Monday, November 15, 2010

Hyderabadi Chicken biryani

I prepared this Hyderabadi chicken biryani during a weekend. I love the way it brightens up a winter day:) The main challenge lies in getting all the things ready. But once we setup the dhum process, then we can sit and relax  with our loved ones. So keep everything handy before starting.

Hyderabadi biryanis are admired for their beautiful coloration and flavor. So once in a while I use organic food colors to get that real touch. In this method there will not be any separate gravy preparation like the Tamilnadu version. The meat gets cooked with rice and hence we will get juicy moist chicken pieces. This briyani  is  prepared in  a slow cooking process called dhum cooking which involves placing hot charcoal over the dhum vessel. But I am narrating that process to do at home, with the equipments we normally have:)
 Hyderabadi Chicken biryani in vibrant coloration.


Main Ingredients for Hyderabadi chicken biryani.
Arranging the layers for Hyderabadi chicken biryani before dhum process.

A homely  dhum process. Biryani vessel tightly sealed with wheat dough and placed over hot tawa.

To cook rice:
Basmati rice - 2.5 cups (500 gm)
salt - 1 tsp
water - 6 cup
bay leaf - 3
star aniseed - 1
black cumin - 1/2 tsp
cinnamon - 1 inch
cardamom - 4
clove - 4
lemon juice- 1/4 of a fruit

Wash and clean the rice. Soak it for 30 minutes. Bring to boil some 6 cups of water.
Add the bay leaf, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, lemon juice salt, kali jeera (black cumin) and let the rice gets semi cooked. It should be very firm and almost raw. Drain the water using a colander and keep aside.

For garnishing:
cashews - 10
raisins - 20
ghee - 2 tbsp
mint leaf , cilantro (chopped)- 2 tbsp
yellow or orange food color - 1 drop ea.
(we can use saffron instead)
cooking oil - 3 tbsp
Red onion - 1 cup (chopped lengthwise)

Heat oil in a flat bottom vessel and fry the chopped onions to golden brown. Take it out and save for garnishing.
In the remaining ghee , fry the cashews and raisins. Keep aside.

For the masala:
Chicken (with bones) - 500 gm
raisins - 2 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
salt - 1 tbsp
ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
mint - 1/4 bunch
cilantro - 1/4 bunch
green chilly - 5
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
ghee - 2 tbsp
plain yogurt (from whole milk)- 1 cup

Grind the mint, cilantro and green chillies to a fine paste.
Now ,wash and clean the chicken. Cut it into big chunks. Mix all the items mentioned above with chicken and place it in the bottom of the dhum vessel. Spread them uniformly.

For flavored water:
salt - 1/2 tsp
lemon - 1/2
sugar - 1 tsp
kewra water - 2 tbsp
(or, rose essence 2 drops + 2 tbsp water)
ghee - 2 tbsp
black pepper corn - 10
cinnamon - 1/2 inch
cardamom - 2
clove - 2
black cumin (kali jeera) - 1/2 tsp
green chilly - 2
Mace (javithri / jathipathiri) - 1 strand
nutmeg (jathikkai) - a small scraping

Run everything above in a mixer and make a fine liquid. If you don't have enough time then , leave the whole garam masalas and mix 2 tbsp of Hyderabadi biryani masala powder with the other things mentioned above. (I like shan brand biryani masala powder).

For dhum process:
wide vessel with tight lid
A dosa tawa
chapathi dough using 1 cup wheat flour

Mix the wheat flour with water to get a bread dough consistency and keep aside.
We can use an aluminum foil also, if we do not want to waste the dough. But sealing with dough is the best method and it is called dum / dhum process, which means 'slow cooking with hot steam sealed inside'. I would suggest sealing with the dough for a tasty dhum biryani.
If you are using a flat lid, then boil 2 liters of water in a vessel and place over the vessel (after sealing) for more heat generation.

Arranging the layers:
Now spread the semi cooked rice uniformly over the raw chicken masala layer.
Mix saffron with 1/4 cup warm milk (or) mix the food color with 2 tbsp water and sprinkle it over the rice. I used food color here.(Food color gives a beautiful look.so choose according to the occasion. Natuaral colors can be obtained from saffron, beetroot, carrot etc).
Place a thick dosa tawa over stove, heat it. Now place the dhum vessel over the tawa.
Over the rice, spread the fried cashews, finely chopped cilantro , mint, fried onion and sprinkle the flavored water.
Close the vessel with a tight lid.
Seal the edges with the prepared chapathi dough.
Start heating the arrangement. Keep the flame at high till the tawa gets heated and then reduce it to a minimum. Leave the whole set up for 2 hours. (Cook it in very low heat to avoid burnt smell). If you are making for a large scale, baking is the best method. Place the entire setup inside the oven and bake at 350 deg C and 90 minutes.
After that discard the dough, open the lid carefully.

Hyderabadi chicken biryani is ready!
 Hyderabadi Chicken biryani.


Serving suggestions:
Serve the biryani like a layered rice, so that every plate gets a portion of rice, chicken and colorful topping.The guest has to mix and devour:)
Serve with boiled eggs and raitha of your choice.
Serves 5 to 6 people.

25 comments:

Arundhuti said...

Wow! truely colourful and delectable...

Lena Jayadev said...

wowww...i want it right now.. this is awesome yaar.. :)

Suja Manoj said...

Awesome...please pass that plate dear,looks irresistible

Priya Suresh said...

Very tempting and droolworthy biryani, i prepared the same last weekend, will be posting mine soon..

Soumya said...

very tempting and delicious biryani...wonderful presentation

Unknown said...

very colourful..

Swathi said...

Nice colored biryani. Love it as it dum one.

Sangi said...

Tempting briyani plate.. love the recipe and neatly explained..

Nandinis food said...

Mmm! It's aromatic and wonderful! Very scrumptious lunch! Slurp!

Sushma Mallya said...

Mouthwatering...love the colour

Ash said...

Looks perfect! Very grainy & colorful... Pleasing my taste buds.... Kudos & Hugs!!!!

Ash...
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Prema said...

Wow mouthwatering here,iam great fan of briyani....thanks for the detail picuture of dum briyani.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Viki
Thank you so much for this awesome Biriyani. I have great collection of Biriyani recipes and each is different. Book marking it.
I am going to make it as soon as I am back from My Kerala trip.
Thanks for sharing and have a nice week

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Awesome Biryani! Wish I could have some...

indianspicemagic said...

Wounderful blog you have ... Nice dum briyani.As i am veg. will try this with vegetables .

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Viki would you mind sharing this aromatic, delicious plate with me? ;-)

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Mr.Rajavel. Have a nice day. Enjoy!

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Nithya. I am very glad that you all like it. Keep visiting,
love,
Viki.

mel said...

Is it necessary to use flavoured water or can i cook it without flavvoured water

mel said...

Hi Viki.
wen i see the pictures only my mouth started watering,thanks for the receipe.
U are a great cook.
I wanted to ask is it compulsary to use flavoured water

or if i dont use flavored water will Biryani will turn out nice

Vikis Kitchen said...

Hi Mel, Thanks for the compliments. Flavored water is a must for this briyani. You can substitute kewra water with rose essence as I mentioned. Happy cooking and Enjoy!

Unknown said...

Tried this recipe last night. excellent recipe, my family loved it.

Unknown said...

Beautiful preparation. As an amateur , I am just curious to know that how did you get three types of colour in your rice ? As in in the picture we see, a mixture of white, yellow and orange colour rice. As we sprinkle saffron on the whole rice, how did u get 3 different colours ? Also, how can I get colour green in my rice ?Pls suggest.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thanks Anumika. occasionally only I mix few drops of food color (wilton brand) in water and sprinkle over rice. This is not necessary if we use turmeric , as it is more safer to eat:)

Suchitra said...

Very good website, thank you.
Pipili Chandua
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