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No Layer Gujarati Biryani

A simple, delicious biryani easy to make for big and small parties
Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Marinating time6 hours
Total Time9 hours 15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: lamb, oven, rice, tomato-free
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Cooker
  • Big oven-proof pot
  • Foil

Ingredients

Marinade for meat/chicken

  • 500 g lamb meat/baby chicken a baby chicken may weigh 700g-1kg approximately
  • 212 g natural plain yoghurt this is half a 'Pakeeza' yoghurt tub
  • 6 green cardamoms
  • 6 cloves
  • 6 small cinnamon pieces a piece is approx 1-1.5 inch tall and 1 cm wide
  • 6 medium-large dried bay leaves
  • 4 whole green chillies add double or triple more for a spicy biryani
  • 1 tsp full cumin seeds
  • ½ tsp full turmeric powder
  • 3 tsp full coriander powder
  • 1 tsp level cumin powder
  • 2 ½ tsp full crushed green chilli (or 2 tsp full red chilli powder) - add more if you want a spicy biryani
  • 1 ½ tsp full crushed garlic
  • 3 tsp full crushed ginger
  • 1 tsp level crushed dried mint (or use mint sauce)
  • 1 tsp full salt or 3/4 if on a low-salt diet
  • 1 handful fresh coriander leaves chopped
  • 1 pinch saffron warm on hob in preheated non-stick pan until it becomes crispy (approx 30 secs), and then crush with fingers
  • ½ tsp full jawantri (mace) optional
  • 4 handfuls fried onions crushed using fingers

Rice

  • 1 ¾ cups basmati white rice wash and drain
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tsp oil to keep rice separated when boiling
  • 1 tsp full cumin seeds
  • 1 ¾ tsp full salt
  • 60 g butter 1/4 of a 250g block
  • ½ serving spoon olive oil

Instructions

  • Marinate the marinade ingredients with the meat/chicken for a good few hours (preferably 6 or more), cover and keep refrigerated.
  • Preheat oven 250 C for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, fill a pot with water and put on full heat, no lid. Add the 1 3/4 tsp full salt, 1 tsp full cumin seeds and 2 tsp oil. Once water is boiling, add 1 3/4 cup rice and wait until the water comes to a boil again (around 10 minutes). Let the rice boil in the boiling water until half-cooked (around 5 minutes). The rice should be very slightly puffy but not fully cooked.
  • Empty most of the pot out into a sieve (over the sink), leaving a thin layer of loosely-spaced rice (with lots of gaps) at the bottom of the pot.
  • Lay the marinated meat/chicken on the rice layer and even it out.
  • Pour 1/4 cup water into the marinade bowl, swish it around and then sprinkle over the meat/chicken.
  • Slowly add the rest of the rice on top, and even out.
  • Take the end of a large wooden spoon, and stab holes into the rice that reach all the way to the bottom of the pot. There should be a smattering of holes all over the rice.
  • Slice 60g butter and spread all over the rice.
  • Drizzle 1/2 serving spoon olive oil over the top.
  • Seal the opening of the pot with foil so it becomes air-tight. Then lid the pot, place on the hob and put on full heat, until the lid steams up (the mixture is boiling and steam should escape from the lid). If making a small amount with a wide pot, place the pot on a tawa when heating up so the marinade doesn't burn.
  • Place the pot in the oven and lower the setting to Gas Mark 2 1/2 [155 C] - 3 [160 C] (if making a large amount, use 3). Leave until cooked (1-1.5 hours for chicken, 2 hours for meat).
    If you wish, you can instead cook on low heat on the hob (resting on a tawa) for 1 hour, and then place in the oven, reducing the oven time by half.

Notes

You can serve the biryani with 4 boiled eggs (cut in half lengthways), poppadoms, spicy green chutney, sweet lassi and spicy lassi.
To make this recipe for 16-18 people, the following amounts can be used (mostly approx 5x the amount of original recipe for marinade):
3.5 kg meat, 30 green cardamoms, 30 cloves, 30 small cinnamon pieces, 5 tsp full cumin seeds, 30 bay leaves, 2 1/2 tsp full turmeric powder, 15 tsp full coriander powder, 2 1/2 tsp full (or 5 tsp level) cumin powder, 12 1/2 tsp crushed green chilli (or 1 1/2 tsp x5 if chilli is very strong), 20 whole green chillies, 7 1/2 tsp full crushed garlic, 15 tsp full crushed ginger, 5 tsp level crushed dried mint, 5 tsp full salt, 2 tsp full crushed jawantri (optional), 5 handfuls fresh cilantro chopped, 2 1/2 tubs natural plain yoghurt, 15 handfuls fried onions, 5 pinches saffron.
8-9 cups rice, 1 tsp full salt and 1/2 tsp full cumin seeds per cup of rice. 1/4 cup water to sprinkle over rice is enough, as well as 500g butter, and 1 or 2 serving spoons olive oil. Place pot in oven on Gas Mark 3 for 3 hours.
Note about measurements/ingredients:
tsp level = filling the teaspoon up to the edges (as if you have levelled (solid) ingredients off with your finger)
tsp full = slightly heaped
tsp heaped = a good mound on top (much higher than 'tsp full')
serving spoon = a large spoon equivalent to 3 tbsp of liquid
cup = 237ml
For baking recipes, the tsp and tbsp are exact amounts and baking spoons are required.
Any green chillies used are the regular Indian green chillies, as opposed to the smaller, hotter bullet chillies. Any mint used is spearmint.