Delicious Easy Chicken Akni
Easy Chicken Akni is exactly what the name says: an easy version of Biryani. This delicious chicken and rice dish is aromatic, flavourful and, best of all, made in one pot.
With just a few simple steps, you can have the most delicious Chicken Akni on the table. It really doesn’t get much easier than that.
Akni is a mildly spiced dish that was traditionally cooked mostly by the Muslim and Cape Malay communities. However, versions from North and South India can be much more heavily spiced. Feel free to adjust the spices according to your taste.
Delicious Easy Chicken Akni
If you’ve been following my blog, you will know that rice is my ultimate comfort food. I could quite happily eat rice for breakfast, lunch and supper.
Only problem is, I may eventually have to change my wardrobe to a few sizes larger…haha!
My kids aren’t crazy about Biryani, or this Easy Chicken Akni for that matter. But I didn’t have much time to cook, and this was the easy way out. So they had two choices: eat it or starve. Or, in the older one’s case, make his own food. 😂
One thing is for sure, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I served mine with some Cucumber Raita, but you could also serve it with a simple Carrot Salad on the side.
Biryani or Akni?
Unlike Biryani, this Easy Chicken Akni is more of a moist, one-pot rice dish, which I absolutely love.
The rice shouldn’t be mushy, but it should have a little more moisture than you would expect from a traditional rice dish. Mine turned out perfectly moist, with every grain cooked through without becoming soggy.
Everyone has their own version of Chicken Akni, and my recipe is fairly simple. The amount of liquid you need can vary depending on your ingredients and even where you live.
Living in Johannesburg creates its own little challenges when it comes to cooking. We often need to use more liquid because things just seem to take forever to cook.
If you’re starving in JHB, please don’t try cooking anything that contains potatoes. You may actually die of starvation waiting for them to become tender…lol!
One way around the potato problem is to cook the potatoes until they are slightly tender before adding them to your dish. It saves a lot of time and, more importantly, saves you from standing around waiting for them to cook.
Why I Love This One-Pot Chicken Akni
One of the best things about this recipe is that everything cooks together in one pot. The chicken, spices, potatoes and rice all have a chance to absorb those delicious flavours as they cook.
That also means less washing up afterwards, and I am always happy about anything that saves me from standing at the kitchen sink for half my life. When you are short on time, a one-pot meal really is a lifesaver.
The chicken also adds plenty of flavour to the rice as it cooks. Using chicken on the bone gives the dish an even richer taste, which is one of the reasons I prefer thighs and drumsticks for this recipe.
Chicken on the Bone
As with many Indian chicken dishes, I prefer using chicken on the bone because it adds so much flavour. For this recipe, I used chicken thighs and drumsticks, but you can use a whole chicken if you prefer.
Personally, I hardly ever use every part of the chicken in my cooking, thanks to my boys. I tend to stick to the pieces I know will actually get eaten. There’s no point cooking a whole chicken only to have certain pieces staring back at me from the leftovers!
As always, I love adding fresh herbs to my dishes. I actually grow a few herbs in my garden because I love cooking with them that much. Fresh herbs add such a lovely freshness to a dish like this.
What to Serve with Chicken Akni
Chicken Akni is filling enough to enjoy on its own, but I love serving it with something fresh and cooling on the side. A spoonful of Cucumber Raita works beautifully with the warm spices and adds a lovely contrast to the dish.
A simple salad such as my Carrot Salad is another great option. You don’t need much else because the Akni already has your chicken, rice and vegetables all cooked together.
More One-Pot Dishes to Try
One-Pot Spicy Rice and Chicken
First published January 2, 2021. Updated June 2, 2025.
Easy Chicken Akni
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken see note 5
- 1 cup Basmati rice
- 2+3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 bay leaf
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 pieces cinnamon stick
- 4 cardamom pods
- 5 cloves
- 10 peppercorns
- 2 tsp masala
- 2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1&1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
- 2 large roma tomatoes skin removed and blended
- 2 tsp tomato paste
- 3 potatoes cut into fours
- handful mint leaves
- handful fresh coriander
- 2 cups water see note 3
- salt
Instructions
- Peel potatoes and cut them into four pieces or smaller if you prefer. Add a few tablespoons of water, cover and steam for 5 minutes in the microwave. If you prefer you can also fry them and set aside
- Heat 2 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil in a large pot. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, clove, bay leaf, peppercorns and fry until fragrant. Add the onion and fry until golden brown and caramelized
- Add the ginger/garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the masala, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala and fry for 2 minutes. Add the chicken and mix well. Leave the pot open and allow it to fry for 10 minutes on low heat. Add a few drops of water only if required
- Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius
- Add the rice, potatoes, coriander and mint. Add 2 cups water or less, depending on how soon your potatoes will be able to cook. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook in the oven for an hour or more, until potatoes and rice is cooked. Half way through cooking cut up the butter into little cubes and place it in the pot. When cooked the Akni should remain a little moist but not mushy
Notes
- You can add some peas to the Chicken Akni if you prefer
- I used basmati rice for this dish, however you can use parboiled long grain rice.
- Although I used 2 cups of water you may not need all of it so please use your discretion here. People on the coast may need less water as the potatoes cook faster.
- You can reduce or increase the amount of the masala and kashmiri chilli powder if you prefer.
- Yogurt is not one of the ingredients used in Akni but you can add about a 1/4 cup if you prefer. You can add it after you add your spices.
My go to recipe for the perfect akni, just gets better every time I make it. Has the perfect balance of flavors. Certainly a bomb.com recipe in my books!!!!
Thank you Prabashni! I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying the recipes. This Akni is on my list of favorites too:-)
I’ve been searching for a South African version of Akni for a few months now and I stumbled across this recipe today. It was my very first attempt at cooking Akni and we absolutely loved it!! I will definitely cook this again and add it to my list of favorite recipes. I love the simplicity of this recipe yet it’s so full of flavor.
Thank you!
Thank you so much Meera. I am really happy to hear that. It’s one of my favorite dishes too.
I’m from pbm , i like ur way of cooking chickens akhin bcz its very simple n quick to cook
I will try to make it.(Malawian person).thanks.
Thank you so much Mussah. I hope you get to try it soon:-)
Hi! I feel like I should already know this… but when you say masala, are you talking about the shop-bought, pre-packaged kind? Or is it just your own blend of chilli powder, turmeric etc?
What exactly goes into your masala, I guess is what I am asking. 🙂
Hi! Masala can be store bought or homemade. Every masala is different in terms of what goes into it. However, as South Africans we use whatever masala we desire and therefore add the extra little bits of spice just to enhance the flavor. So it’s up to you as to what masala you prefer to use. Not everybody makes their own masala or purchases the same brand so it’s why I don’t recommend a specific one.
I really enjoyed this flavorful akhni and it was easy to follow and execute! Thanks so much for the recipe! I just wanted to check if this can be made a day or two in advance? If so, how could I reheat on the day?
Thank you. Yes you can make it ahead of time. When reheating add a little water and steam it on the stovetop on a very low heat:-)
Dearest Lorraine,,
Wow wow! What a colorful, delicious plate of food.
This is my go to Akni. Recipe
Loving this, so finger licking looking good, and so is all your recipes.
Thank you again
Thank you Lallie. Always appreciate you trying my recipes and all the great feedback:-)
Delicious
That’s my kind of cooking thank you very much. You can eat at my place any day