How to cook famous Hyderabadi Biryani at home

Hyderabad: Hyderabad is famous across the world for its Biryani. This dish is generally made of goat’s meat, but Chicken Biryani is very popular too. Mince Biryani is a hot favorite. Fish, prawn and quail are the other Biryani choices.

Paradise, Pista House, Sarviand Hyderabad House are some of the most frequented Biryani places. 4 Seasons serves fragrant Arabic and Iranian biryani as well as a traditional Hyderabadi dish, and ‘Mixed Biryani’ consisting of mutton, chicken, and boiled egg.

The accompaniments to Mutton or Chicken Biryani are generally ‘mirchi ka salan’ (Green chili curry) and ‘dahi chutney’ (very similar to ‘raita’) but ‘bagharabaigan’ (eggplant curry) and ‘tomato kat’ are also popular, especially when they are served with Kheema (mince) Biryani.

The original recipe for Hyderabadi Biryani always used double the amount of meat (called ‘double gosht’) when compared to the weight of Basmati rice so Hyderabadis generally order ‘Double Biryani’ when they eat out. Then there is ‘pakki’ Biryani which uses half-cooked rice along with the meat marinade and the ‘kacchi’ Biryani where raw rice is cooked with the meat. ‘Deghs’ or dishes used to cook the Biryani are traditionally put on wood fires, sealed with dough, and live coals are placed on the lid during the last 10 minutes of the cooking process.

Here are the recipes for those who would like to prepare Biryani at home.

Hyderabadi Biryani

Ingredients:

½ kilo basmati rice

1 kg mutton or chicken, cut into medium pieces

A small piece of raw papaya, ground. (This makes the meat very tender. However, if you can’t find raw papaya, just marinate the meat for a longer period.)

2 Onions

1 tablespoon ground almonds or cashew nuts (optional)

Juice of 1 lime

200 grams yogurt

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

3 tsp ginger-garlic paste

6 green chilies, ground into fine paste

6 cloves

4 sticks of cinnamon

6 cardamoms

6 bay leaves

½ teaspoon ‘shahjeera’

1 bunch finely chopped coriander leaves

1/2 bunch mint leaves

A few strands saffron immersed in warm milk

2 tbsp ghee

4 tablespoons oil

Salt to taste

Boiled eggs for garnish (optional).

Note: At grand feasts, quails’ eggs are used!

Method:

Cut the onion into thin, long pieces and fry them till they are golden brown. After cooling, crush the onions with your hand.

Wash the meat/ chicken and mix it with ginger garlic paste and papaya paste if available. (Papaya is a great tenderizer for meat; it is not required for chicken.) Mix yogurt, lime juice, half of the crushed fried onion, red chili and turmeric powder, green chili paste, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, coriander leaves, shahjeera, and mint leaves, powdered almond or cashew (if using this), salt, and oil. Add this mixture to the marinated meat and keep it aside for one hour (Marinate the mutton overnight or for 6 hours at least. If using chicken, 1 hour’s marinating time is enough, although the longer you keep it in the marinade, the better it tastes).

Now you have a choice of making ‘Pakki Biryani’ or Biryani with half-cooked rice or ‘Kacchi Biryani’ with raw rice that has been soaked in water for half an hour.

Pakki Biryani:

Cook the basmati rice in boiling water to which a few pieces of cinnamon and salt have been added if you prefer ‘pakki biryani. ’ When the rice is half cooked, remove it from the flame.

Drain out the water completely and spread the half-cooked rice over the marinated meat.

Upon the rice layer, spread bay leaves, milk and saffron, ghee, and the remaining part of the crushed onion. Seal the lid with dough or put a weight on top. Cook on very low heat for 30 to 40 minutes. You can also heat a ‘tawa’, place the ‘degh’ on it, and cook the Biryani Degh on low heat.

Kacchi Biryani: (I prefer this hassle-free method, and this is also the original recipe.)

For ‘Kacchi Biryani’, use raw rice that has been soaked and add 3 and a half cups of water after layering in the same way as ‘pakki biryani’. Cook on high flame, reduce the heat when water has been almost completely absorbed by the rice, and lastly add the other half of the crushed onion, milk, and saffron and dot the top with ghee.

Seal the lid with dough, or put a heavy weight on the lid and cook until the aroma of Biryani tells you that the dish is ready: about 30 to 40 minutes.

Garnish with boiled eggs cut in quarters (optional).

Vegetarians can use the same recipe and substitute the meat or chicken with ‘paneer’ cut into cubes and marinated for half an hour to make a vegetarian version of Hyderabadi Biryani. Although this is not an authentic Hyderabadi recipe, my vegetarian friends love the taste.

Mirchi ka Salan:

Ingredients:

250 grams large Green Chilies

2 large onions

1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp Sesame seeds

1 tbsp Peanuts

2 tbsp desiccated Coconut

1 tbsp coriander seeds

½ tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp red chili powder

A little tamarind pulp, according to taste

1 tbsp Lime juice

Salt

1/2 cup cooking oil

Method:

Wash Green Chilies, make slits along the length ensuring that the end is intact. Remove the seeds.

Fry the onions in a little oil until light golden. Cool.

Dry roast the sesame seeds, peanuts, desiccated coconut, coriander, and cumin seeds for a minute. Cool.

Grind together the fried onion, roasted spices, ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, and red chili powders to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a pan, deep fry green chilies, remove and keep aside.

Fry the ground paste in the same oil. Stir continuously. Pour a little water at regular intervals while frying the paste. Add the tamarind pulp and salt and stir well until the gravy is of a pouring consistency.

Add fried chilies. Bring to a boil and remove from fire. Add lemon juice according to your taste.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with Biryani.

Dahi ki Chutney:

Ingredients:

Natural Yogurt – ½ kilo

Salt -1/2 teaspoon

Green Chilies – 2, chopped very fine

Onion – 1 medium, finely chopped

Mint and Coriander leaves – 1/2 cup, finely chopped

Small Tomato -1, chopped finely

Method:

1. To the yogurt in a bowl, add salt and half a cup of water and whip it till smooth.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and fold them into the yogurt. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Serve with Biryani.