• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Recipe Index
  • Food Photography
  • Subscribe

MySpicyKitchen

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • Food Photography
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » By Ingredient » Meats & Poultry » Chicken

    Published: Feb 9, 2010 · Modified: Oct 2, 2020 by usha

    Chicken Pulao

    When growing up, one pot meat and rice dish was always Biryani and one pot vegetables and rice dish was Pulao or Bagara.   Back then, I did not acquire a taste for mutton and hence, it was always Chicken Biryani.  My aunts used to prepare Chicken Pulao but for some reason, it was never cooked at our home.  My understanding of the  difference between a Biryani and a Pulao is in its preparation.  Biryani is prepared by arranging the meat (raw or cooked) and partially cooked/boiled rice in layers and cooking them together on low flame, in an air tight pot.  Meat and rice is cooked in the juices released by the meats, and the steam generated by cooking in an air tight container or a pot.  Pulao is prepared by cooking cooked meats or sautéed vegetables with rice (uncooked rice).    Both the dishes, Pulao and the Biryani  taste awesome, but being a Hyderabadi, if given a choice of Biryani and a Pulao, I would go for Biryani without a blink :).

    I used to cook Chicken Pulao a lot few years ago.  Lately, it is always Chicken Biryani.  Three weeks ago, when I was in no mood for elaborate cooking, I made this Pulao.  It came out well.  I cooked it in a rice cooker and did not have to keep an eye on it as it cooked.  In the past, I have baked the Pulao in the oven.  It has been so long that I don't remember the cooking time and the oven temperature.  The list of ingredients is very long, but the preparation is very easy.  That day, we were so hungry that couldn't wait to take a picture.  I took the picture after our lunch, with left over pulao ;).

    Cooking Time: 45 minutes - 1 hour
    Serves: 5-6

    Print Recipe
    Note: Measuring cup used here is the one that comes with the rice cooker

    Ingredients:
    • Chicken Mixture:
      • 3 ½ lbs Whole Chicken OR  2 ½ lbs or 1150 gms  cleaned Chicken
      • 3 teaspoon Chili Powder
      • Salt to Taste
      • ¾ cup Oil (little less than ¾ cup and more than ½ cups)
      • 1 large Onion
      • 1 ½ – 2 tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
      • 12 - 16 Green Chilies (as per taste)
      • 3 teaspoon Coriander Powder
      • ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
      • 2 medium Tomatoes chopped or 1 ½ cups chopped Tomatoes
      • ¾ tablespoon Garam Masala (12 Pepper Corns +12 Cloves + ½ teaspoon Cardamom Seeds + ½ teaspoon Saha Jeera, powdered)
    • Rice:
      • 4 cups Rice washed and soaked for 15 – 30 minutes
      • ¼ cup Oil
      • 4 cardamom
      • 4 Cloves
      • 1” Cinnamon
      • ½ teaspoon Saha Jeera
      • 4-5 Bay Leaves
      • 1 Biryani Flower
    Preparation:
    1. Clean the chicken pieces, rub salt and chili powder to the pieces and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Can marinate it for 1-2 hours but no marination is also fine with this recipe. Since I am a marination freak, I marinated the chicken pieces for ½ hour.
    2. Wash rice and soak it in water.
    3. In a wide pan, heat ¾ cups of oil, fry the onions until golden brown, add ginger garlic paste and sauté until raw smell of the ginger garlic paste is gone.
    4. Add green chilies, coriander powder, turmeric and stir so that all the spices are mixed well.
    5. Add tomatoes, give it a good stir, cover and cook until tomatoes are tender and mushy. About 2-3 minutes.
    6. Remove the cover, stir the curry mixture well, add chicken pieces and garam masala. Mix well, cover and cook until chicken is tender. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Remove the cover and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated.
    7. While the liquid in the chicken evaporates, we can do some multi tasking here. Take 6 cups of water in a rice cooker vessel and switch on the cooker so that water comes to boil. This step can be skipped but would recommended.
    8. In another pan heat ¼ cups of oil, add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, saha jeera, bay leaves and biryani flower. Once these are roasted, add soaked rice. Drain all the water and add the rice.
    9. Saute rice for 3-4 minutes until the rice changes color. Don't saute it for too long either.
    10. Add rice to boiling water. By this time, water will just start to boil. It is not necessary that water boil and this step (boiling of water) can also be skipped if wanted. If you skipped step 7, put rice in the rice cooker container and add 6 cups of water.
    11. Add chicken mixture on top of the rice and garnish with cilantro, cover the vessel and cook until the rice is done, that is the rice cooker shuts off.
    12. Let it sit for 10 minutes and mix it well.
    13. Serve hot with raitha or salan.
    14. I didn't add lime to the pulao as I was going to serve it with salan, which is tangy in taste.
    Variations:
    • Pulao can also be cooked in the oven. Follow the above mentioned procedure until step 9, skipping step 7. Preheat the oven to 400F. Spread rice in a rectangular baking dish, spread chicken mixture on top of rice and pour 5½ cups of water. Top it with cilantro, cover with an aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375F and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove and mix the rice and bake it again for another 10-15 minutes or until rice is cooked. I have not baked pulao in along time and the baking time and oven temperatures are approximate numbers. Please use your discretion here.
    • I normally add some chopped mint and I did not use it when I made pulao as I did not have any.  Can add chopped mint along with green chilies.
    • Can substitute tomatoes with yogurt.

    I am sending this over to Anita's Kitchen for her first event, Annam Parbramha Swaroopam, ASP: Rice.

    More Chicken

    • Bowl of chicken shorva.
      Chicken Shorva ~ Kodi Shorva
    • A platter of Indian flavored chicken patties.
      Indian Chicken Cutlet Recipe
    • Grilled chicken in a platter.
      Spice Rubbed Grilled Chicken Recipe
    • Bowl of baked empanadas with mini bottle of tabasco sauce on the side
      Baked Chicken Empanadas

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. betty says

      March 31, 2014 at 7:34 am

      U havent mentioned about the green chillies in the recipe,so- how much and when should u add the garam masala?anyways i added 10 chillies and the g.masala with the other powders.my rice and chicken looked nothin like urs at the end:-( nevertheless it was tasty.thanks for sharing!!!

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        June 22, 2014 at 9:27 am

        Betty, sorry for the late reply. Your comment went to spam folder and could not reply sooner. Updated the ingredient list with the quantity of green chilies and also the recipe with when garam masala needs to be added. Thanks for bring this is to my attention. I used 12 - 16 green chilies but again, it can be adjusted to taste. I like spicy food so usually add 12 - 16 chilies.

        Reply
    2. Ritu says

      May 24, 2013 at 4:20 pm

      Made it today for lunch and it turned out great. Got a compliment from my husband. Wonderful recepie Usha

      Reply
    3. priya says

      November 09, 2010 at 11:22 am

      can we prepare this dish in a pressure cooker?

      Reply
      • usha says

        November 10, 2010 at 9:45 am

        I have not prepared it in a pressure cooker but I don't see why you can not.

        You can try it and let me know how it comes out. You could try using 1:1.5 rice to water ratio and pressure cook the pulao for 3 whistles. As I said, I never prepared it in the pressure cook. This is just a suggestion.

        Reply
    4. sounds yummy says

      October 09, 2010 at 9:51 pm

      Do you measure the four cups of rice with a rice cooker cup or with a regular 250ml cup? By the way, I made your mutton biryani recipe today and it was delicious. Thanks

      Reply
      • usha says

        October 10, 2010 at 6:55 am

        I used the rice cooker measuring cup to measure the rice. Good to know that the mutton biryani came out delicious!

        Reply
    5. Patricia Torres says

      July 09, 2010 at 2:55 am

      Oh this looks like a lovely pulao... Just to let you know that my mom.. has printed it and this is what we are having for lunch today...

      Reply
    6. Sig says

      February 15, 2010 at 10:57 pm

      I never really know whether something's a biryani or pulao, but whatever you call it, this looks yummy!

      I grew up eating hyderabad biryani and the taste is different... and the difference I mentioned in the post is the only difference I could think of.... 🙂

      Reply
    7. Divya says

      February 14, 2010 at 9:24 pm

      Looks like a tough job but I am sure the efforts are worth it.Lovely colour too and I am going to try out a veggie version:)

      Reply
    8. indosungod says

      February 10, 2010 at 9:22 am

      I have always cooked chicken biryani this way which you refer to as pulao. Whatever the method it is a big favorite anytime it is made.

      What is in a name, as long as it tastes good, right?

      Reply
    9. bergamot says

      February 10, 2010 at 7:21 am

      Looks yummy, i must say a different style of cooking biryani. Like the color the gravy imparted to the rice. But I did not understand if the rice was partially cooked before the chicken was added.

      For Biryani the rice is partially cooked. For pulao, for this recipe, need not cook the rice. Just saute it in little bit of oil and cook it along with the meat.

      Reply
    10. notyet100 says

      February 10, 2010 at 2:22 am

      ummmm yummy,...

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I am Usha! Welcome to my space. I am the content creator and photographer here. I love cooking and all the recipes on the site are tried and tested in my kitchen.

    More about me →


    Holiday Recipes

    • Fresh cranberry Christmas cake is a tangy & sweet cake
      Fresh Cranberry Christmas Cake
    • Loaf of non alcoholic low calorie classic fruit cake
      Low Calorie, Non Alcoholic Fruit Cake
    • plate of masi samoa.
      Masi Samoa, Coconut Shortbread Cookies
    • Norwegian Rice Porridge, Norwegian Food, Norwegian Cuisine, Rice Porridge, Rice Pudding, Norwegian Rice Pudding, Food of the World,
      Norwegian Rice Porridge for Food of the World
    • Collard Greens, Pepperoni, Food & Wine, Cooking from Cookbook Challenge, CCChallenge, Side Dish, Thanksgiving Recipes,
      Sauteed Collard Greens with Pepperoni
    • Thanksgiving Side Dishes, Side Dish, Swiss Chard, Piccata, Piccata Swiss Chard, Cooking form cookbook Challenge, CCChallenge, Food & Wine,
      Piccata Swiss Chard

    Popular

    • Sq image of a platter of veg canapes.
      Bread Canapes Recipe
    • Shrimp noodle soup in a bowl
      Easy Shrimp Noodle Soup Chinese Style
    • Top down view of chicken clear soup.
      Chicken Clear Soup Recipe, Indian Style
    • Omani Food, Omani Cuisine, Roasted Meat, Blogging Marathon, Around the world in 30 days with ABC cooking,
      Omani Shuwa ~ Slow Cooked Lamb

    Finger Food

    • Broiled shrimp.
      Party Shrimp Recipe
    • Tortilla cheese chips, Tortilla cheese crisps, Tucson Cheese Crisps, Blogging Marathon, Tortilla dish,
      Arizona Cheese Crisps
    • Plate of bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers
      3 Ingredient Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
    • A platter of Fiesta pinwheels and a bowl of salsa
      Fiesta Pinwheels, Yummy Party Food

    Curry Recipes

    • A bowl of lima beans curry.
      Lima Beans Curry, Video Recipe
    • Bowl of ulligadda ukkera.
      Onion Egg Curry ~ Ulligadda Ukkera
    • A bowl of chikkudukaya kura or Indian broad beans in a platter along with a bowl of rice.
      Chikkudukaya Kura - Indian Broad Beans Fry
    • Gutti vankaya masala is a flavorful eggplant curry stuffed with peanut sesame spice mix.
      Gutti Vankaya Masala - Stuffed Baby Eggplant Curry

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy

    Newsletter

    • Subscribe

    Contact

    • Know Me

    Copyright © 2025 MySpicyKitchen