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Home » Recipes » Chicken, Lamb & Seafood » One-pot Chicken Biryani – Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

One-pot Chicken Biryani - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Published May 15, 2017 Updated October 10, 2019 By Meeta Arora 32 Comments | This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker.  This is a one-pot Chicken Biryani, with fragrant rice and tender chicken pieces cooked in spices and caramelized onions.  When this biryani was cooking, the whole house had the fragrance of the amazing something cooking in the pot.  It was hard to wait!

Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

 

This recipe is different than the traditional biryani.  The main differences are that I am not adding multiple layers of chicken and rice, and I am not frying the onions, rather caramelizing them in ghee.  However the taste is so good, you wont be able to stop eating.  My very picky daughter ate the biryani too.  This is also a very quick recipe as opposed to the hours it took to cook dum biryani.  The time is 1.5 hours, but most of it is passive time for marinating the chicken.

If you prefer fried onions, you can add them to this recipe.  Just divide them and add half when marinating the chicken and half when the biryani is cooked to garnish.  Some people use store bought fried onions too.

So let's go through the steps of preparing the Chicken Biryani.

How make Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot 

First step is getting the ingredients ready for the biryani.  As you can see in the below picture, I got the whole spices and the saffron in warm milk ready.  I took out the marinated chicken from the refrigerator.   The chicken was marinated for an hour in yogurt, ginger, garlic, spices and lemon juice.

Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Preparation

To start cooking the biryani, saute the whole spices for a minute, then add in sliced onions and caramelize them.  This is the cooking step that takes some active effort, as you need to stir the onions frequently as they caramelize.  Once caramelized, remove and keep aside half the onions.  Add in the marinated chicken and cook for 2 minutes.

Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Steps 1

Add in the rice and water, and set to manual or high pressure cook mode for 4 minutes.   When the instant pot beeps, do a 10 minute NPR, which means a natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then a quick pressure release.

Garnish the biryani with the saffron soaked in warm milk by spreading it evenly.  Spread the caramelized onions and cilantro.

Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Steps 2

Chicken Biryani is ready.  Do not mix the biryani in the pot.  When you scoop out the biryani from the pot, do from the bottom of the pot, so you get both chicken and rice with each scoop.

Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Biryani is great to store for future use.  Keep in an airtight container to lock in the flavors.

Tried this recipe?Give a rating by clicking the ★ below
Chicken Biryani in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Chicken Biryani - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker

Meeta Arora
A one-pot Chicken Biryani with fragrant rice and tender chicken pieces cooked in spices and caramelized onions.
4.69 from 16 votes
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Servings: 4
Calories: 546
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Diet: Gluten-free
Method: Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker
Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients
 
 

  • 1 lb Chicken boneless cut into 1" inch pieces
  • 1 cup Basmati Rice washed (250 ml)
  • 2 tbsp Ghee
  • 1 Onion thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp Milk warm
  • 10 strands Saffron (Kesar)
  • 1 1/4 cups Water

For marination

  • 1/2 cup Yogurt
  • 1 tsp Garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp Tandoori Masala or Red Chili powder
  • 1 tbsp Ginger paste
  • 1 tbsp Garlic paste
  • 1 tsp Salt adjust to taste
  • 1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice

Whole Spices

  • 1 stick Cinnamon (Dalchini)
  • 2 Bay leaf (Tej Patta)
  • 2 Black Cardamom (Moti Elaichi)
  • 3 Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
  • 1/2 tsp Black Peppercorns

Instructions
 

Marinate the chicken:

  • Add chicken in a bowl with all the marinate ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate it for 1 hour or more.

Preparing the biryani:

  • Add the milk to a small bowl and warm it in the microwave. Add the saffron strands to it. Keep aside.
  • Start the instant pot in saute mode and heat it. Add ghee and whole spices.
  • Add in the sliced onions. Cook them for about 12 minutes until onions caramelize. Stir frequently, so they don't stick to the bottom. Take out half of the caramelized onions, leaving the whole spices in the pot.
  • Add the marinated chicken in the pot. Mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Then spread the chicken evenly on the base of the pot.
  • Spread the rice evenly over the chicken. Add the 1 and 1/4 cup of water to the pot. Change the instant pot setting to manual or pressure cook mode with high pressure for 4 minutes.
  • When the instant pot beeps, do 10 minute NPR. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release the pressure manually.
  • Garnish the biryani with saffron soaked in warm milk. With a teaspoon, spread the milk evenly over the rice.
  • Garnish with the caramelized onions we kept aside and cilantro. Let the biryani stand for 5 minutes so it can soak in the flavor on the saffron.
  • Serve chicken biryani with raita.

Notes

  • This recipe is for mild-medium spiced biryani, add or reduce the spice to your taste.
  • I used chicken thighs to prepare this biryani, you can use chicken breasts too.
  • Use long grain basmati rice to prepare biryani.

Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.

Nutrition

Calories: 546kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 24gFat: 28gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 704mgPotassium: 454mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 230IUVitamin C: 6.7mgCalcium: 99mgIron: 2.2mg
Keyword easy, instant pot, one pot, pressure cooker
Tried this recipe?Share your photo and tag @PipingPotCurry or #pipingpotcurry

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Charlotte says

    August 23, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    This was so delicious!! We're big fans of your vegetable biryani recipe and this was our first time making the chicken biryani. The marinade made the chicken so tender and flavourful. Thank you for this recipe!

    Reply
    • Piping Pot Curry says

      August 24, 2020 at 10:57 am

      Hi Charlotte - So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing back! 🙂

      Reply
  2. neepa says

    March 20, 2020 at 1:44 pm

    can you use chicken thighs, does it change the cook time?

    Reply
    • Meeta Arora says

      April 28, 2020 at 6:02 pm

      Hi Neena - If using boneless chicken thighs cut into same size pieces, the cooking time will remain the same. Hope you enjoy the biryani!

      Reply
  3. Nancy says

    March 10, 2020 at 4:05 am

    Wow, I thought this biryani was amazing. I added some raw cashews and that was a nice addition. It didn't seem possible that the rice could cook through with such a short cooking time, but as usual Meeta's directions were spot on. I may never buy biryani at an Indian restaurant again!

    Reply
    • Meeta Arora says

      March 14, 2020 at 11:42 pm

      Hi Nancy - So glad to hear you enjoyed the biryani. Thanks for sharing back your experience 🙂

      Reply
  4. Maxwel Anyanwu says

    February 03, 2020 at 9:22 pm

    Hello Meeta, you made no mention of salt. When should I add salt?

    Reply
    • Meeta Arora says

      February 19, 2020 at 10:06 pm

      Hi Maxwel - I added salt in the marinade. You can add more as needed before pressure cooking as well.

      Reply
  5. Deepa says

    January 18, 2020 at 6:00 am

    Hi i tried making today taste was good but rice got stuck at bottom. Can u pls give me some tips to avoid rice sticking. I guess this may happen w all rice dishes

    Reply
    • Nancy Swallow says

      April 11, 2020 at 12:52 pm

      If your rice sticks, you may need about an 8th of a cup more liquid and/or a teaspoon more ghee at the beginning.

      Reply
  6. Vinupriya says

    December 07, 2019 at 5:43 am

    Can I use whole chicken cut up with 5 cups rice in 6 at instant pot?

    Reply
    • Meeta Arora says

      December 30, 2019 at 8:24 am

      Hi Vinupriya - I have cooked a maximum of 4.5 cup of rice for pulao along with lots of veggies in 6qt instant pot. With chicken, I would say do a maximum of 4 cups rice in a 6qt instant pot. Hope you enjoy it!

      Reply
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