Instant Pot Lamb Biryani is an aromatic one-pot dish made with long grain basmati rice and lamb and flavored with complex spices and caramelized onions, raisins, and nuts. This biryani rice is the pressure cooker version of a family recipe for mutton biryani.

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Many cultures around the world have a version of a rice and meat dish. Biryani (pronounced ‘bir-yah-nee’) is the Indian version of paella, jambalaya, or arroz con pollo i.e. meat, seafood, or vegetables cooked with rice.
If you love Indian food, you’re going to love this biryani rice recipe. It’s one of my favorite dishes; it’s an aromatic one pot meal that delivers a feast in every bite.
Different regions of India have different recipes for biryani. Essentially, biryani is meat, fish or vegetables layered alternately with long grain rice, and cooked slowly to make a delicious one-pot meal. Chicken biryani and mutton biryani (goat meat) are very popular versions.
➡ Looking for more Indian recipes? Try my Instant Pot lamb curry or healthy butter chicken. They are on regular rotation at my house!
Pakki biryani (prounounced ‘puck-ee’) is where the meat and rice are cooked separately and then alternately layered in a pot and cooked further. Dum biryani (prounounced ‘dhum’) is where rice and meat are steamed together.
This Instant Pot lamb biryani recipe was adapted from a stovetop recipe my mother-in-law makes for special occasions. The Instant Pot makes it much easier to cook this dum biryani.
❤️ WHY YOU NEED TO TRY THIS RECIPE
- It’s an authentic family recipe.
- The rice and meat are cooked together for a one-pot meal.
- This lamb biryani recipe has fantastic flavor!
- The Instant Pot makes cooking biryani easy, with very little fuss.
🧂 Ingredients you’ll need for Instant Pot lamb biryani
More details in the recipe card at the bottom of this post
💡 Tips for Making Instant Pot Biryani
Frying the onions
The most time-consuming part of this Instant Pot biryani recipe is frying the onions. Fried onions are an important ingredient in this Instant Pot biryani. You can cook them a couple of ways:
- Instant Pot: fry onions in Saute mode
- Stovetop: deep fry in a wok or saute in a frying pan
Although you can get decent results with the Instant Pot, the frying pan is better if you want crisp onions. Either way, they take time.
If you find the onions sticking to the bottom of the pot, deglaze ever often with a tablespoon or two of water. I keep a cup of water to the side that I use occasionally during the frying process.
Biryani spice
The biryani spice mix is a prepared spice mix that’s readily available at any Indian grocery store. You can buy your choice of biryani masala (spice mix) or even make your own. These are some options:
Or you can make your own biryani spice mix:
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp black pepper powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
Garam masala
Garam masala can be purchased at an Indian grocery store. If possible, use a homemade garam masala, preferably ground fresh. If you don’t have your own garam masala recipe, try my homemade garam masala recipe.
Grind in a coffee grinder or mix powders together and store in a cool dry place. The aroma is heavenly!!
Spiciness
To make lamb biryani Instant Pot recipe spicier, add a chopped jalapeno when you’re pressure cooking the marinated lamb. You could also increase the quantity of chili powder.
Avoiding the burn message
Before you cook the lamb, make sure you deglaze the inner pot so there’s nothing stuck to the bottom or you can have trouble with the Instant Pot not sealing.
Before you cook the rice and after pressure cooking the lamb, stir the curry and scrape off anything stuck to the bottom.
When you’re adding the rice to the gravy, don’t stir it in. Just pour the washed rice in, gently spread it out and press down with a spatula to make sure the gravy covers the rice.
Marinating the meat
Although I prefer to marinate the meat for this mutton biryani Instant Pot recipe, there are times when I don’t plan ahead and I skip the marination. Things happen, and sometimes you do what you can! It still turns out quite tasty.
Substitute other meats
- For Instant Pot chicken biryani: use skinless, bone-in chicken legs and thighs instead of lamb, pressure cook for 6 to 8 minutes, and then proceed with the biryani recipe as written.
- For beef biryani: use beef stew meat and follow the recipe as written.
❓ FAQS
Based on reader feedback, I’ve changed the recipe instructions so you can try and avoid the burn message. You now add 1 cup of broth or water when adding the rice.
Make sure you deglaze very well after sauteing onions and cashews. When adding the rice in the second stage of pressure cooking, don’t stir the rice. Just push it down gently with a spatula.
Find out more about the Instant Pot burn message.
Yes, you can double the recipe. Keep the cooking time the same.
You can make the biryani ahead of time but garnish it when ready to serve. You can also just make the fried onions ahead of time and store them in the fridge.
I like to have a smooth marinade, so prefer to blend it. However, you can chop the ingredients finely if you want to avoid blending.
📝 How to make lamb biryani in Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Marinate the lamb
- Saute onions, raisins, and cashew nuts
- Add lamb to Instant Pot
- Pressure cook lamb
- Add rice and pressure cook
- Stir lamb biryani
Marinate the lamb
- Blend the milk, yogurt, turmeric, biryani spice, garam masala, chili powder, salt, lemon juice, dried fruit, ginger, and garlic (or ginger garlic paste). Optional: WHITE poppy seeds (not black).
- Add cilantro and mint, and blend some more, until smooth.
- Transfer sauce and lamb meat to a medium bowl.
- Stir and refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours.
Saute onions, raisins, and cashew nuts
- In Saute mode, add ghee or oil to the Instant Pot inner pot. Add sliced onions to the ghee. Cook the onions until they are caramelized. Keep stirring so they don’t burn! This can take 20 to 30 minutes. It will take a long time to get the onions to be crisp and completely caramelized as shown above. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add more ghee or oil to the Instant Pot if necessary. Add raisins and cashews and saute until the raisins puff up. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.
✏️ NOTE
- Make sure you’re keeping a close eye on the onions. If the onions begin sticking to the bottom, deglaze occasionally with a tablespoon or two of water or broth.
- You can probably fry the onions faster on the stovetop. I give Instant Pot instructions because some people want to make the whole meal in the Instant Pot.
Add lamb to Instant Pot
- Deglaze the inner pot with a couple of tablespoons of water so there’s nothing stuck on the bottom of the inner pot. Add back half the fried onions.
- Add the lamb with marinade.
Program the Instant Pot and release pressure
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and cook on high pressure for 12 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 12:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a 10 minute natural release of pressure or a full natural release. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened.
Add rice and pressure cook
- Add one cup of water or broth to the Instant Pot. Stir and make sure there’s nothing stuck on the bottom of the pot.
- Add rinsed basmati rice to the Instant Pot. Press down with a spatula so the liquid covers the rice, but don’t stir. Close the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Do a 15-minute natural pressure release.
Stir the lamb biryani and let it rest
- Stir the lamb and rice carefully with a rice paddle or large silicone spatula.
- Let the biryani rest for about 10 minutes and sprinkle the remaining fried onions, raisins, cashews, cilantro, and mint.
If there’s too much liquid, let the rice rest a little longer and it should thicken up. Serve this easy Instant Pot recipe with raita (Indian yogurt relish).
Instant Pot Tips and Tricks
Delay Start
Learn about how to use the Instant Pot Delay Start feature, which allows you to begin pressure cooking at a future time.
Pot in Pot
Find out how to use the Instant Pot pot in pot cooking method, which allows you to cook multiple foods together.
Cooking Times
Find out Instant Pot Cooking Times and what method of pressure release to use.
More Easy Instant Pot Indian Favorites
- Instant Pot Beef Curry is a popular South Indian recipe that’s going to please your entire family! Delicious, simple and it can be eaten as a stew too!
- Instant Pot Chicken Curry is juicy chicken simmered with aromatic spices, and tangy tomatoes for a quick weeknight curry made easily in the pressure cooker.
- Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala is an easy recipe with chicken cooked in a rich, creamy tomato sauce flavored with warm Indian spices like coriander, cumin, and garam masala.
Instant Pot Lamb Biryani Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 ½ tablespoon biryani spice prepared mix
- 1 teaspoon garam masala preferably home-made
- ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder optional
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 10 dried apricots optional – can also use prunes or dried figs
- 1 tablespoon ginger chopped coarsely
- 2 tablespoon garlic chopped coarsely
- 1 teaspoon white poppy seeds optional – don’t use black poppy seeds
- ¼ cup cilantro packed
- 7 mint leaves
- 2 lbs lamb (1 kg) cut into 1 ½ inch cubes – can use beef too
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil or ghee
- 3 cups onions sliced
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup cashews preferably raw
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups Basmati rice
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 teaspoon mint chopped
Instructions
- Blend the milk, yogurt, turmeric, biryani spice, garam masala, chili powder, salt, lemon juice, dried apricots, ginger, garlic and white poppy seeds.
- Add cilantro and mint and blend some more, until marinade is smooth.
- Stir together lamb and marinade in a medium bowl, and refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours.
- Heat the Instant Pot in Saute mode, and add oil or ghee to the Instant Pot inner pot when it’s hot. Add sliced onions and fry the onions until they are caramelized and brown, but not burnt! This can take 20 to 30 minutes. Remove onions with a slotted spoon, and set aside. This step can also be done in a frying pan.
- Add raisins and fry until plump (add more ghee or oil if needed). Remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside. Add cashews and fry until they’re golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Both steps can also be done in a frying pan.
- Press Cancel to turn off the Instant Pot and deglaze the inner pot with a couple of tablespoons of water so there’s nothing stuck to the bottom of the inner pot.
- Add back half the fried onions to the inner pot. Add in the lamb with marinade.
- Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook for 12 minutes on High Pressure.
- Do a 10-minute natural release or full natural release (if you have the time) and open the lid. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Stir the bottom of the Instant Pot and make sure there's nothing stuck to the bottom. Pour the water into the bowl that the lamb was marinated in, and swirl around to pick up any remnant marinade. Pour this water into the inner pot and stir to combine.
- Rinse the rice and add to the Instant Pot. DON'T stir, but press the rice down into the gravy. This helps prevent the Instant Pot burn message.
- Close the lid and pressure cook for 6 minutes. Do a 10 minute natural pressure release. Open the Instant Pot and stir up the biryani carefully.
- Let the biryani rest for about 10 minutes and sprinkle remaining fried onions, raisins, cashews, cilantro and mint.
Notes
- If the onions begin sticking to the bottom, deglaze occasionally with a tablespoon or two of water.
- Onions may also be cooked on the stovetop, in a frying pan.
- It’s important that you don’t stir the rice when you add it to the Instant Pot, or you could have issues with the Instant Pot not coming to pressure. Just press down to cover with liquid.
- If you don’t have access to biryani masala (spice mix), substitute the following: 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp black pepper powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips, including homemade garam masala.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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✅ Why Trust Neena at Paint the Kitchen Red?
I’m Neena, and I have a lifetime of experience working with pressure cookers. I know how to maximize the potential of a pressure cooker to consistently produce delicious and easy meals. With my Instant Pot expertise, I can provide valuable insights, troubleshooting advice, and innovative recipe ideas so you can trust me on all things Instant Pot!
➡ New to the Instant Pot? Get my Instant Pot instructions for beginners.
Suzane says
This is the worst biryani recipe. I followed it exactly as written, and the rice didn’t cook all the way. Disappointed and hungry family. 😑
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Suzane, I’m sorry you had a bad experience with the recipe. In my experience, undercooked rice usually happens due to the type of rice. Whenever you make a recipe with rice in it, you need to make sure the cooking time is adjusted based on that type of rice. I usually recommend that the rice be cooked alone first to make sure it cooks through at the stated amount of time. Some rice varieties require a longer cook time. There are also variations with different Instant Pots. So I would suggest you cook the same rice (plain) and make sure it cooks properly. Long grain and basmati usually take 6 minutes, jasmine takes 4 minutes.
Linda says
Hi, I am planning to make this for a family get-together this weekend. Can I add canned lentils and potatoes? Does the potatoes have to be half cooked before adding and when do I need to add them and for how long?
Can I use lamb/beef on the bone?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Linda, thanks for your question. Yes, you can use lamb or beef on the bone, but you might need to increase the pressure cooking time if the pieces are any larger than stew-size. You could add 2-inch cubed potatoes when you’re adding the rice, but you might have a mess when you stir it all up because the potatoes will be very well done. The other option is to pan-fry the potatoes with a bit of the biryani spices and salt and add them in at the end. The canned lentils can probably just be stirred in at the end.
Jas says
Hi I’m going to try this recipe but just wanted to check if marinating the lamb overnight is better and makes it more flavoursome. Or no need?
Thanks, will let you know how it turns out!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Jas, you don’t have to – I do it sometimes without overnight marinating. That being said, marinating it, even for 2 to 4 hours, is better. Hope you enjoy it.
Jillian says
We LOVE this recipe!! I was wondering if you could use brown basmati rice… how would that change the cooking time?
Thanks,
Jillian
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Great question, Jillian. I’ve not made it with brown rice but here’s how I would do it: Cook the lamb and rice together, putting the rice on top and just pushing it down into the sauce. Pressure cook for 22 minutes. I hope that works out for you. I’d love it if you’d give us an update.
Jillian says
Ok, so instead of doing the lamb (for 12 min) and the rice for 5 minutes, do them together for 22 min and let it naturally release?
Just so I’m sure.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Yes, that’s right. Since you’re cooking brown rice and it needs a 22 minute cook time and since the lamb would have cooked for 17 minutes anyway, I don’t think an extra 5 minutes should make the lamb overcooked. You could do a 15-minute natural release too. The only caveat is the rice – you should cook it for however long you normally cook your brown rice for. 22 minutes usually works for me. I’ve never made this recipe with brown rice, but that’s how I would do it if I were to try it out. Hopefully it will turn out well 🙂
Jillian says
Hello, so I n m add it with the brown rice and left it for 22 min HP + 15 min NR and the rice was a tiny bit crunchy with some liquid remaining. I left the IP With the lid on for another 30 min and the liquid absorbed and rice softened right up. What do you think? More cook time? More NR? The flavor was fantastic, though. I’d love to keep trying to make it with brown rice.- many thanks
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Jillian, glad that the flavor was good. Have you cooked this brown rice (plain) before? How much time does it normally take? I think another minute of pressure cooking and natural release sounds like it would be work well. Glad to hear it’s something you want to try again because I think I might need to do the same.
Ankitha S Gadag says
Thanks for sharing the recipe. would you keep the same timings to make with beef? (stew cut)
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Ankitha, yes you can use the same timings for the beef. Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Rk says
Hi
I followed all the instructions above but the rice were soggy. How much water do you add in when you add the marinade and lamb?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Rk, you don’t add any liquid because the marinade has enough liquid to come to pressure.
MCO says
thank you very much for sharing your recipe:)
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You’re very welcome!
Jen says
It smelled delicious but kept giving the “burn” error and I couldn’t complete the cooking. Any thoughts on how to avoid this?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Jen, assuming you have no issues with other recipes, it seems like your Instant Pot requires some changes to the recipe. Did you get the burn error when cooking the lamb or the rice? If it’s the rice, make sure you don’t stir the rice. If you didn’t stir the rice, then you probably need to add some extra liquid to the lamb when you’re first cooking it. I would try an extra 1/4 cup.
Cheryll says
Hello, I don’t know what I did wrong. The meat came out flavorful but the rice was hard and lacked any flavor at all. It was like eating plain white rice. I really wished I knew what happened as it smelled so good but it was so bland 🙁
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Cheryll, I’m not sure either but the lack of flavor was probably due to the fact the rice didn’t cook through and so didn’t absorb the juices of the meat/sauce. What kind of rice did you use? Some rice types do take longer to cook. Basmati is about 6 to 7 minutes. Have you ever cooked this type of rice in the Instant Pot before and did you have good results? I’m sorry you had trouble.
Leon says
Hi Nina,
I just wanted to say that this recipe is wonderful and has been bookmarked for life.
I set out to prepare biryani for 6ppl, I used 5 cups (160ml Instant pot cup) of rice and 1.5kg lamb, a good mix of meat and bones.
Initially, I was worried about either the meat not being cooked properly or the rice being overdone or the whole thing turning out too watery as I had anticipated 5 cups of water to 5 cups of rice.
Following your recipe and method (with a few adjustments) of cooking the meat first and then the rice, I ended up cooking the meat first with about 2 cups of water and then added just about 1 cup more to ensure that the rice is just about submerged under the water.
The result was perfect…..the meat and the bones released its own juices. That, mixed with the fat attached to the bones and the yoghurt+milk mix was simply delish. The meat turned out soft and tender, yet still a bit juicy. The rice turned perfect too. It was not too mushy and neither too undone.
Thanks to your recipe and your method, I had the pleasure of seeing my guests take the first spoon in their mouths and go…….
“Mmmmmhhhh…….Soooo soooofffffftttt”
or
“Ooooohhhh….This is soooo taasssttyyyy”
Some of them even had 3rd helpings and there was still more remaining for which some of my guests had dibs on takeaways :))
All-in-all….This is an amazing recipe and once again….Thank you very much.
Regards
Leon
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Leon, thanks so much! This is a special recipe since based on my mother-in-law’s recipe so I’m always happy when someone tries it and likes it. Gotta love lamb!
Meena says
I have frozen lamb with bone-in. Will that change the cooking time any?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Meena, I’m assuming you have a big piece of lamb? I have not cooked a large chunk of lamb in the Instant Pot but you might need to cook it for over an hour. It all depends on the size. However, if you are talking about stew-size pieces of lamb (frozen, but separated) cooking time stays the same. Good luck.
Meena says
Thanks so much for getting back to me! Excited to make lamb biryani for the first time:-)
Dana Velasco says
I made this for my fb page Cooking the World. I was excited to see that biryani, which I have made before, could be done in the instant pot. The recipe was great and the step by step with pictures was amazing. My biryani came out flavorful, the lamb was tender, and the rice was perfect. I am happy to share this recipe and paintthekitchenred.com throughout social media.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Wow, Dana! That’s such a nice comment. I’m very happy that you enjoyed the recipe. Anytime someone makes a recipe from my mother-in-law or my mom, it’s special 🙂
Susan says
My daughter loves it very much. It’s like eating mutton biryani in a restaurant.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Awesome, Susan! Thanks for taking the time to comment – a great compliment 🙂
Arindam Mukhopadhyay says
Just made my first mutton Biriyani in instant pot (Duo) following this recipe. Excellent recipe and my thanks to the author.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Arindam – you’re most welcome!
John says
Delicious recipe! I have tried a number of your recipes and all are amazingly good. I’ve recommended this site to a number of friends who have Instant Pots and they have had similar success. I would make the biryani more often but the price is fairly high. $32 for the lamb stew meat (ok, next time I won’t go to a butcher) and about $25 for the other ingredients. Now I know why biryani is considered the food of kings! It made enough to get about six lunches out of it, so not too bad if you extend the cost over six meals. Thanks again!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Wow, John! That’s such a nice compliment – and thank you for spreading the word! I wanted to mention that I make this same recipe with bone-in chicken (pressure cook for 8 to 10 minutes initially instead of 12). It’s very good with chicken. Also, I buy lamb at Costco at Easter and Christmas and freeze! And hopefully you don’t have to buy some of the other ingredients like spices!
Naila says
Hi,
I just made this Mutton Biryani and it turned out fabulous! I left out the fruit and nuts as we are not big fans of raisins and apricots. I was a little skeptical about marinating the meat in milk, but omg, was it ever delicious! Thank you! I look forward to trying many more of your other recipes 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Naila, I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe – I too love making this recipe. I actually have some lamb already cut up in my freezer to make this next week!
Albert Chin says
I made this but the Instant Pot didn’t seal. One major change I made was marinating it for a full day, not the 2-8 hours the recipe called for. Did that make the sauce too thick resulting in the sealing issues.
Also, why are steps #1 and #2 separate? Why not put everything in the blender and blend at once?
Planning on retrying soon.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Albert, thanks for your questions. Steps 1 and 2 are separate because I find that if I grind everything together in a basic blender, the paste is more grainy. If you have a really powerful blender, you might be okay doing everything together. I don’t think that marinating overnight would have made a difference in sealing. It could be the type of Instant Pot you’re using requires you to have more liquid. You could try adding 1/4 cup of water or broth to the inner pot, then add the marinade and meat before pressure cooking.
Dhanya says
Hi Neena,
I tried this recipe yesterday with bone-in chicken. Thanks for including the pressure cook timings for chicken. It was much easier than traditional biryani recipes i’ve seen before! I used ghee this time, and maybe I will try next time with a good veg. oil. The one thing about using bone-in chicken was that I felt the marinade needed more salt, because the chicken pieces are quite big, and I used abt 2.5 lbs of chicken in all.
I blended in one Serrano green chili to the marinade, and I think I could use one more the next time. ?
Thanks Neena for a great family recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Awesome, Dhanya. I love bone-in chicken. Thanks for the details and tips, especially about salt.
Dhanya says
Hi Neena,
I have 2 lbs. boneless chicken thighs on hand and I wanted to check if this recipe could be used with bite size pieces – about 2 inch pieces.
Do I have to saute the marinated chicken for a while before adding the rice and pressure cooking for 6 mins? Then follow with 10 mins of quick pressure release. Please let me know your thoughts – appreciate it!!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Dhanya – thanks for reaching out. Since the boneless thighs cut into bite-size pieces would cook for the same amount of time as the rice, why don’t you try cooking both at the same time? Add the marinated chicken to the IP, add the rice on top; press down to submerge the rice but don’t stir. Then pressure cook for 6 minutes. I hope that works for you. If it’s too liquidy at the end, let it sit for a bit and it might thicken up. Other choice is to substitute the chicken for the lamb, follow the recipe exactly but change the first round of pressure cooking time to 2 minutes. Keep me posted and thank you for continuing to follow the blog!
Kathleen says
Just made this last night for friends. It was lovely and easy. Prep in the morning and then marinate all day. Throwing it together in the instant pot was so easy. The rice with it turned out really well too. I was worried that it wouldn’t be thoroughly cooked but not problems there. The lamb was so tender and delicious and the blend of spices was just great. I don’t like it too spicy so I cut back on the hot chili a bit and it was just perfect. Thank you for sharing. The pictures and steps make it look a lot more complicated than it was. I am a regular instant pot user so maybe that helped but I found it to be quite easy and simple. Especially starting with just loading everything into the blender and letting it run for a minute or two. Love my instant pot and my vitamix. Thanks for sharing.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks, Kathleen! I’m glad you found it to be easier than you expected, that’s good to know! Sometimes the number of ingredients can make a recipe seem more complicated than it really is!
Anna says
This looks so delicious and flavorful! Can’t wait to make it!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I hope you get to try it out soon, Anna.
Dhanya says
Hi Neena,
This biryani looks so amazing! I am going to try it with chicken drumsticks and thighs, and marinate it for 2 hours. Will that be sufficient?
I was wondering what the apricots do – do they add a bit of sweetness to the marinade? If the apricots are large, how many should I use?
Thank you very much!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Dhanya – yes, I think 2 hours is good. The dried apricots add a sweet/sour flavor but you can also leave them out. I think 1/2 cup or so should be good. I use prunes sometimes.
Dhanya says
Thanks Neena, will let you know how it turns out!
Patsy says
Just reading this recipe I can smell all the wonderful spices and the creamy (make my own) yogurt……can not wait to try this. I love your recipes so much. As I tell people don’t be afraid to use SPICES…..I don’t think a lot of cooks know…….there us much more than salt pepper and garlic!!!!!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Patsy! I hope you enjoy the recipe. Some biryanis are mild, but this one has lots of flavor. You’re so right; spice does not necessarily mean hot, just flavorful! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!