Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe | Hyderabadi Pakki Biryani

Here is a step by step guide to Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe.

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Hyderabad is synonymous to Biryani. If you tell your friends that you are visiting Hyderabad, they will surely ask you to bring biryani from the City. A mix of spices but less spicy, rich in aroma, juicy chicken – such is the charm of this Nawabi delicacy.

The first thing I tried when I came to Hyderabad was the famous delicacy – Hyderabadi Biryani at Four Seasons. And then began my biryani trail at various restaurants in the city. I had Hyderabadi biryani at Four Seasons, Shah Ghouse, Shadab Hotel, Paradise Restaurant and Mandar. Among all the restaurants, I liked Shadab Hotel’s biryani and would suggest you to have it once in a lifetime.

I always knew cooking Hyderabadi style biryani requires a lot of patience and focus, which I was gathering since last month. Last weekend I got a reason to prepare it, as I’d promised to my foodie friend who requested the Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe.

Here’s a small introduction to how the food is divided in Hyderabad into two sections – Kacha (raw) and Pakka (cooked). The meat here is cooked in both ways Kacha gosht, Pakka gosht and so is the biryani – Kachi Biryani and Pakki Biryani. This recipe is for Hyderabadi Pakki Biryani.

This biryani can be accompanied with Dahi ka Raita.

Still I had not made the kachi biryani, that’s why I am not sharing the method for the same.

How to Make Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

Hyderabadi Dum Biryani is ideally cooked with Basmati rice and marinated chicken. As you cook the rice, your kitchen will be filled with a luscious aroma. This would test your patience too .

Time Taken 45 minutes to 1 hour; Serves 2

The recipe is divided into three steps

1. Marination or Aqni
2. Boiling Rice (Adhan)
3. Layering

Let’s prepare it.

Marination of Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

Marination Ingredients

• 400 gm Washed Chicken (with bone)
• 1/4 tsp Haldi (turmeric) powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp Garam Masala
• 1 1/2  tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tsp Kashmiri Mirch Powder
• 8 green chillies finely chopped
• 6-8 sprigs of Coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 4-6 sprigs of mint leaves, finely chopped
• 8-10 Curry leaves, finely chopped
• 200 gm Yogurt
• 1 medium sized onion, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp Refined Oil for Marination
• 2 tbsp Pure Ghee or Desi Ghee
• Salt to taste

How to make Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

Leave the washed chicken pieces in a strainer for at least 30 minutes.

Take a pan, put it on high flame. Add desi ghee and sliced onion to it. Saute till golden brown. Keep it aside.

Take a marination bowl. Add chicken pieces and all the rest of the ingredients for marination. Add the fried onions and mix well. Cover the bowl and keep in refrigerator for 5-6 hours.

I kept it overnight.

Rice

Boiling Rice

Boiled Rice Ingredients

• 2 and half cups or 500 gm Basmati Rice, soaked for 30 minutes
• 1/2 tsp Shahjeera (caraway seeds)
• 2-3 laung or cloves
• 3 green elaichi or cardamom pods
• 1 1/2 inch Dalchini or Cinnamon
• 1 Chakri phool or Star anise
• 2 Tejpatta or Bay leaves
• 5-6 sprigs Coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 2-3 sprigs Mint leaves, finely chopped
• Salt to taste
• Water

Method to boil your Rice

Take a big pan and pour water, at least 3/4th of the pan. Keep it on high flame. Add shahjeera, laung, dalchini, tejpatta, mint leaves, coriander leaves, chakri phool and salt to the water and bring it to boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes more.

Now add rice. Since the rice is already soaked, it will get cooked quickly. Boil the rice for 4-5 minutes. Check if the rice is breaking easily, turn off the flame. Don’t cook it fully. Strain it and keep the rice aside.

Layering

How to do Layering for Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

Ingredients for the Layering

• 2 medium onions, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp Desi ghee or pure ghee
• 1/4 tsp Eatable orange color
• 1 cup Milk at normal temperature
• 8-10 Mint leaves, finely chopped
• 6-7 sprig of Coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp Refined oil
• 1 Lemon

Things required for Dum – Aluminium foil and kneaded dough.

How to Make Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani at Home

Step 1: Take a pan, put it on high heat. Add desi ghee and onions to it. Saute. Let it cook until golden brown.

The onions shouldn’t get burnt. Turn off the flame, let the onions cool down for two minutes. Keep it in refrigerator for 10 minutes. This makes the onions crispy.

Step 2: Add the Chicken marinade to the same pan and cook it on high flame for 2 minutes. Now lower the flame and cook the chicken for 5-7 minutes. No liquid gravy should be there in chicken. Stir once or twice. Keep it aside.

Step 3, the Final Step

Required:

1. The Rice, we had already cooked
2. The cooked-marinated Chicken
3. Milk (add the orange color in the milk, stir nicely)

Take a big pan. I took a non-stick kadhai as it requires less oil. Heat it till the water (if any) evaporates. Now add oil to it, heat the oil and turn off the gas stove.

For first layer – Spread in a very thin layer of rice (that we cooked already) in the pan. Sprinkle some milk over it.

Second Layer – Now spread the cooked marinated chicken all over the rice.

Third Layer – Put rice again.

Fourth Layer – Now spread the fried onions, coriander and mint leaves, and squeeze the juice from the lemon.

Fifth Layer – Spread the remaining rice and pour the orange-coloured milk in zig-zag motion on the rice.

If some chicken pieces are still left, you can place them on the sides.

Seal the pan with the dough and aluminium foil.

Now place a Tawa or girdle on high flame and put your biryani pan over it. Cook the chicken biryani for 10 minutes on high flame.

After 10 minutes, lower the flame and cook for 15-17 minutes. Keep an eye on the clock.

The pan should not get direct heat, else your biryani may get burnt.

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani is ready! Remove the aluminium foil and the dough from the pan. Don’t mix the rice. Just take the biryani out in layers. Have it with Dahi ka Raita.

I again started to crave for it Share your experience when you make the Hyderabadi Biryani with this recipe.

Recipe and Images Shared by Sara Khan