Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani (Pakki Dum Biryani)

My husband and I love Biryani. Recently, we visited our cousin for the long weekend. Our cousin's wife has been an inspiration to me in more than one ways, one of the reason being she cooks amazing food which is tasty, healthy and marries the best of eastern and western world. She is a working woman, hands-on mom, plus she dishes out the tastiest meals and is a bundle of energy. She'd made Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani for our evening supper. I loved the flavour and she gladly shared the recipe. I've made few changes to suit our palate, but the end result was the best and very easy to cook as well. Of all the Chicken Biryani version's I've made this one is the easiest and the best tasting. This recipe is a common go-to recipe for Biryani now. The cooking style suits anyone who is learning to cook Chicken and Biryani together. Since the meat gets cooked earlier, this is known as Pakki Dum Ki Biryani. Original Biryani version's par-cook and cook them for longer periods. I've changed that to reduce the Dum cooking time. The best is chicken in marinade gets all squished up in a large giant zip lock bag. Less cleaning, lesser sanitizing chores and even lesser post-cooking mess!

The secret ingredient here is meat tenderizer powder which has a profound impact on the texture and softness of the meat. I also added oil to the chicken marinade. This keeps the meat moist and prevents dryness, both result in soft and juicy meat upon cooking. This also takes away my apprehension while cooking meat, primarily because at times its difficult to know if the meat is done or not especially while cooking biryani's in large quantities. This powder is available in India in select grocery stores, if not, one could also use raw papaya paste which can be made in advance, stored in refrigerator and used as per convenience.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35-45 minutes
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:
Onions (sliced) - 3 cups
Tomato (chopped) [optional] - 1 cup
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon - 2 of 2" stick
Nutmeg - 1/2 teaspoon
Saffron water (a pinch of saffron in 3 tbsp of water or milk)
Biryani Masala - 1 tablespoon of masala for 1 cup of rice: 1 and 1/2 tablespoon used here
Oil/Ghee
Salt

Chicken in marinade -
Chicken (thighs chopped into chunks) - 1.5 pound
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 1 cup
Mint leaves (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Red Chilli powder - 1 tablespoon
Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Mace (Javitri) [crushed] - 1 teaspoon
Whole black pepper corns - 10
Meat tenderizer (I use Shan brand) - 1 tablespoon for a pound of meat
Garam Masala - 1 tablespoon for 1 pound of Chicken
Yogurt - 2 cups for a pound of meat
Salt
Oil

Cooking Rice -
Rice - 1 and 1/2 cups
Salt
Oil
Star Anise - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 2 of 2" sticks

Method:
Marinating Chicken - Clean the chicken and trim off the fat and skin. Cut into bite sized chunks. Add all the ingredients of the marinade and set aside in refrigerator for overnight/ 2 hours or at least 30 minutes minimum. I use a zip lock bag for this purpose.
Cooking Rice - Cook rice with oil, salt and the whole spices (1 rice:1 and 1/2 water proportion). Half cook the rice and once done, fork the rice gently, if possible spread on a plate and allow to cool. Set aside.
Cooking Chicken - Heat oil/ghee in a wide mouthed deep bottomed vessel. Once oil is heated and coats the bottom of vessel evenly, add sliced onions. Allow them to sweat, which implies you need not stir it often. Save about 1/2 cup of fried onions and set aside. Once the onions turn to a soft pale hue, add the chicken in marinade. Do not add water. The Chicken packs in lot of water to cook. Bring to a boil, simmer on low flame. Add grated nutmeg & Biryani Masala now. This process takes around 20-30 minutes. Cover with a lid. Check if chicken is fork tender. The gravy will be dry with very less cooking liquor. Once done, add the rice and mix gently. Garnish with saffron water, chopped herbs (optional) and fried onions (optional). Cover with a lid and place heavy weight on top. Seal the sides with a Chapati dough else use an aluminum foil. Cook for 5-8 minutes.

Notes:
1. Meat tenderizer powder and oil keep the meat chunks in good shape both in terms of taste and texture.
2. Instead of layering the Biryani, I mixed the rice and chicken in gravy, the taste is fabulous. I add Tomatoes to cut through the spices, in addition they also add moisture to the Biryani texture. This is purely optional.
3. Chicken and Yogurt pack in lot of water, so do not add water while cooking chicken.
4. Cook Biryani in a wide mouthed vessel. Cooking process is better and faster for large quantities with meat.
5. Meat with bone has more flavour than boneless, but personally I prefer boneless meat. Pick your choice as per preference.

Apricot Sweet Dish (Qubaani Ka Meetha)

Hyderabad is an Indian city wrapping within itself an iconic legacy of history, sumptuous cuisine and splendid architecture. One can experience the tasty food at traditional Hyderabadi Muslim homes all eaten in a symbolic eating space known as Dastarkhaan. I had the good fortune of witnessing many such Sehri and Iftaar meals partaken before sunrise and after sunset during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan. During the month of Ramzan, the whole city soaks in the festive flavour. Streets selling various fast food items display huge iron Kadhais cooking piping hot Haleem which whet your appetite all the more. Myriad succulent Kebabs and Biryanis get readied with spice rubs, salad and a drizzle of lemon aptly shown off as a tantalising treat.

Few of my favorite Hyderabadi dishes are Hyderbadi Biryani, Qubaani Ka Meetha, Mirchi Ka Saalan, Sheer Khurma and Double Ka Meetha. Qubaani Ka Meetha is a traditional Hyderabadi dessert made of Apricot sauce reduced to a rich, light brown broth and topped with dry fruits and cream or custard of choice. Qubaani is Apricot in Urdu and Meetha implies a dessert hence the name Qubaani Ka Meetha. The thing which wowed me about this recipe is it contains less than 5 ingredients and does not require much of your dedicated kitchen time.

~ Qubaani Ka Meetha ~

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serving: 2-4

Ingredients:

Apricot - 2 cups

Sugar - 3 tablespoon/ cup of Apricot

Ghee (optional) - 1 tablespoon per cup of Apricot

Almonds - 1 teaspoon per serving

Heavy cream or Custard (optional) - 1 teaspoon per serving

Method:

Wash the Apricots and remove the seed if any. Soak in water for 4-6 hours. Upon soaking they proliferate in size, become more soft and malleable. Crush with a pestle gently or blend roughly in a blender to a coarse paste with little of the water used for soaking (approx 1/2 cup of water). Add desired quantity of sugar, ghee and cook on low flame. The consistency thickens over a period of time and reduces to form a thick sauce of Apricot. This process takes around 15-20 minutes. Cover with a lid throughout the process. Once completely cooked to a fine light brown broth, turn off the flame and allow to cool. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours. Serve chilled with a sprinkle of chopped Almonds and a drizzle of heavy cream or custard of choice.

Savoury Bread Pudding In Flavored Milk (Double Ka Meetha)

Hyderabad - the beautiful city in India, home to many a stalwarts, sportspeople, politicians, film stars has a rich cultural heritage, an equally rich cuisine and history of traditional recipes passed on from generation to generation. The tall gigantic work of architecture at Charminar, beautiful robust fort of Golconda, the bustling markets of Secunderabad selling the best shiny white Hyderabad Pearls all form a part of distinct Hyderabad identity. Hyderabadi recipes pack a medley of flavours and tastes which have an origin and uniqueness of their own. Nothing to beat the authentic flavours of this land.

My observation is that Hyderabadi cuisine in its own way makes abundant use of exotic and ancient spices and condiments along with the ones which have a regular space in our kitchen. Few dishes which form a greater portion of Hyderabad's culinary identity are Hyderabadi Biryani with the famous 'Potli' masala, Haleem, Khubaani Ka Meetha, Double Ka Meetha, Mirchi Ka Salan. The famous dessert dish from Hyderabad is Double Ka Meetha, also called as Bread Ka Meetha. 'Double' is a derivative from the 'Double Bread' which signifies Bread or Pav. 'Meetha' is a hindi word for sweet. Slices of bread soaked in flavoured milk, garnished with toasted nuts equals heavenly delight. Easy to make dish, tastes good with all the flavours mixing in.

Happy Easter!! Crack your egg and have fun....

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

Milk Bread or White Bread slice - 6-8

Sugar - 1 cup ~ adjust as per taste

Whole Milk - 4 cups

Ghee - For frying bread

MTR Badam powder or Crushed Almond Powder - 1 tablespoon

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

For garnishing -

Pistachio - 1/4th cup

Slivered Almonds - 1/4th cup

Saffron - Few strands

Method:

Boil 3 cups of milk with sugar and reduce to 1/2 the consistency in a non-stick deep dish pan. Add MTR badam powder and the consistency would come to a thick one. This whole process takes around 30-40 minutes. Keep stirring the milk occasionally to avoid milk sticking at the bottom of the vessel. Keep aside.

Cut bread slices into triangles. Remove the brown edges. On a frying pan, pan-fry bread slices with ghee till they are firm and well done. Transfer to a large serving pan. Place the fried bread. Pour the flavoured milk over the bread. Garnish with lightly toasted nuts of choice and few Saffron strands. Allow to cool for some time. Cover the pan with foil. Chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving.

Suggestion: For best taste use Milk Bread, if not White Bread also works well.

Paneer Dum Biryani 1.0 (With Yogurt)

After having learnt the basic approach to cooking Biryani; I know love to experiment with different mediums and vegetables, meat, condiments to take the flavour to the next level. I chose a one-pot--dish to satisfy the hunger within stipulated time. I prefer Biryani over weekends, makes cooking easier and a wholesome home cooked dish full of flavour, vegetables or meat with few hours of labor.

I thought of Paneer Biryani which is easy and convenient. I clubbed it with Shan Pilaf-Biryani masala and cooked Paneer in Yogurt which offered good texture. I twisted the flavour at few places to create Hyderabadi style Dum Biryani with spices, condiments which complement Paneer. So I placed weight on the Biryani stock-pot and sealed the sides with foil to prevent the steam from escaping. The Biryani was just perfect.

Preparation time: 60 minutes including cooking time for Rice
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes
Yield: 6-10 servings

Ingredients:
Cooking Rice:
Basmati Rice - 1 and 1/2 cups
Oil - a teaspoon
Salt - As per taste

Paneer Gravy:
Paneer (pre-fried) - 200 gms
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1+1 = 2 tablespoon
Tomato (chopped) - 1 cup
Red Onions (thinly sliced) - 3 cups
Yogurt - 2 tablespoon
Cloves - 3-4
Cardamom - 1

Black Cardamon (Badi Elaichi) - 1
Cinnamon stick (Flat Indian variety) - 1 stick (browen into bits)
Ghee - 3 tablespoon
Salt - as per taste
Shan Pilaf-Biryani Masala - 2 tablespoon or Home made Biryani masala recipe

Biryani Masala: Grind to powder - Yields 2 tablespoon
Fennel seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Black Cumin seeds or Shahjeera - 1/2 teaspoon

Mace (Javitri) - 2

Poppy seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cinnamon stick (Flat Indian variety) - 1

Cardamom - 2

Black Cardamon (Badi Elaichi) - 1

Caraway seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cloves - 3-4

Nutmeg (grated) - 1/3rd of a Nutmeg

Red Food color (optional) - 1/2 teaspoon
Saffron (crushed in milk) - few strands

Milk - 3-5 tablespoon
Garam Masala powder - 2 teaspoon
Nutmeg (grated) - 1

Method:
1. Cooking Rice - Wash Basmati rice multiple times till the water is clear. Soak rice in water for 1/2 hour if possible. Cook rice in water with 1:1 1/2 proportion, with one teaspoon oil and salt. Once rice is done, spread on a long tray and separate with a fork if the need be. The drier the freshly cooked rice, the better.

Also, soak Saffron strands in some warm milk and set aside. Crush them lightly with pestle and mortar to get the heavenly color in milk.
2. Paneer Gravy - Heat a tablespoon of Ghee in a deep dish pan; saute cloves, cardamon and cinnamon sticks in them till the ghee turns fragrant. Saute onions till they wilt and are soft. Add Tomatoes, mash them to get a good dry consistency. Add in the ginger-garlic paste and saute well. Once the gravy is well fried, and oil oozes out, add the Biryani masala, Paneer pieces and saute to get an even consistency (I had pre-fried Paneer in little ghee and set it aside after thawing to room temperature). Turn off the flame, mix in the yogurt well and set aside.
3. Assembly - Take a deep dish stock pot. Transfer on low flame (this is key, do not turn flame to medium or high) and add a spoon of ghee, allow to melt. Add a layer of 1/3rd of cooked rice and paneer gravy. Mix the rice and Paneer well. Sprinkle Garam masala powder and some grated nutmeg on top of the layer. Add another layer of 2nd portion of cooked rice, sprinkle nutmeg powder and garam masala powder again. Add the last portion of cooked rice, sprinkle red food color on top of it. Slather few spoons of ghee, add crushed saffron milk. Cover the lid tightly and place some weight, much better if you can seal the sides for 5-7 minutes with a wheat flour dough or foil. Turn off flame after 5-7 minutes. Take a side scoop of Biryani and enjoy with Mirchi Ka Saalan or Raita of choice.

Verdict: The taste of Biryani was awesome and restaurant style. More often than not Biryani has a dry texture, to combat that I ensured the Paneer pieces get coated with Yogurt. Also the Saffron Milk hydrates the Rice while getting cooked on Dum thereby keeping the rice moist. Since I layered rice in different colors of white rice, yellow rice and red rice, it came out visually rich and appealing. This is a high-calorie recipe. For better taste and flavour, do not compromise on ghee.

Shan Chicken Keema Curry

Shan Masala has been one of my favorite out here in US. I love utilizing local masala's because they add the much needed flavour especially for meat dishes. I had a packet of ground Chicken and wanted to make apt use of it for some curry. Thought Chicken Keema curry would be an awesome pairing for some warm Malabari Paratha. This recipe is simple and followed the recipe on the packet to the T. Nice warm curry for cold winter dinners.

Recipe Source: Shan Masala Recipe

Preparation time + Cooking time: 30-45 minutes

Ingredients:

Ground Chicken - 1 pound

Shan Keema Mix Masala - 2 tablespoon

Onions (chopped) - 2 cups

Ginger-garlic paste (finely minced) - 2 tablespoon

Green Chillies (sliced) - 2

Salt - As per taste

Oil - For frying

Cilantro (chopped) - 1/4th cup

Method:

Thaw the ground Chicken in microwave for a minute or keep out on room temperature for 30 minutes. Heat oil in a deep dish saucepan, saute onions which are chopped to a caramelised texture. Add ground chicken and cook on a low-to-medium flame. This is a long process and takes lot of time, almost 15-20 minutes; You need to smash the meat till it wilts and becomes flaky. Once its cooked, water and fat completely oozes out, you will notice that the water content evaporates. Add the masala, add minced ginger-garlic paste and adjust salt as per taste. Add enough water for gravy consistency. Bring to boil and simmer on low flame for 10 minutes. Turn off flame, garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve warm with Parathas or Rotis.

Egg Biryani 1.0 (With Green Gravy)

Too much of cold, lot of chills and first thing on your mind is to eat something warm and delicious. I thought of Mish-Mash's famous Egg Biryani. Her recipe is one of my favorites and a perfect way to pamper the foodie in me & for my hubby who feels Biryani is the ultimate dish on the face of earth.

I bought Mint leaves from store and made use of rest of my pantry ingredients. I am glad I could make use of many of the pantry items and many are almost close to getting over. This dish was longing and waiting to be tried and tested. Hence, I made it on time by posting it just at about 11:45 night. I am delighted that this Marathon gave me all the options to try, test, experiment and LEARN of all!

I also referred to my Mom's Biryani recipe which is one of my favorites. She makes Vegetable Biryani which has Poppy seeds, Mint, Fennel seeds and Caraway. She also separately prepares Green Masala and the Gravy, It helps a lot while planning the dish. I combined the both to create a very similar Biryani which is tasty, easy-to-make and a perfect way to celebrate the second last day of the calendar year. Luckily, I had the Indian spices handy as well. This Biryani is a regular at our place now and we enjoy it over weekends as a one-pot-dish.

Recipe Source: MishMash + My Mom's recipe

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Biryani Masala -

Fennel seeds (optional) - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Mace - 2

Cinnamon - 1

Cardamom - 2

Caraway seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cloves - 3-4

Nutmeg (grated) - 1 whole - 1/2 for rice assembly + 1/2 for spice powder

For the Gravy -

Whole spice - Cinnamon - 2 sticks

Whole spice - Cardamom with pods open - 4

Whole spice - Cloves - 4

Poppy seeds (optional) - 1/2 teaspoon

Onions (sliced finely) - 2 large Onions or 4 cups finely chopped

Tomatoes (chopped finely) - 2-3 medium ones or 2 cups finely chopped

For Green Masala -

Coriander leaves - 6-8 sprigs

Mint leaves - 4-5 sprigs

Green Chillies - 2

Ginger - 1 " piece

Garlic - 5-6 pods

Grind all of the above with little water to a fine paste

Other Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 1 and 1/2 cups

Eggs - 5-7

Ghee - 3-6 tablespoons

Salt - As per taste

Saffron - 5-8 strands

Warm Milk - 1/2 cup

Garam Masala powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Method:

1. Make the spice powder and keep it aside. For better taste, dry roast the spice a little bit and then grind to a powder. Set aside.

2. Hard boil 4 eggs and set aside. Allow them to cool by running cold water over it and peel, poke holes in them, add some salt and set aside.

3. Boil Rice in water in 1:1 1/2 proportion. Which means for 3 cups of rice, we need 5 1/2 cups of water. Add oil and salt while boiling. Once done and par-cooked, spread on a large plate and allow to dry.

4. Heat 3 tablespoon of Ghee and saute Cinnamon, Poppy seeds, Cloves and Cardamom. Add the Cardamom with the shell partly open. This helps in flavouring the ghee appropriately. Once they are roasted, add onions and tomatoes. Fry well till then reduce in size and wear a wilted look. Add the ground Biryani Masala and Green Gravy and adjust salt. Cut the eggs into halves, retain or discard yolk as per choice. Ensure you turn the egg pieces around and dunk them into the gravy but don't break them up. Make a gravy based curry which will eventually lose moisture and become thick.

5. Crush Saffron in 1/2 cup of milk and set aside.

6. Assembly: Now comes the main part. Take a deep dish thick bottomed vessel. Heat 3-4 tablespoons of Ghee. Allow to heat the pan, Once hot, turn to low flame. Put a layer of cooked rice. Sprinkle Garam Masala powder and grated Nutmeg together. Next, pour the egg curry gravy and then pour rest of the rice on top layer. If desired mix the Egg Gravy curry with Rice if you do not want rice to be white colored. Once done, pour the milk on top layer. Now, while pouring milk cover the maximum surface area of the rice. Saffron gives a red color tinge to the rice. This helps in retaining moisture in the rice and enables slow cooking on dum. Last but not the least, pour 2-3 tablespoon of ghee on top and cover with foil and keep on low flame for 5-7 minutes not more than that (beyond 5 minutes gives a roasted layering to the rice, so do not attempt). Turn off the flame.

7. Mix the Biryani should you want to or serve by scooping sideways; I prefer scooping side ways and serving to ensure a complete serve of all 3 layers. Serve with Mirchi Kaa Saalan on the side.

Key Notes:

1. My learning was that Nutmeg (grated), Caraway seeds and Mace offer the extra zing to the Biryani. Do not compromise on adding these.

2. Saffron Milk is the key to the Biryani flavour and richness. It also adds the rich red color.

3. I used White Onion/ Spanish Onions instead of Red, I found a profound difference in the flavour. Its more advisable to use Red Onions for Biryani.

4. Eggs added loosely on top do not soak the masala as opposed to eggs in gravy. If you like it as toppers, garnish on top else, dunk them in the gravy. Take your pick accordingly. I have toned down the spices to a great extent, increase or decrease as per choice.