This pilau is one of the best recipes for your weeknight dinner. It is also popularly served during family dinners and special occasions such as weddings and festivities like Eid, Iftar during Ramadan, and Christmas. It is simple and easy to make and can be cooked in large batches to feed the crowd.
Why you’ll love this recipe?
Don’t forget to check out our popular and simple chicken biryani, chicken tikka masala, country-style chicken curry, special eid recipes, or simple cilantro rice.
Ingredients
Chicken: Bone-in chicken, such as leg and thigh pieces, tastes the best when making pulao. You can use boneless chicken pieces or even combine the two. For the marination: In a blender or mortar and pestle, grind/crush fresh ginger, green chilies, and garlic to a coarse paste and use this for chicken marination along with yogurt and chopped cilantro/coriander leaves. Marination helps to tenderize your meat. Aromatic spices: Whole spices enhance the taste of your pulao, but make sure you add only a little, as it will give a strong flavor which we do not want in our pulao. I have combined whole peppercorns, star anise, bay leaf, cumin seeds, cardamom, and cinnamon. Oil: I use coconut oil while making any Indian dishes. You can use any neutral-flavored oil or vegetable oil. If you want a rich taste in your pulao, you can even add ghee or butter. Spice powders: I have used coriander powder (dhania) and tandoori masala powder. You can skip coriander powder if you do not have it. Or use garam masala powder instead of tandoori masala powder. Rice: Long-grain basmati rice is best for making rice dishes like pulao, biryani, etc. But if it is unavailable, use any other rice you choose. Make sure you soak the rice for 30 minutes. Also, the amount of water you need may vary depending on the variety and quality of the rice. Other ingredients: Onion, tomato, salt, coriander leaves, mint leaves, and green chilies are the other important ingredients for making chicken pulav, and they add a lot of flavor to your dish. Do not miss any of these. See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and measurements.
Variations
Pulao, also known as pilau, pilaf, and palav, is a rice dish made using a blend of aromatic spices, long-grain rice, and meat or vegetables. In this section, I share some popular variations of the traditional pulao recipe. Kashmiri chicken pulao: Along with the ingredients listed above, a lot of dry fruits and nuts, saffron, and fresh fruits like pomegranate are used to make this pilau. Hyderabadi chicken tehari: Add more spices for a strong flavor to make tehri/tahri. You can add mutton, beef, or lamb instead of chicken. Yakhni chicken pulao: This is Pakistani chicken pulao, where the broth is first made by cooking meat and spices together, and the rice is then cooked in this broth. White chicken pulao: To make white pulav, you add the whole aromatic spices and only the ingredients mentioned in the marination. No spice powders are used. Also, milk or coconut milk can be used while cooking the rice to make the pulao rich and flavorful. Bengali chicken pilau: To make this murgh pulao, short grain rice called gobindobhog and turmeric (or haldi) is used to make it yellow in color.
Substitutions
Chicken (murgh) can be substituted with any meat (beef, lamb, mutton, etc.) or even with a combination of vegetables like peas, paneer, mushroom, baby corn, carrots, beans, and more. You can also use chickpeas or chana to make this chole pulao or chana pulao. Basmati rice is recommended for its look and flavor. But you can use any long-grain rice of your choice or even jeera rice or jasmine rice. To make a healthier chicken pulav, you can use brown rice.
Step-by-step instructions
Chicken Marination
Making of pulao
Tips
The amount of water required may vary depending on the brand and type of rice used. Use good quality rice. Wash the rice nicely, and then soak it for 15 to 30 minutes, and drain. This step will remove excess starch and prevents your rice from turning sticky or mushy. Adjust the spices and spice powders to your taste. You can use garam masala or curry powder instead of tandoori masala powder. Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. It will make it more tender and flavorful. Once you add rice and water, cook on medium-low to medium flame to avoid it from sticking at the bottom. If you like the crunch in your pulao, garnish it with fried onions, roasted almonds, and cashews. To make it more flavorful and take it to the next level, you can use homemade broth instead of water for cooking pulao. We can’t resist the smell and love to eat it hot. If you want fluffier rice, then once the pulao is done, let it sit in the pan covered for another 10 minutes before giving the rice a gentle toss. Do not skip mint and coriander leaves while making pulao.
Chicken Pulao in Pressure Cooker
While cooking chicken pulao in a pressure cooker, all the steps remain the same. Instead of covering the pan, cover the pressure cooker with a lid, cook for one whistle on medium flame, and switch off the flame. Let this sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. Remove the whistle and lid, and fluff the rice.
Instant Pot Chicken Pilaf
To make instant pot chicken rice pulao:
More Rice Recipes to try
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Recipe card
