Low-fat chicken biryani
See this recipe step by step

Low-fat chicken biryani

This fragrant Indian chicken curry with rice topping has half the fat of your normal takeaway, and it's low calorie

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 5

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 35 mins

plus marinating

Low-fat, Super healthy

Method

  1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the garlic, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric and yogurt with some pepper and ¼ tsp salt. Tip in the chicken pieces and stir to coat (see step 1, above). Cover and marinate in the fridge for about 1 hr or longer if you have time. Warm the milk to tepid, stir in the saffron and set aside.
  2. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Slice each onion in half lengthways, reserve half and cut the other half into thin slices. Pour 1½ tbsp of the oil onto a baking tray, scatter over the sliced onion, toss to coat, then spread out in a thin, even layer (step 2). Roast for 40-45 mins, stirring halfway, until golden.
  3. When the chicken has marinated, thinly slice the reserved onion. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large sauté or frying pan. Fry the onion for 4-5 mins until golden. Stir in the chicken, a spoonful at a time, frying until it is no longer opaque, before adding the next spoonful (this helps to prevent the yogurt from curdling). Once the last of the chicken has been added, stir-fry for a further 5 mins until everything looks juicy. Scrape any sticky bits off the bottom of the pan, stir in the chilli powder, then pour in 100ml water, cover and simmer on a low heat for 15 mins. Remove and set aside.
  4. Cook the rice while the chicken simmers. Heat another 1 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan, then drop in the cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and cumin seeds. Fry briefly until their aroma is released. Tip in the rice (step 3) and fry for 1 min, stirring constantly. Stir in the stock and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for about 8 mins or until all the stock has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and leave with the lid on for a few mins, so the rice can fluff up. Stir the garam masala into the remaining 1½ tsp oil and set aside. When the onions are roasted, remove and reduce oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
  5. Spoon half the chicken and its juices into an ovenproof dish, about 25 x 18 x 6cm, then scatter over a third of the roasted onions. Remove the whole spices from the rice, then layer half of the rice over the chicken and onions. Drizzle over the spiced oil. Spoon over the rest of the chicken and a third more onions. Top with the remaining rice (step 4) and drizzle over the saffron-infused milk. Scatter over the rest of the onions, cover tightly with foil and heat through in the oven for about 25 mins. Serve scattered with the mint and coriander.
Try

HOW WE MADE IT HEALTHIER

• By using rapeseed oil instead of butter or ghee to cut the saturated fat. • Skinless chicken breasts reduce the fat. • A good balance of spices and herbs to finish, so the need for salt was greatly reduced. • By roasting the onions instead of frying them, so they needed less oil.

PER SERVING

485 kcalories, protein 40.1g, carbohydrate 51.7g, fat 11.7 g, saturated fat 1.5g, fibre 2.7g, sugar 7.1g, salt 0.6 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2012.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo tuscanlucia

    21 November 2012

    tuscanlucia commented on this recipe

    tried this tonight, really nice flavours. I didn't add the milk infused saffron, but it turned out lovely anyway.

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  • Binder photo Joan Killeen

    25 November 2012

    Joan Killeen commented on this recipe

    My family liked this recipe and I would make it again. Baking the onions in the oven is a great idea and cuts down on a lot of fat. However I would make some changes to the recipe. Firstly, although I used my largest frying pan, my yoghurt did curdle as I kept adding the chicken. So next time I'll remove the chicken after frying about half of it, fry the rest and then add it all back together for the last few minutes of frying. Hopefully that will prevent curdling. Secondly, I prefer biryani where the rice has been washed thoroughly and then boiled for 6 minutes in a lot of water and then strained. The result is less starchy then the method described here. That would mean adding the whole spices to the chicken sauce rather than the rice. And I also didn't use spiced oil and didn't miss it. I just added some garam masala before baking in the oven.

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  • Binder photo Joan Killeen

    25 November 2012

    Joan Killeen rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo Terry

    28 November 2012

    Terry rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Followed the recipe to the letter and everybody including 6 year old loved it. Really tasty. None left for tomorrow!

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  • Binder photo ginny

    03 January 2013

    ginny commented on this recipe

    easy to make and very tasty but took far longer than 25 mins to prepare! Didn't include the saffron milk either. Served it with the raita and a vegetable curry.

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  • Binder photo Jenny

    25 January 2013

    Jenny commented on this recipe

    Made this last night and it was a a great success, the only problem was everyone wanted more so I'll double it next time and serve naan bread and perhaps some curried chickpeas. It does take a while to prepare though i don't know how many times I kept reading it, but don't let that put you off. I even had some saffron in the cupboard so it was nice to use it up before the sell-by-date ran out.

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  • Binder photo Annie

    26 January 2013

    Annie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Well worth the effort we used 'fry light' instead of oil making it a very healthy fat free dish

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  • Binder photo TraceyO

    03 February 2013

    TraceyO commented on this recipe

    Absolutely delicious, will definitely be making again

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  • Binder photo Pewtersfood

    09 February 2013

    Pewtersfood rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Simply gorgeous !

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  • Binder photo wowbaker

    13 April 2013

    wowbaker rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really nice and flavorful outcome... I added my own twist for Indian palate.. a bit of coconut milk and tomato puree to the chicken gravy gave it extra thickness and flavor...

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  • Binder photo Michelle

    17 April 2013

    Michelle rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really nice dish although takes some cooking time wise. The whole family enjoyed it.

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  • Binder photo EmmaJane

    21 April 2013

    EmmaJane rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    The yogurt curdled but it didn't matter...clean plates all round! I would add some flaked almonds and perhaps some sultanas next time. Also served it with mango chutney and shop bought raita. The roasted onions really add an extra dimension of flavour.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 5

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 35 mins

plus marinating

Low-fat, Super healthy

Ingredients

  • 3 garlic cloves , finely grated
  • 2 tsp finely grated ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 5 tbsp natural yogurt
  • 600g boneless, skinless chicken breasts , cut into 4-5cm pieces
  • 2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
  • good pinch saffron
  • 4 medium onions
  • 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • ½ tsp hot chilli powder
  • 1 cinnamon stick , broken in half
  • 5 green cardamom pods , lightly bashed to split
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 280g basmati rice
  • 700ml chicken stock
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • handful chopped coriander leaves
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PER SERVING

485 kcalories, protein 40.1g, carbohydrate 51.7g, fat 11.7 g, saturated fat 1.5g, fibre 2.7g, sugar 7.1g, salt 0.6 g

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