HYDERABADI CHICKEN DUM

Biryani! Doesn’t that word conjure feelings of joy and comfort? Who doesn’t love this pampered, fragrant, rice delicacy that reigns supreme as the world best one pot meal?

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

For many of my dear readers, today’s post is a long awaited one. At last I got to blog the recipe of the quintessential ‘home style’ Chicken Dum Biryani from the royal kitchen of the Nizams. A dish that calls for an elaborate process and requires lots of TLC aka ‘tender loving care’ while preparing unlike the quick pressure cooker biryani. There are two versions, Kachha (raw) and Pakki (cooked) Biryani. Today’s recipe is basically a Hyderabadi kachha style of biryani where marinated raw chicken and partially cooked basmati rice are layered and cooked on dum, over low heat. I prepared this biryani a couple of times, the recipe is perfect and has never failed me. Once the biryani is cooked on dum, as you open the lid, the kitchen smells fragrant, rich with the reassuring aroma of pure ghee and saffron and the chicken cooked to melt in the mouth tenderness.

Chicken Dum Biryani

A few things to keep in mind while preparing biryani. Use best quality aged Basmati rice, good quality chicken and the best saffron available. Marinate chicken for at least 4-6 hrs and if running out of time then two hours will do. No short cut methods and all the ingredients listed below are a MUST, in other words, there are no substitutes for the mentioned ingredients.

Marinated Chicken ~ Partially cooked basmati rice

Caramelized Onions ~ Saffron Milk

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe

Marination: 4 hrs Prep & Cooking: 1 hr

Serves 6-7 persons

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Ingredients:
1 kg chicken, washed and drained completely
2 large onions, finely sliced
2 tbsps chopped coriander leaves
1 tsp saffron
1/2 cup luke warm milk
salt to taste
2 tbsps ghee + 5 tbsps oil
For marination:
3/4 cup thick curd/yogurt
8-10 green chillis, make a small slit in them
1 1/2 tbsps ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp red chilli pwd (adjust)
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
3/4 tbsp coriander pwd
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
3/4 cup pudina leaves
juice of 1 lemon
1 3/4 tsps salt
Biryani masala, make pwd:
8 cloves
1″ cinnamon stick
4 elaichi/cardamom
3/4 tsp shah jeera
12 pepper corns
Ingredients to cook rice:
4 cups Basmati rice
6 cloves
3 cardamoms
1″ cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 marathi mogga
1 star anise
10 mint leaves
1 tbsp oil
1 1/2 tbsps salt
water as required

1 Marinate chicken with the ingredients called for ‘marination’ along with biryani masala pwd. Keep aside for 4 hrs or a min of 1 1/2 hrs. While the chicken is marinating, work on the rest of the preparation.
2 Cook basmati rice in lots of water along with bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, marathi mogga, elaichi, oil, salt till its half cooked. Strain the water and spread the rice on a large wide plate. Allow to cool.
3 Heat 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp ghee in a vessel, add sliced onions, saute for 8-10 mts till caramelized. Remove and keep aside.
4 Add the saffron to the luke warm milk and combine well. Keep aside.
5 Take a wide deep vessel to prepare the biryani. Add 3 tbsps oil, add the marinated chicken and spread out over the vessel. Cook on high for 2 mts. Add a tbsp of oil over the chicken pieces. Reduce flame.
6 Spread half of the rice over the chicken layer, pour half a tbsp of ghee all over the rice, add half of the caramalized onions and spread over the rice. Next sprinkle a tbsp of coriander leaves and pour about one fourth cup of saffron milk over the rice. Over this layer, spread the remaining rice. Again pour half a tbsp of ghee all over, add remaining caramelized onions and spread over the rice. Finally sprinkle a tbsp of coriander leaves and pour remaining saffron milk over the rice.
7 Place lid and over the lid place a heavy weight and seal the edges with wheat dough. Cook on high flame for 2 mts. Remove the vessel from the stove and place a iron tawa. Allow to heat. Reduce to low flame and place back the biryani vessel on the iron tawa and cook biryani for 20-25 mts. Turn off heat and do not remove lid for 10 mts.
8 After 10 mts, remove lid, combine gently and serve hot with raita and curry of your choice

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

Rava Kesari (fine rava)

Kesari is an easy and very delicious sweet, a dessert from South India. Here is the recipe for plain Rava Kesari. ( click here for Kesari recipe using Regular Rava)

Ingredients:
Fine Rava – 1 cup
Sugar – 1-½ cups
Water – 2 cups
Saffron – ½ teaspoon
Ghee – 3 tablespoons
Cardamom – 5 pods crushed
Raisins for Garnishing
Ghee fried cashews can be added to the sweet.

Method:

Ghee roast the Rava and keep it aside. Heat water in a heavy kadai. When it starts to boil, add the saffron. You will notice the water turning to yellow color.

Reduce the heat and add the Rava slowly (keep stirring while adding to avoid lumps). Keep stirring till Rava is fully cooked (At this time the consistency will not be too loose).

Now add the sugar slowly, while stirring it at the same time. You will notice the consistency loosening. Add the cardamom.

Keep stirring until the kesari thickens. It will start sticking to the bottom. Now, add the Ghee and stir well. A lot of stirring, but worth the effort. Garnish with raisins/cashews. Serve hot or at room temperature.

stuffed bread pakoda

Ingredients (Makes approx 8 pakodas)

For the stuffing
• 2 potatoes (to make abt 2 cups mashed)
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
• 1-2 green chillies, thinly sliced (or as per taste)
• 1/4 cup frozen peas (boiled if using fresh)
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal (split black gram)
• 1 tsp cumin-coriander powder(optional)
• 1/2 tsp garam masala (or use chaat/pav bhaji masala)
• salt to taste
• few curry leaves and cilantro to garnish

For the Covering
• Around 8 slices of wholegrain bread
• 1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2-1 tsp chilli powder (or as per taste)
• pinch of asafoetida
• little salt (since the stuffing has salt too)

Note: These measurements are approximate. You can adjust the ingredients as per your taste

Method
Slice the crusts off the bread. Its optional. Many a time, I just let them be. If slicing, you can use the crusts to make bread crumbs.

Meanwhile steam the potatoes. Alternatively you can boil them too.

Mash them well. I retain the skins for nutrition. You can peel them if you wish to.

In a skillet, heat 1 tsp of oil. Temper the mustard seeds and when they start popping add urad dal, cumin seeds, ginger, chillies along with onions. Add the spices and salt and when aromatic add the mashed potatoes along with peas. Mix in the herbs. Taste and test for seasoning. Adjust accordingly.

Take one slice of the bread. Spread this potato mixture on one side of the bread. You can use more for a thick stuffed bread or a little – your choice.

Place another slice on top.

Press it tightly so that it holds together. The mashed potato will hold the bread in place.  Cut this diagonally to make two slices.

See that yummy stuffing in the middle?

Mix together all the ingredients for the batter/coating in a bowl. add enough water to make a thick batter – which will help to coat the bread slices. Add tablespoon by tablespoon of water to avoid thin batter. You need medium consistency. Dip one stuffed slice in the batter and coat both the sides.

Drop this to med-high hot oil.

When you find the bottom turning red/brown,

turn the other side

once done, drop it on paper towel to drain excess oil.

See the crunchy covering and the yummy filling inside?

Serve with any condiment of your choice – chutney, ketchup or chilli sauce. Whatever you have on hand. These are great on their own too

vankaya pachi pulysu

Ingredients 

1. Bhaigan (vankaya) - 1 lb (about 6 to 7)
2. Green chillies - about 8 (decrease or increase according to taste)
3. Salt - as required
4. Tamarind - medium lemon sized ball
5. Coriander leaves - few
6. Oil - 2 tbsp
7. Seasoning - 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp of jeera, pinch of hing, few curry leaves and red chilli pieces

Method: 

1. Soak tamarind in water for some time and extract juice (pulusu) from it and keep it aside.
2. Wash and cut the bhaigan into pieces. Also slit the green chillies.
3. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp of oil in a pan, add bhaigan, green chillies and cook covered until soft.
4. When cool, grind to a paste.
5. Chop onions into small pieces.
6. Add tamarind extract to the grounded bhaigan. Add chopped onions, salt and mix well.
7. Heat remaining oil in a pan and add the seasoning, when mustard starts to splutter add to the above pulusu.

home made khova

Get the milk boiling, ensure you keep an eye on the milk not spilling over!

Keep stirring.....

After about 45 mins or so, you better simmer the gas to low, but continue to stir. If you have somebody to take in your place, it is good if they can continue to stir! (I know it is hard not to miss the fun at FB, Twitter both of which has that irresistible question .Whats on your mind!or What are you doing? I typed eagerly "Stirring pot of milk!)


Finally the result of hard work or rather sweat, the milk is reduced to khova.

Of course, when I did Palkova in Microwave, it was much simpler as I added the sugar and ghee and stirred constantly. Whereas here it is just milk. And getting the right consistency is more important here as your end result depends on the making of Khova.

Since the secret is out of the bag, I might as well confess that I was embarking on the mission of making Gulab Jamun at home. So water content or the softness of the khova is very important. Do not over cook it after it got reduced.

Remove once you see the milk solids become dense. The khova should be soft and not very hard or crumbly


Homemade Khova or Mava (Unsweetened Mawa)

You need:

Milk - 1 & 1/2 litres
Thick bottom kadai or non - stick pan

Yields - 1 & 1/2 cup or more of Khova


This can be used for Gulab Jamun, Palkova, Carrot Halwa and many more sweets.