Instant Pot Chicken Biryani

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb Chicken boneless cut into 1.5″ inch pieces
• 1 cup Basmati Rice washed and soaked for 20 minutes
• 2 tablespoon Ghee
• 10 Cashews
• 12 Raisins
• 1 Onion thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoon Milk warm
• 10 strands Saffron (Kesar)
• 1 cup Water

For marination

• ½ cup Plain Yogurt I used full-fat
• 1 teaspoon Garam masala
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• ½ tablespoon Ginger paste
• ½ tablespoon Garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
• ¼ teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
• 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
• 2 tablespoon Mint leaves chopped
• 2 tablespoon Cilantro leaves chopped

Whole Spices

• 1 stick Cinnamon (Dalchini)
• 2 Bay leaf (Tej Patta)
• 5 Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
• ½ teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• ½ teaspoon Black Peppercorns
• 4 Cloves (Laung)

INSTRUCTIONS 

Marinate the chicken:

1. Add chicken in a bowl with all the marinate ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate it for 30 minutes (or up to 8 hours).

Preparing the biryani:

1. Add the milk to a small bowl and warm it in the microwave. Add the saffron strands to it. Keep aside.
2. Start the instant pot on sauté mode and heat it. Add ghee, and then the cashews, raisins and saute them for about a minute until they are lightly golden. Take out and reserve for later.
3. Add in the sliced onions. Cook them for about 10-12 minutes until onions caramelize. Stir frequently, so they don’t stick to the bottom. Take out half of the caramelized onions.
4. Add the whole spices and saute for 30 seconds. Add the marinated chicken. Mix well and saute for about 3 minutes minutes. Make sure to deglaze the pot well. Then spread the chicken evenly on the base of the pot.
5. Spread the rice evenly over the chicken. Spread the saffron soaked in milk on top of the rice. Then add the 1 cup of water to the pot. Close the lid with vent in sealing position.
6. Change the instant pot setting to manual or pressure cook mode at high pressure for 4 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, do a 10 minute NPR. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then quick release the pressure manually.
7. Garnish with the reserved caramelized onions, cashews and raisins. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves. Serve chicken biryani with raita.