I feel like a genius for having created a low carb “biryani” today, that tastes as good as one with rice, but without the rice. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, but today’s scale reading provided the impetus.
I came back from India with about 6 pounds. to lose. I know. I was only gone for a week. I was careful about portion control. But it was all carbs and I can’t eat carbs without gaining, no matter how little I eat. Good news is, I was expecting it so I’d already planned to cut out carbs once I got home.
I have an insanely good Instant Pot Chicken biryani that tastes authentic but isn’t created by following authentic biryani steps. My whole goal is to create authentic-tasting food, without following the traditional, time-consuming steps, and the Chicken Biryani delivers on both those promises.
But, I can’t eat rice all the time, so I’d had this idea percolating in the back of my head on how I’d make that biryani low carb. Several of you also asked for a lower-carb version, and this morning, I did it. It tastes very good. It’s not as good as biryani with rice, but for something that uses cauliflower instead of rice, I’m surprised at how well it hits the spot for biryani. Roger is very good at providing honest feedback on my cooking because he knows I’m a perfectionist, and I’d rather redo things than blog something less than perfect. He raved about this biryani which makes me feel confident about it.
Even though the original is made in the Instant Pot, I made this on the stove top because I didn’t want to overcook it in the Instant Pot. So here are the steps:
- Cook ground chicken in your skillet and add spices, set aside
- Brown vegetables
- Add back chicken
- Add riced cauliflower, mix and let steam for 5-8 minutes.
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ghee
- 1 red onion sliced thin
- 1 jalapeño pepper diced
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste (or 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoons minced ginger)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- 1/4 cup mint leaves chopped
- 1.5 cups cauliflower diced
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Heat a 10-inch deep pan or skillet and add ghee
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Put in the ground chicken, break up clumps and cook until chicken is no longer raw. Once it releases water, add in all the spices and mix very well. Keep cooking until the water evaporates, and the spices are well-mixed in.
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Remove this chicken into a bowl and set aside.
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Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee and add the onions, cooking until they brown at the edges, about 10 minutes.
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Turn on your exhaust fan, add the ginger garlic paste and the jalapeño, and cook for a minute or two.
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Use 1/2 c of water to deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits of brown from the bottom.
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Add in cooked chicken, chopped cilantro and mint, and the uncooked riced cauliflower.
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Mix everything very well and cover with a lid.
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Turn the stove on low and let all of it simmer slowly together for the flavors to meld, and the cauliflower to cook slightly. Your goal is to let the cauliflower cook a little without getting mushy.
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Taste and add salt as needed.
I just made this for the second time….again I used ground turkey because thats what was in the freezer….just so easy and full of flavor .
So glad you like it!
Hi Urvashi
I chanced upon your blog while looking for low carb recipes and was really intrigued with the chicken biriyani recipe where you substituted rice with riced cauliflower. So I made it today with a little bit of tweaking and it was amazing!!
I was sceptical about how the cauliflower would taste texture wise. The spice blend seemed to take care of that along with the fact that I didn’t overcook it.
Thank you! Great recipe!
I’m so glad to hear that! I had actually planned to make it today myself as I am trying to lose a small regain but I was craving Biryani. I also love how fast it comes together. I’m glad you liked it. I hope you find other good recipes to try from the blog 🙂
Would this be highly regrettable without the mint? I have all the other ingredients but would need to make a trip for mint…or is it worth the outing?
TOTALLY not Biryani without mint. Next you’ll ask me if you leave out the Garam Masala ?. Go get the mint. You won’t regret it.
Alright, alright…I mean I have mint extract for my ice cream making but I guess it’s not the same. ?And I beg to differ…I love garam masala (and have lots of it), but turmeric on the other hand… 😐
Just made this recipes for my lunch for the rest of the week. I can’t wait to eat it. Yes, I did taste it and yummy in my tummy. Thank you.
Oh great! I frouncee half so I wouldn’t eat it all. I’m wondering how it will reheat? I know it will reheat well for lunches as I’d saved leftovers to reheat for my husband.
I started at cauliflower rice at Trader Joe’s this mornin- wondering if I could ever eat it without getting the taste of bland cauliflower! And voila- just saw your biryani post on the IP FB group! This has given me so many ideas:) thank you thank you:)
I really wasn’t sure if it would work TBH. I thought the cauliflower would get mushy, I wasn’t sure how I’d get all the spice taste into everything etc. I was jet lagged last night and couldn’t sleep and lay there thinking of every permutation and combination of how I’d make this. Finally decided to just go for it without overthinking it. Glad I did! It most certainly does NOT taste of cauliflower. I hope you like it.