rice

Wash and soak the rice for 10 minutes. Now take a big vessel and add enough water let it comes to enough heated not boiling. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon oil, cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, star anise. Then add soaked rice and cook it to 80 percent. First put the gas on high flame so that water comes into roaring boil then after 4/5 minutes slow down the flame and put in low flame. After cooking 80 percent now you drain the rice.  Spread the rice on flat tray so that it would not get stacked together and spoiled.

 Step-4-:  Layering

1.    Take a thick bottomed vessel which has a lid. Brush ghee generously at the bottom and sides of the vessel. Then add about 6 bay leaves at the bottom. Next put a layer of rice evenly and cover the bottom. Next add a layer of chicken with barista and cover with rice. Again top with some barista, potatoes and aloobukhara and rest of the chicken.

2.    Add the remaining rice for the final layer. Now add the saffron soaked in milk and smear it all over the rice. Add meetha ittar & kewra water. Put the lid on the vessel and seal it tightly with aluminum foil.

Step-5-:  Steaming

1.    Put an iron tawa on the gas in low medium flame and put the Biryani vessel on top of it. Dum cooking or Steam for 20 minute. Before opening the lid, finally hold the vessel from both sides with a napkin and shake it well.

2.     Your Biryani is ready to be served. Open the foil and serve carefully with some rice. A piece of chicken and a potato. This goes well with raita. 

 

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Tips-:

·  For barista as my requirements- 2 kgs Onions (thinly sliced), 4 cups Oil (for frying). If you want then you can sprinkle salt which will bring the color first. Then you should be careful about the adding salt to the specific dish on which you will garnish with barista.  First, Peel and slice them thinly remember to maintain equal size and thickness. In pan or kadhai, heat oil. Once the oil is hot, add sliced onions and them until light golden. Don’t make dark brown because after taking off from the pot it will remain cooking due to  the heat in the onion and it will become black Lastly, spread them onto a clean kitchen towel and allow it to sit for 7-8 minutes. Please make in batches. Don’t make all in one batch then it will become chunky and cloggy.

·  To Prevent Biryani from burning at the bottom-It's really important to use a heavy-bottomed pot when you make chicken Biryani, and put a tawa or flat skillet on low heat then place the heavy bottom pot above it.. This will stop it from coming in contact with direct heat, and it'll steam at a low heat. 

·   I suggest using only chicken thighs and drumsticks while cooking Biryani and most importantly if you want your chicken to be juicier in your Biryani, do not remove the bone.

·   While buying rice, make sure you buy the real basmati sella. This rice is fragrant and has slightly thinner grains than long grain rice. Real basmati rice will give the Biryani a perfect punch of   distinct flavor and taste. Don’t use too much fragrant rice which over power the whole dish

·     In the first step make a layer of bay leaf then start layering. It will protect from getting burn the rice and chicken.

·     In the last step of cooking the Biryani, on a low flame for 20 minutes, put off the gas and shake the pot carefully by holding two sides tightly.   

·   If your cooked rice has turned sticky, spread it on a plate and leave it for 5 minutes. The rice will be separate and fluffy again.

·    For better flavor and to bring out the best taste in Chicken Biryani, do dry roast all the whole spices with 1 teaspoon of salt for a good 2-3 minutes and then pound or grind them.