This version contains the measurements and ingredients necessary to make biryani pasta in a 6qt or larger instant pot. These measurements (especially timing and water amounts) will not work for the stove top, although using common sense, you could easily adapt the recipe for stove top cooking.

Recipe tested in a 6qt standard and 7qt Rio Wide Instant Pot.

Ingredients

amount	ingredient
1 lb / 500g	dry pasta
1 lb / 500g	chicken breast, raw, thin sliced* (optional)
~1-2 T	olive oil
1	onion, medium, sliced
~2 T	Shan Special Bombay Biryani masala
~24oz	tomato sauce
36oz	water
to taste	salt; use more if using chicken
to taste	cheese, shredded
to taste	cilantro, chopped

Process

mode: sauté
heat: medium

1. when IP is heated up on sauté mode, add olive oil and wait for it to heat up
2. add sliced onions and sauté until transluscent; no need to brown
3. add Shan masala and toast in oil for ~1-2 minutes, making sure there are no dry bits of masala and also that the masala doesn’t burn
4. if using raw chicken, add it now and mix well
5. add tomato or marinara sauce and mix well
6. IMPORTANT: pasta is not eaten like biryani, where the whole spices are expected to be picked out, so after the flavors of the spices have infused the tomato sauce mixture well, fish out as many of the whole spices as you can find.
   • at this stage, mixture should taste over-spiced and salted
   • add salt or more Shan masala conservatively, per taste; remember there’s salt in the Shan mix, too
7. add pasta
   • if using spaghetti or other long shapes, break in half and layer in criss-cross pattern to fit in 6qt pot
8. add water; scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is sticking that will burn later

pressure: high
time: 8 minutes
release: manual

9. once pressure drops, open lid and add cheese and cilantro, stir to melt and combine
   • can also add cheese individually in plates when serving

Notes

• any pasta shape will work, I’ve used spaghetti, farfalle, rotini, penne, etc.
• there are other biryani mixes available, even from the same brand, but I don’t find the perfect biryani flavor in any of them but the one I linked, so use others at your own risk (some are much heavier on the spice or salt, some lack the proper floral notes, etc.)
• if using cooked chicken, shred and add it at the end, along with the cheese in step 9 to avoid overcooking
• suggest experimenting with a lower cook time and longer natural release to leverage passive cooking…something like 3 minutes high pressure, 5 minutes natural release (untested)

cheeses

Any melting cheese will work well here. I have used/tried and enjoyed:

• mozzarella, shredded
• provolone
• pepperjack
• jalapeno havarti slices
• shredded pizza cheese blend

You can also sandwich a slice of cheese between layers of portioned pasta (the cheese pull in the picture is from a slice of provolone layered between pasta in the bowl)

See the freezing guide for tips and information on freezer-safe food storage.