Hyderabadi biryani

Chicken and Basmati Cooked Sealed by Dum

Hyderabadi biryani is marinated chicken and part-boiled basmati rice layered in a heavy pot with fried onion, herbs and saffron milk, sealed with dough and cooked on a low heat in its own steam, which is called dum. When the seal is broken the layers are mixed gently and served with raita.

Biryani is linked to Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kolkata.

Both recipes marinate the chicken in yoghurt, ginger, garlic and chilli, boil the rice to 70 to 75 per cent, layer rice and chicken with fried onions, mint, coriander and saffron milk and seal the pot. One cooks for 8 servings 20 to 25 minutes; the other for 4 servings cooks 15 to 20 minutes on medium-low plus 10 minutes on low.

Ingredients

For the chicken

  • 1 kg chicken pieces, on the bone
  • 240 g plain yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp fine sea salt

For the rice

  • 570 g basmati rice, washed and soaked 30 minutes
  • 1.4 litres water
  • 4 to 5 green cardamom pods
  • 2 black cardamom pods
  • 4 cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • Fine sea salt

To assemble

  • 3 large onions, sliced and fried until golden
  • 110 g ghee
  • 4 green chillies, slit
  • 15 g mint leaves
  • 15 g coriander leaves
  • 1/2 tsp saffron strands in 60 ml warm milk
  • 65 g fried cashews
  • Flour and water dough, or foil, to seal

Method

  1. Marinate Mix the chicken with the yoghurt, ginger-garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, lemon juice and salt. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
  2. Part-cook the rice Boil the rice with the whole spices, bay and salt in the water until about 70 per cent cooked, with a firm centre. Drain.
  3. Layer In a heavy pot spread half the chicken, then half the rice, half the fried onions, ghee, herbs and chillies. Repeat. Pour the saffron milk over the top and scatter with the cashews.
  4. Seal and cook Seal the pot with a dough rope and a tight lid, or with foil and a weighted lid. Cook over a low heat for 20 to 25 minutes, then turn off the heat and rest unopened for 10 minutes.
  5. Check and serve Open the pot and check that the thickest chicken piece reaches 75°C and the juices run clear, with no pink. If not, reseal and cook on low for 10 minutes more. Mix the layers gently and serve with raita.

Food safety

Check that the chicken is cooked through, with no pink and juices running clear. The chicken is cooked from raw in the pot, so check the thickest piece with a thermometer. Steam from a sealed pot burns: open the lid away from you. Cool leftovers quickly and reheat until piping hot.

Drain the rice while it still has a firm centre; it finishes in the steam.

Chicken on the bone stays moister.

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