What is the recipe to make non-spicy Awadhi chicken biryani?
2 lb bone-in chicken
2½ cups basmati rice, washed, rinsed, and soaked in water, for 30 minutes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
4 cloves
4 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
10 black peppercorns
1" stick cinnamon
½ cup yogurt, beaten
½ cup red onion, sliced
2 teaspoon garlic paste
2 teaspoon ginger paste
salt, to taste
½ tsp red chili powder or to taste
½ cup red onion sliced and fried
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Orange good color - a pinch
1 chicken bouillon cube (optional)

Prepare chicken

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot. To this, add 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamom pods, 1 black cardamom, peppercorns and 1/4" cinnamon. Sauté until fragrant. Next, add onion slices and fry on medium heat until onions turn golden brown.
Add garlic and ginger paste. Fry until the raw smell goes off.Add chicken and mix well. Add chilli powder, ½ tsp garam masala powder and yogurt. Mix well. Cover and cook on medium-low flame until chicken is cooked through. Add little water if needed to cook. However at the end, any remaining gravy should be evaporated.

Prepare rice

Add 10 cups of water to a large deep heavy bottomed pot. Add 2 tsp salt, 1 bay leaf, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamom pods, 1 black cardamom, and 1/4" cinnamon to the water. At this time,  you can also add the bouillon. Once the water is boiling, add soaked rice and gently stir to combine. Cook on medium high heat until the rice is cooked 90% through, stirring gently. Drain the rice and keep aside

Layer chicken and rice 

In the pot that you boiled the rice in, add 1/8 cup water. Take 1/3 cooked rice and spread a layer evenly. Then put a layer of 1/2 chicken. Generously sprinkle fried onions, oil, pinch of garam masala powder. Then repeat the rice and chicken layers alternating. The last layer should be rice on top. Add some oil and garam masala powder and fried onions on the top layer. Sprinkle orange food color. Close the lid and put on high heat until the water at the bottom of the pot starts steaming through. Then put the heat on low and cover the lid. Let it steam through for 15-20 min. Gently mix b folding over the chicken and rice layers. Biryani is ready!


Serve with cucumber "raita"