Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani
Kacchi-style marinated chicken under saffron basmati, sealed with dough and slow-cooked on dum until every grain smells of cardamom.
Prep 40 min · Cook 55 min · Total 95 min + 2 hr marinade · Serves 4
Ingredients
Marinade
- 750 g Chicken, bone-in curry cut
- 1 cup Thick yogurt
- 1 ½ tbsp Ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 4 Green chillies, slit
- ½ cup Mint leaves
- ½ cup Coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
Rice
- 2 cups Aged basmati rice
- 2 Bay leaves
- 4 Green cardamom pods
- 4 Cloves
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- 1 Star anise
- 1 tsp Shahi jeera
- 2 tbsp Salt, for the water
Birista and layering
- 3 Large onions, thinly sliced
- ½ cup Oil, for frying
- ¼ tsp Saffron strands
- ¼ cup Warm milk
- 4 tbsp Ghee
- ½ tsp Kewra water
- 1 cup Atta, for the dough seal
Method
- Marinate the chicken. Mix the chicken with every marinade ingredient and half the birista (step 2). Cover and chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
- Fry the birista. Fry the sliced onions in the oil over medium heat until deep golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain on paper; they crisp as they cool. Keep the oil.
- Par-boil the rice. Bring 3 litres of water to a rolling boil with the whole spices and salt. Add the drained rice and cook until 70% done, about 5 minutes. Drain at once.
- Layer the handi. Spread the chicken in a heavy pot with 2 tbsp of the frying oil. Cover with the rice, then drizzle the saffron milk, ghee and kewra. Scatter mint and the remaining birista.
- Seal and cook on dum. Seal the lid with a rope of dough. Cook on high for 5 minutes, then set the pot on a hot tawa over the lowest flame for 25 minutes.
- Rest and serve. Rest 10 minutes before breaking the seal. Serve from the side of the pot so each plate gets chicken, masala and saffron rice. Mirchi ka salan and raita go alongside.
Tips
Use basmati aged at least a year; it stays separate on dum. If you can't find shahi jeera, regular cumin works, but use half as much.