Easy and quick Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani, delicious tender chunks of chicken cooked with rice & Indian spices in a Pressure King Pro (or Instant Pot).
Create an authentic takeaway style curry for all to enjoy at home.
This is served up in our house every week! So quick and easy to make, the pressure cooker brings this simple Indian dish to the table in record time.
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Chicken
We use chicken thigh for this recipe as we prefer the softer dark meat over chicken breast. However, if you prefer breast meat you can use that instead.
See our step by step slide show on how we made our Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani.
You will find full ingredients and instructions on the card below.
Is Chicken Biryani spicy?
This is where the joys of making homemade curry come in! You can make it as spicy as you like?
As an example, we use 2 teaspoon of chilli puree (which is equivalent to 2 small red chilli peppers) in this recipe, which is medium hot.
See the chart below for how hot you would like to make your Chicken Biryani also read, about which chilli peppers to use under that!
| Gia Chilli Puree 🌶️ | Fresh Chilli Pepper (Serrano or Birds Eye) | |
| Mild | 1 tsp | 1 chilli |
| Medium | 2 tsp | 2 chillies |
| Hot | 3 tsp | 3 chillies |
| Extra Hot | 4 tsp | 4 chillies |
Which Chilli Peppers to use for curry in UK?
Most common chilli pepper sold in UK supermarkets are Serrano, although the packaging will just say medium spiced Chilli Pepper and usually a multi-pack of green and red.
I find the spiciness is so unpredictable with these, which is why I use Gia Chilli Puree.
Gia Chilli Puree is a great product.
I know how spicy it is going to make my dish; it keeps well in the fridge between uses, so I always have it handy when I need it!
Another bonus is you don't even have to chop it; squeeze it straight into the pressure cooker, no spicy fingers!!
If I use fresh chillies I prefer Birds Eye Chilli; although birds eye chillies are tiny, they are normally stronger than the larger Serrano chillies.
Whichever chillies you choose, remember the heat is mostly contained in the white membrane that holds the seeds.
What spices to add to Biryani?
We made up our own selection of ground spices for this chicken biryani, a mix of paprika, cumin, allspice, ginger, turmeric and coriander.
Also needed are bay leaves, cinnamon sticks & cardamom pods (which you will remove at the end of cooking).
You can use curry powder instead which will have a blend of the above in one pot.
What to cook Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani in?
We use a Pressure King Pro Pressure cooker, but the same instructions apply for an Instant Pot.
We love our Pressure Cooker it cooks things perfectly with minimal effort and no stirring involved!
What to serve with Biryani?
We served our Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani up with a simple tomato, cucumber and red onion salad.
Mango chutney & chapati bread. And, of course, a Cobra Beer.
We sometimes serve it up with a aubergine curry or mushroom bhaji, which we will post for you soon!
Biriyani also tastes great with cucumber raita.
Such a great meal, on the table quicker than a takeaway!
Chicken Biryani is lovely, but you can substitute chicken with lamb or prawn.
Also tastes great with vegetables like mushrooms, baby corn, cauliflower, peas, carrots, and green beans.
We often add some frozen vegetables in for extra health!
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon Olive oil
- 1 Onion Diced
- 3 Chicken Thighs chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1 tablespoon Gia Garlic Puree or 3 cloves minced
- 2 teaspoon Gia Chilli Puree or 2 bird eye chillies chopped
Biryani Spices
- 2 Bay Leaf
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 5 Cardamon Pods
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- ½ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 teaspoon Ground Allspice
- 2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 2 teaspoon Paprika
- 450 ml Vegetable Stock
- 300 grams Basmati Rice
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Coriander or dried coriander leaf
Instructions
- Place the pressure cooker on fry/saute mode and fry the onion with olive oil for 5 Minutes
- Add the Garlic, Chilli, Chicken, stir.
- Add all the spices and fry for 5 minutes until chicken has browned. Turn off fry mode.
- Place the rice on top adding 450ml of vegetable stock and stir all together
- Secure the lid, close the valve and cook on manual/pressure cooker mode for 8 minutes, let it release naturally for 10 minutes, then open the valve to release the remaining pressure.
- The cinnamon stick, bay leaves and cardamom pods should have all floated to the top! Remove them before stirring all together.
- Serve up and sprinkle some fresh coriander on top and enjoy!!
Video
Nutrition
Pressure Cooker Chicken Biryani is the best quick meal for any day of the week! What do you think? Let us know in the comments below?
More Indian Recipes
We have plenty of other popular Indian curry dishes we have created ausch as our chicken pathia, chilli paneer or a chicken bhuna.
Other rice recipes
From how to cook basmati rice to Indian style pilau rice or onion rice. Or other rice recipes like Jamaican Rice and Peas and Italian Rice Salad. Rice dishes are never boring with our recipes!
Shoba
You din say whether must use cooked or raw rice
Luke and Kay
Hi Shoba, it's raw rice, not cooked rice we used for this recipe 🙂
Hope you enjoy the Biryani
Peter
Really great recipe. Made it about 20 times, great use of my pressure cooker.
Kay
Hi Peter, thanks for the amazing review of our pressure cooker chicken biryani recipe! We're so happy you've made it about 20 times and that you think it's a great use of your pressure cooker. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience with others and we hope you'll continue to enjoy our recipes.
Vikki
Can this be reheated, if have leftovers.
Rachel
I’ve tried to make biryani for years and never succeeded. Made this last night. It’s so easy, came out perfectly and is absolutely delicious. Thank you SO much!
Kay
Thank you, Rachel, for the comment and rating 🙂
So lovely to hear our pressure cooker chicken biryani came perfect, and it tasted delicious 😉
If you like curry recipes you might like to try out our Chicken Bhuna Curry or our Chicken Balti Curry - Indian Takeaway Recipe they are amazing!!
Simon
I have made many Biryanis over the years. All different ways.
I always use Shah Biriani mix because it is amazing and I added two dessert spoons of yoghurt.
This was absolutely amazing. It saved me at least an hour and the whole family loved it. The texture was perfect. Thanks so much. I love BIR cooking and this was spot on
Kay
Hi Simon, thank you so much for that great comment and rating 🙂
So pleased you liked our pressure cooker chicken biryani; we always love this for a midweek meal. As you said, it's quick to cook and tastes amazing 😉
If you like a good curry, you might like our Chicken Pathia Curry its delicious
Billy Hammett
I find that to get my rice the way i like it i need to cook it for 24 mins but my PKP cookers rice settings only goes to 20minsand i find that if i add the extra on at the end it will burn to the bottom of pot, The solution that works for me is to cook for 4 mins first then do the 20 mins after that and it is perfect. i also like to stir in some lemon juice and a couple of spoons of natural yogurt. just anticipating the next batch MMMM.
Ben
Chicken biryani. You advise to add the garlic, chilli and chicken however unless I’m missing something chilli is not mentioned in the ingredients. How much?
Kay
Thanks for the comment, Ben 🙂
We just looked over the post, and the chillies are on the ingredients; we used two bird eye chillies chopped for a medium spice, but if you like it hot, go for three chillies or four chillies for extra hot, hope this helps 😉
Enjoy!!
Mick Maher
This recipe doesn't work with my Instant Pot - I have tried 4 times now and even sourced the puree's that is used and I always get the dreaded 'burn'. Just will not come up to pressure.
Kay
Hi Mick,
Thank you for reaching out to us. We or others have not had this problem before?
Do you mean it's burning at the bottom?
Is the valve of your instant pot definitely closed, you said it's not coming up to pressure that would indicate to me that the valve is open and letting the steam out?
Hope I can try and work out the problem for you.
Thanks
Kay & Luke
Finn
I have the same problem with my instant pot, I’ve tried adding more water and altering timing of adding the dry spices, pre soaking the rice linger, but I still up getting the burn food message before it comes up to pressure. Not always but it does feel like pot luck. Wish I could find away to avoid it consistently as I live this recipe.
Dale Barnes
Hi Kay, I have only just got my pkp and was looking for healthy recipes to use in it. We both want to shed a few pounds gained through medication and illnesses as we get older. But to be honest we aren’t that old lol. Anyway my question is if you where to make this for two would you half the spices? Also approx how much chicken do you think you used? We love biryani so I am really looking forward to making this recipe.
Maz Clarke
This recipe is delicous, i find that normally the rice goes a bit stodgy but this was perfect, could eat every day!
Amanda Marie Boyle
Wow and Instapot recipe that is actually "insta" can't wait to try.
Luke
We love our Pressure cooker!
Danielle maher
Made this tonight it was delicious.
Could this recipe be made with lamb,
Would the timing be different ?
Thank you
Kay
Thank you, Danielle, for the comment and question?
Yes, this Biryani recipe can be cooked with lamb. I suggest using lamb neck, rump or chop (without bone) cut into 1-inch cubes for the best results with a pressure cooker.
Stick with the same times as chicken; I hope this helps, and please let us know how it goes.
Enjoy!!
Leslie
I think chicken thighs were a great choice of meat for this recipe! So full of flavor and delicious!
Luke
Yes the chicken thigh meat is so tender and soft when cooked this way,
Capri
I’m obsessed with chicken biryani! It’s literally my fav! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Ramona
This chicken biryani looks amazing. I love your combo of spices!! Yumm.
FOODHEAL
Now, this is promising to be super spicy. A meal to enjoy slowly without having any other plans in mind
Natalie
Hi, I cooked this last week and it was really good. I added a little salt after and it was delicious! I could imagine there is salt in the vegetable stock but should I add some and if so how much to the dish before I turn the pressure cooker on? Thanks 😊
Lynette
Made this for dinner tonight. So easy. Wonderfully speedy. Delicious. This will be a family favourite. Thank you flawlessfood.
Kevin
Thanks Kay do you have any more Asian recipes that can be done in the PKP
Kay
Check all our pressure cooker recipes out here, we hope to make more soon! 🙂 https://flawlessfood.co.uk/category/pressure-cooker/
Is there something, in particular, you are looking for? We will see if we can create it for you 😉
Kevin
Hello there do I boil the rice first or is it straight in uncooked I'm giving it a go tonight
Kay
Hi Kevin, the rice goes in uncooked.
Enjoy 🙂
Tamara
I love how quick and easy this sounds to make.
Kay
It is a super quick and easy meal! Sometimes if we have no meat we do a vegetable version which is lovely too!!
Marcel
This recipe looks so loaded with healthy ingredients plus I absolutely love all the spices that you're using. Looks fantastic!
Kay
Thank you, we have it every week, we also add extra veggies for some extra goodness sometimes!
Phenie
I love how quick it is to make this dish for my family. Thank you
Kay
Thank you for your comment, we love it so quick but still full of flavour!