Hyderabadi Dum Biryani

Hyderabad is very famous for its most popular Dum Biryani, there is a wide variety of biryani cooked in different regions and in different style. Hyderabadi birayani is also called kacchi biryani which means marinated meat and rice is cooked together.The challenge in the art of cooking kacchi birayani is to cook the meat perfectly without overcooking the rice.This biryani is very spicy so to cut down the heat it is usually served with a raita and also a side dish like mirchi ka salan or baingan ka salan.

Ingredients:

For marinating 1 ½ pound chicken 2 cups yogurt 4 to 5 cloves 6 to 8 pepper cons 3 to 4 green cardamoms 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp turmeric powder 1 tsp chili powder 1 tbsp coriander powder 1 tbsp cumin powder ½ cup mint leaves ½ cup chopped coriander 2 tbsp fried onion 2 green chilies (optional) Salt to taste

For rice 2 cups long grain Basmati rice Water 2 to 3 cloves 2 to 3 pepper cons 2 green cardamoms Salt to taste ½ cup fried onion Few mint leaves Few coriander leaves 1 tbsp garam masala Pinch of saffron soaked in 1 tbsp water or milk ½ cup oil

Method:

Marinate chicken overnight so it’s cooked easily and all the spices get absorbed well.

Take a fine muslin cloth and add cloves, pepper corns, cardamoms to it and make a small bundle.

Wash rice, drain and keep aside for atleast 30 min so rice becomes fluffy and gets cooked easily.

Boil water in a pot add salt and spice bundle. Once water starts boiling add rice and cook till its half done. (To check press a rice grain between your fingers it should break easily but should not be very soft.)Then drain the rice and keep aside.

Now in deep vessel add oil and layer marinated chicken.

Then layer with rice and top with fried onion, mint leaves, coriander leaves, sprinkle garam masala and saffron water.

Then cover the lid (The lid should be of proper fit to the vessel and the vapor or moisture should not release, you can use a clean towel or even dough to seal the lid.) cook 10 min on high, then 20 min on medium heat and 20 min on low heat.

Do not open the lid in between as the rice and the meat should cook in their own moisture.

After 50 min open the lid and check if meat is cooked well, serve hot with riata or salan.

Enjoy!