Succulent chicken, fluffy fragrant rice and the aroma of the whole spices, this Instant Pot Chicken Biryani is just as delicious as its stovetop counterparts. And the best part? This biryani is ready in less than an hour without compromising on the flavour texture. It really can’t get better than this! 

Traditionally, cooking a biryani at home from scratch, meant hours of being in the kitchen, prepping, cutting, and perfecting each individual layer. This is why making biryani was usually reserved for a Sunday lunch affair. But would you believe it if I told you that you can make the same in under an hour, without compromising on the flavour or texture? Sounds too good to be true, I know, but hear me out. 

For #PressureCookerMarch series, I recreated my favourite dishes on the blog, the OG chicken biryani in my Instant Pot! The results were just as perfect and mouthwatering, but I cannot get over the fact that the whole dish was ready to serve in under an hour! This makes it such a time saver, and is yet another rice dish that’s found a permanent spot in my busy weeknight dinner ideas. I have been using my instant pot for almost a decade, but I am still surprised by how versatile it is! I use it to saute, make one-pot meals, dessert, eggs, yogurt, everything, but making this chicken dum biryani in the instant pot was truly a game changer, and something I highly recommend you to try.

• A simple one pot biryani recipe that’s quick and delicious. 
• Cooking in an Instant Pot means your biryani is ready in under an hour, making it perfect for weeknight biryani cravings as well. 
• This recipe requires mostly pantry staples, so you’ll most likely find most of the ingredients already in your kitchen. 
• Once you marinade the chicken, the cooking process is pretty hands off, as the marinade does such an amazing job at making this biryani extra flavourful. 
• It’s a really simple recipe that requires just 30 minutes of prep and active cook time 

Components of a good biryani

Biryani is a layered rice dish that traditionally involves a longer cooking process. Semi-cooked rice, fried onions, and marinated pieces of meat form the different layers of a biryani. Everything is first cooked separately, layered and finally steamed together to create pressure or dum. This dum is what allows the rice to cook, while soaking up all flavour and colour from the chicken, saffron milk, coriander and spices, resulting in that perfect biryani we love so much. 

But cooking in an Instant Pot means everything gets done very quickly and saves so much time. And because one of the benefits of using an Instant Pot is its ability to cook quickly, without any flavour nutrient loss, rest assured that your biryani will taste just as delicious as its slow-cooked stovetop counterpart. 

And don’t worry, it is totally possible to create the same dum like environment in an Instant Pot. Instead of cooking everything separately, layering and finally cooking again, Instant Pot biryani is a no-fuss, one-pot affair. We cook the different layers one after the other, in the same pot, layering as they cook. And the pressure of the Instant pot acts like the dum of the traditional cooking process. The various functions such as sauteing, manual pressure release, keep warm, steam, etc. of an Instant Pot makes cooking this an absolute breeze! So what you get is a quickly cooked delicious biryani without having compromised on the flavour or texture. Isn’t that really cool!? 

Ingredients You’ll need to make Instant Pot Chicken Biryani

For the marinade:

• Chicken: For biryani, I would highly recommend using skinless bone-in chicken thigh or drumsticks as they remain tender even after the cooking process. I wouldn’t recommend breast pieces as they tend to turn out drier and become chewy. 
• Yogurt: I have used full fat greek yogurt in my marinade. But if you don’t have that you can replace it with some hung curd.  
• Tomato puree: I have used a readymade tomato puree, but you can definitely replace it with a homemade version.  
• Oil: Any vegetable oil like canola or sunflower will work for this recipe. 
• Ginger garlic paste: For flavour and aroma. 
• Spices: We use powdered spices like red chilli, turmeric and garam masala for this recipe. You can also replace red chilli powder with a teaspoon each of paprika and cayenne pepper.  
• Brown onion: Brown onions have a stronger flavour than red onions and are not as sweet, so these taste the best in biryani. These are easily available at most Indian markets and grocery stores. But don’t worry if you can’t find it, you can make your own! 
• Salt: For flavour and seasoning.  

For the biryani rice: 

• Rice: I have used Basmati rice for this recipe and it’s best to use basmati rice for this kind of biryani, but you can use any long grain variety that’s easily available to you.  
• Whole spices: This recipe uses cardamom, cloves and bay leaf for an earthy flavour and aroma. 

For the layering the biryani: 

• Saffron milk: This is responsible for that lovely orange colour and creaminess of a great biryani. All you need to do is soak 10-15 strands of saffron in hot milk for about 15 minutes. More instructions in the recipe card below!
• Mint and coriander leaves: Used a garnish for a dash of freshness. 
• Ghee: Poured at the end on the topmost layer of biryani for a nice, rich flavour. You can easily replace this melted butter too. 
• Brown onions: Forms the topmost layer of the biryani and gives a nice crunch to every bite. 

How to make the best instant pot chicken biryani

Here’s a step-by-step collage showing you how to make instant pot chicken biryani at home:

1. Mix together all the ingredients under chicken marinade and marinate for at least two hours or overnight for best results.

2. Soak washed basmati rice for 20 minutes before cooking.

3. When you are ready to make the biryani, soak saffron strands in hot milk and rub them slightly with the back of a spoon. Set this aside.

4. Turn on the SAUTE mode on the Instant Pot. Add 3 tablespoons of ghee or oil and add 2 cardamoms, 2 cloves and 1 bay leaf. Sauté for a minute.

5. Add the chicken along with any leftover marinade. Sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occassionally. Cover the lid of the Instant Pot and press CANCEL.

6. Now press MANUAL and set the timer for 3 minutes on HIGH. Pressure cook for 3 minutes. Once done, manually release the pressure immediately.

7. Sprinkle chopped coriander and mint on the cooked chicken.

8. Boil 2 cups of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add all soaked and drained rice and spread it evenly over the chicken. Pour the boiled water and make sure all the rice is submerged.

along with raita!

9. Cover the lid and press MANUAL. Set the timer for 6 minutes. Once done, manually release the pressure immediately.

10. Sprinkle saffron milk, 2 tablespoons of melted ghee and 2 tablespoons of fried onions. Turn off the Instant Pot and put the lid on. Let biryani rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve hot

Richa’s top tips to make the best instant pot chicken biryani

• Do not skip soaking the rice before cooking. This is an important step to prevent overcooked, mushy rice. It helps in removing the excess starch and helps the rice stay firm and fluffy until the end of the cooking process all the excess water 
• For maximum flavour, marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Or you can choose to marinate it for 6-8 hours in the refrigerator. 
• It is best to use fresh whole and ground spices when making this instant pot chicken biryani. Spices that are under a year old have a stronger flavour and aroma and make the whole dish taste so much better. 
• After adding the rice in the Instant Pot, make sure it is properly submerged under the liquid before closing the lid of the IP. 
• Be very gentle and use a silicone spatula when mixing fluffing up and mixing the layers of the biryani to prevent the rice from breaking. 

Since the time I have started making my biryani this way in an instant pot, it has become so much easier to honour those unexpected biryani cravings without ordering in from outside. Plus, because it’s a one pot recipe with a much more comprehensive cooking process, there’s a lot less mess to clean up after. I serve my biryani with some fried onion rings and a vegetable raita to form a complete comfort meal.  

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