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Lighter Chicken Biryani: aromatic, flavorful and extremely easy biryani recipe that’s made using oil, brown rice, and yogurt. A perfect ‘Guiltfree’ version of your traditional biryani recipe.

‘Lighter Chicken Biryani’ is one of our all-time favorite recipes!

Friends, family, neighbors, you name it and everyone loves it but there’s just one catch, we don’t get to devour it as frequently because:

First of all, it takes really long to make it.

Secondly, it’s too heavy to eat on a regular basis (all that ghee, rice, and cream).

Until we found Mazola® Corn Oil .

A clinical study showed reduces cholesterol 2x more than extra virgin olive oil. To learn more about this claim, see Mazola.com.

That exactly what I started using and turned the traditional biryani into a Quick and Lighter Chicken Biryani a.k.a ‘ “Better-For-You” version – which also means a more frequent appearance in weekly meals.

What Are the Ingredients for Lighter Chicken Biryani

Now, here are the 3 Ingredients we swapped in our Lighter Chicken Biryani from the Traditional Biryani –

Mazola® Corn Oil instead of ghee.

Yogurt instead of cream+butter.

Brown Rice instead of regular rice

Once we made that switch to Mazola® Corn Oil, we have not looked back and I’ve been using it in my everyday cooking.

It also has a smoke point (450°F) higher than most cooking oils and hence can be used for multiple types of cooking like stir-frying, sautéing, grilling or even baking.

Also, one very important factor for me using Mazola® Corn Oil is that it has a neutral taste and doesn’t impact the taste of any other ingredients used together.

Hence I get the best flavors out of every recipe and it can be used in both sweet or savory recipes which is such a relief.

How to Make Lighter Chicken Biryani

Pictorial below from the start to finish

Now, coming back to our Quick & Lighter Chicken Biryani, it’s extremely easy to make and tastes so flavorful, that you won’t miss swapping the brown rice.

Now Biryani can be made in many different ways and here I’m discussing two very simple methods, however, the ‘Chicken Mix/Curry’ part remains the same in both.

So once the Chicken curry/spice mix is read, then you follow either of the methods:

Method 1:  – Layering –

This is pretty simple, you take the cooked chicken mix and add a layer of it in a deep pan.

Then you layer some cooked rice over this chicken mix and sprinkle some nuts too (optional).

Then you layer the chicken again and then layer the rice again till you reach the top.

Finally, sprinkle some nuts, sautéed onions, fresh mint leaves and keep it covered for 10 minutes.

Serve & Enjoy.

Method 2:  – Sauteeing –

This is the easiest of the two and all you have to do is take a large pan and add the cooked chicken.

Then, add the cooked rice, nuts, sautéed onions, mint leaves and saute everything until its mixed evenly.

You NEED to remember that this has to be done very lightly as you don’t want to break the rice or the chicken.

Saute everything for 5-6 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Serve & Enjoy.

Sides to Serve with Lighter Chicken Biryani: (Optional)

As Biryani is a complete meal, you don’t want any heavy sides with it, but any of these would do:

Light Salad

Indian Raita (Yogurt Dip)

Mint / Coriander Chutney

Papad / Poppadoms

Pickles

No matter which method you pick or choose, the results are going to be Fingerlicking Good every time!

So go ahead, make this Quick & Lighter Chicken Biryani using the Mazola Corn Oil, which is a 100% pure oil with no additives.

I’d also recommend using it for your day to day cooking as it brings out the great flavors of your food.

You can visit Mazola Facebook page for recipes, product details and much more.

– You May also Try –

Curried Tofu Fried Rice (Indian Curry Style)

If you’re trying any of my recipes, I’d love to see your pictures or receive your feedback.

Tag my recipes using #easycookingwithmolly on any of the social media below:

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Yield: 4 Cups

Quick & Lighter Chicken Biryani

Print

aromatic, flavorful and extremely easy biryani recipe that’s made using oil, brown rice, and yogurt.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

For Cooking the Rice:

• 2 Cups Brown Rice - you may use any other rice too
• 4 Cups Water - to make the rice
• Pinch of Turmeric
• Few Strands of Saffron
• 3 Tbsp Milk - to soak the saffron
• 4 Cloves

For Preparing the Chicken:

• 1/3 Cup Mazola® Corn Oil
• 1/2 lb Chicken - cleaned and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 Cup Onion - thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp Ginger Paste
• 1 Tbsp Garlic Paste
• 1 Cup Plain Yogurt
• ‘1/2 Cup Water

Spices:

• 1/8 Tsp Black Pepper Powder
• 1 Tbsp Coriander Powder
• 1 Tbsp Cumin Powder
• 1 Tbsp Garam Masala
• 1/2 Tsp Turmeric - optional
• 1 Tsp Red Chili Powder - optional
• 1/8 Tsp Crushed Saffron - optional
• Salt - as per taste
• 10 Fresh Mint Leaves

Instructions

Cooking the Rice:

1. In a large pot, add water, rice, turmeric, cloves and place on burner on high heat.
2. Let this boil on high heat for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, heat 3 tbsp oil and add the saffron strands, keep aside.
4. Check rice after 15 minutes, it should have cooked 90% hence turn off the heat.
5. Strain the rice of water and keep aside.
6. Add the saffron mixture and fluff the rice (to evenly mix saffron).

Cooking the Chicken **

1. In a large non-stick pan, heat 1/3 cup Mazola Corn Oil
2. Add onions and saute till they are cooked and light golden in color.
3. Remove the cooked onions.
4. Add ginger + garlic paste and saute on medium heat till they turn golden in color (about 2 minutes).
5. Add turmeric, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, red chili powder and saute everything together.
6. Add chicken and saute for a minute.
7. Cover and cook this mixture for 5 minutes on low heat.
8. Add yogurt, water, mint leaves and cover cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Once the chicken is cooked, turn off the heat.

Making the Biryani:

1. Use the same pan in which chicken is cooked.
2. Add the cooked rice to the cooked chicken.
3. Saute on low heat for 5-6 minutes (lightly mix to prevent rice from breaking).
4. Once everything is evenly mixed, cover the lid and cook for 2 minutes on low heat.
5. Turn off the heat.
6. Transfer the light chicken biryani in the serving bowl.
7. Decorate with sauteed onions or other topping of choice (nuts/mint leaves/cilantro leaves).
8. Serve hot with choice of side (salad/raita/pickle).

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 634 Total Fat: 32g Saturated Fat: 6g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 24g Cholesterol: 58mg Sodium: 413mg Carbohydrates: 64g Fiber: 7g Sugar: 7g Protein: 24g