Cooking - Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biriyani

Cooking with Kalyan - Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biriyani

The reason why I haven't been cooking and blogging here for so long, is that I recently moved to the US - I now live in Bensalem, PA. It's a small, quiet suburb, so quiet, and I love it!  It's been a month since I came here, and I've been fortunate enough to meet some very nice people.

I must mention Revathi and her small, but beautiful family. They were nice enough to let me stay with them for a week, while I was waiting for my new apartment to be ready. And they, along with a few others, have soon become the family I have here, so far away from home.

And the best part about meeting so many new people, is that one of them turns out to be as crazy about cooking as me - Meet Kalyan a.k.a. Kalyan. He is an amazing cook and a super fun person to hang out with. And it is to him that I owe this brilliant Dum biriyani recipe. I am now his apprentice and he's going to teach me how to make all these exotic Indian recipes. And I will, of course, share them with you.

So what was originally an invitation to watch this masterpiece being made turned into a hands-on workshop when Kala slit his hand with an over-sharp knife. Thanks to that accident, I got to actually make this myself, under the careful supervision of the master, of course. Kalyan says this particular recipe has been coined from 5 different recipes, taking the best of each and turning it into one big pot of awesomeness! He has even won awards for this Biriyani, and I can personally vouch for it. It was nothing short of amazing!

Oh and thanks Revathi and Varma, for letting us use your Kitchen. No one bests you at making guests feel at home. We went through your entire pantry and played real life 'Kitchen'.  And Varma, I promise that when we make a video log of this recipe, you can host the show ;)


Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biriyani
Serves 7-8
 
You will be needing
For the Marinade
- 1kg Chicken
- 2 handfuls of crispy fried onions
- 2tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1-2tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4tsp turmeric powder
- 6 green chillies, chopped finely
- A handful of mint leaves
- A handful of green coriander, chopped
- 1tsp garam masala
- 3-4 tsp thick fresh curd/yoghurt.
- Juice of a whole large lime (2 Indian lemons)
- 1/2tsp Black Jeera (Kaala Jeera)

For the Rice
- 4 cups Basmati rice
- 1 large stick of cinnamon
- 4-6 cloves
- 3-4 green cardamom pods
- 1/2tsp Black Jeera (Kaala Jeera)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2tsp ghee
- Salt to taste

For the final assembling
- 2-3 pinches of orange-red food colour, dissolved in milk. (I asked Kala if there would be a better flavour if substituted with Saffron, but he strictly says No. The saffron imparts its signature flavour and ruins this dish.)
- A handful of chopped coriander
- 2-3 handfuls of fried onions.
- Juice of a lime

Method

Step 1: Prepping the chicken and the rice

- First, add the red chilly powder, turmeric powder and salt to the chicken. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then add the remaining ingredients for the marinate. Set aside for an hour.

- Soak the Basmati rice in water for an hour.

Step 2: Cooking the rice

- Boil about 10 cups of water, and add the cloves, cinamon stick, cardamom pods, kala jeera, bay leaves, ghee and salt. The water must taste saltier than you want the rice to be, so add salt accordingly.

- Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add the soaked rice, and cook till it is al dente, i,e., not completely cooked, but almost done. You'll know it's done when the rice strands begin to curl inwards slightly.

- Drain the rice using a colander. It seems such a waste to throw away such amazingly flavoured water, but sacrifices must be made to achieve great things!

- Let it cool.

See how the rice has a slight curve to it???

Step 3: The assembling

- In a heavy bottomed pan, spread the marinating chicken till the base is covered. This should be most of the chicken. Save some pieces to intersperse the second layer with.

   - Spoon over some of the rice on top of the chicken layer.

- Scatter the remaining chicken on top of the rice.

 
 - Throw in some fried onions.

- Spoon over the remaining rice.

- Sprinkle the 'coloured' milk.

- Scatter some more fried onions.

- Then finally some chopped coriander.

Step 4: Dum

Cover with a clean, damp towel, and then seal the pan shut with a heavy large lid.

Now this is the crucial part - timing the heat.

Cook the assembled biriyani over a high flame for about 2-3 minutes, then reduce the flame to medium heat, and cook for 10 minutes. Then reduce the flame to the lowest level, and cook for 30 minutes.

Timing is key here, you may want to use a timer to get it right.

Serve hot! And I cannot believe I am saying this, but this dish does not need an accompaniment. It tastes great just by itself. The onion raitha we made as a safety net remained untouched till the end of the meal. To our surprise, we did not need it at all!

Serve hot and enjoy with you friends and family. I did. And the more the merrier!