Quinoa & Chicken Biryani
This Quinoa & Chicken Biryani might not look like traditional rice biryani,
but it is just as delightful for the senses.
When it comes to my senses and food, smell is my all time favorite. True, my sense of taste is what leads me to actually enjoy my food – but smell makes me anticipate it, long for it; and sometimes it’s all about the journey and not the destination – right?
When I was little, the smell of my mom’s biryani cooking is was what would herd my cousins and I inside from playing outside, and compel us to be on our best behavior as we awaited dinner.
Ever since, every time I have smelt her biryani cooking, it has sent jarring jolts to my salivary glands and triggered some wonderful memories!
Biryani is a dish popular in India and Sri Lanka and it is usually an elaborate combination of meat and rice with fresh cardamom and cloves along with spices like turmeric, garam masala, cumin, coriander and chili powder.
Sometimes nuts and raisins are added in and boiled eggs and Papadum (a thin, crispy flatbread usually made with lentil flour or rice flour) are served alongside it.
While biryani is a feast for my taste buds, it does a number on my nostrils! My mom doesn’t make her biryani quite as often these days as she isn’t feeling too well so when I was introduced to Progresso ‘s new Cooking Stocks, I figured I would adapt her recipe a tad bit to make this Quinoa & Chicken Biryani.
Progresso’s new line of premium Cooking Stocks are available in the soup aisle at your local grocery store. They have a rich, meaty, full body flavor, making them ideal for adding deep, complex flavors to many dishes including soups, stews, sauces, gravies and in my case – this biryani. Progresso Cooking Stocks do not contain any artificial flavors and with just 15-45 calories /95-420mg sodium /0-1g fat per serving, Progresso Stocks offers a clean way to boost your flavor game!
For my version, I opted to use quinoa instead of rice and olive oil instead of ghee. As Progresso Cooking Stock is a high-quality bone broth made by simmering real bones, vegetables, and aromatic herbs, I figured I would use boneless chicken thighs instead of bone-in chicken thighs for easy eating.
I also tossed in come celery, carrots and spinach because veggies and quinoa and chicken all in one is just plain good eating!
I still used many of the same spices and I made it all in a skillet for easy clean-up. I had my mom taste my version of her biryani and she gave this a thumbs up – and refused to believe that I didn’t use bone-in chicken – go figure!
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Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 1/2 cups Progresso Chicken Cooking Stock
- 5 cardamom pods
- 5 clove pods
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon coriander
- 5 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 a yellow onion chopped
- 1/2 inch piece of ginger grated
- 2 stalks celery sliced
- 2 carrots sliced
- Handful of spinach chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste I used 1/8 teaspoon of each
- 2 boiled eggs
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a skillet on medium flame
- Then add in the chicken and let brown on each side
- Add in the quinoa and pour over the 2/12 cups of Progresso Chicken Cooking Stock
- Add in the cardamom pods, clove pods, turmeric, paprika, garam masala, cumin, coriander, garlic, onion and ginger and mix well and bring to a boil and let simmer 12 minutes covered
- Add in the celery, carrots and spinach and cover and let cook 5 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and let sit covered for about another five minutes
- Uncover, garnish with sliced boiled eggs and enjoy warm.
- *You could also add slivered almonds, raisins or dried cranberries as a topping
Nutrition
I bet this dish just bursts with flavor! Delicious!
It sure does – Thanks so much Cindy
Looks delicious!
Thank You Sam
This biryani looks so amazing, Shashi! Such wonderful memories too 🙂 I love that you used quinoa instead! The colors are so gorgeous!
You are so kind – Thanks so much Kelly!
Hey girl – you know I’m with you on this – all about the journey and not the destination. What a winner recipe you are sharing with us today…delish! I’m just learning all the wonders of quinoa and this is another great one to add to the recipe box! I’ve not yet had biryani and must try. Sounds divine, and if it could herd the kids inside on best behavior, imagine what it could do for mine! (My husband will be delighted!) XO
Allie, I figured you would be and haha – yeah biryani is so exquisite, so aromatic and such a delight to eat.
Quinoa is a fav around our house – it is so good at absorbing flavors – but if nothing is added to it, it tends to be pretty bland – and it’s hard to convince my daughter to eat it – though she polished this one off!
xoxo
I absolutely love this dish! And I love that you used quinoa! I need to try Progresso stock as well!
This was my first time experimenting with it – and Lauren, it’s so full of layers of flavor – kinda like homemade bone broth!
BTW Thanks so much
Sounds fantastic Shashi. I love that your mom approved too!
Thanks so much Chris!!
I love the way Indian food smells! I just made chana masala this weekend and I wanted to bottle the smell up and just carry it around with me all day long! So good. Love this recipe too, dear!
Thanks so much Lauren! I love chana masala too – such good stuff indeed!
I’ve never made biryani, but need to definitely try this, since I love quinoa! Looks delicious! Love the eggs on top! Pinning!
Thanks so much Mira
Smell is definitely my favorite sense too, followed closely by sight and this Quinoa & Chicken Biryani is a treat for both senses! This looks absolutely delicious, Shashi!! Healthy and delicious, my favorite combination! Plus you threw an egg on top, which always makes me giddy! Pinned! Cheers, lovely!
P.s. love the sweet story about your childhood! Xo
Haha – the power of the humble egg eh?! Can you imagine how good this would look if the egg yolk was drippy?!?!
BTW Thanks so much Cheyanne!
xoxo
That looks amazing! You’ve managed to make me hungry for dinner at it’s only 10 am. Help!
🙂 Happy Monday!
Haha – I am honored indeed! Thanks so much Melanie
What a wonderful childhood memory – I can just imagine how amazing this smells when cooking – I’m going to try it with couscous!
OOh couscous would be wonderful in this Deanna – BTW, Thanks so much!
This sounds incredible, Shashi! I must admit that I’ve never had biryani before, but I’m digging the flavors. The cardamom is an interesting twist though. And that egg! And the quinoa! Man, you killed it with this one…I kinda want this for breakfast now. 🙂 Happy Monday, my ATL friend!
Duuuude – you haven’t had biryani ?! Dang if I’d had known earlier, I would have droned you some leftovers – but it’s too late now – we finished it for dinner! 🙂
Thanks so much my NYC friend – here’s hoping this week is spectacular for the Spiced househld!
YUM. I’m all about the quinoa and the flavors of biryani sound delicious. It isssssss all about the smell sometimes–you’re definitely right about that!
I know right!!!
BTW – Thanks so much Erin!
I’ve never heard/made/tried/seen the traditional version of rice Biryani, so I’m a perfect “client” here – this one looks and sounds as the perfect Biryani recipe to me! Besides, I love quinoa, and I often choose it over rice. Well done!
Oh wow – if you chose quinoa over rice, you will lurrve this recipe Ben! If you were closer, I’d invite you and yours over to dinner!
And – thanks so much Ben
I love this idea of substituting rice with the quinoa!! I have to try that for a more healthful way to eat biryani without all those carbs! I want to just dive in! 🙂
Thanks so much Ramona – I remember your biryani – it was pretty darn fantastic too!
How delicious and good for you! Wish I could have this for the lunch, Shashi.
Aww – thanks so much Angie 🙂