Traditional Kacchi Chicken Dum Biryani recipe is perfect blend of spice, aroma, taste and flavour. In this recipe, chicken is marinated for 6-8 hours or overnight with spice powders and masalas. Then cooked on dum by layering with semi cooked rice, fried onions, coriander leaves, lemon juice and saffron milk. Try this Hyderabadi Kacchi Dum Biryani for Eid or Iftar or for Weekend Party.
Salma Aunty’s Kachche Murgh ki Dum Biryani
I learnt to make this kachi chicken biryani from Salma aunty. Salma aunty is my mom’s neighbor and very wonderful human with a heart of gold. Allhumdulliah she is blessed with 5 beautiful daughters (of which two are married and have got children too) and an adorable son. Though she has never been to school, she assists her husband in running a small ice factory.
Apart from working at ice factory, cooking is her only passion. With house full of children, I see aunty mostly in her kitchen. Every alternate week some or other ceremony or function keeps aunty super busy all the time. I must tell you, she always grinds the masalas fresh just before starting to cook. I really wonder from where on earth she gets the energy. Upon asking she always smiles and says…..’You never get tired of doing what you love and I love cooking so I never get tired of it’….How beautiful right?
Whatever she cooks, she always shares with us, even it is a simple sabzi or chutney. She believes in sharing and eating. One day I told her, I love her kacche murgh ki biryani (chicken biryani) and she generously gave me this recipe. She even called me when she was making this recipe so that I can learn the recipe easily. How wonderful right?
Which type of rice is best for biryani?
Long grain basmati is much preferred rice variety to make biryani. But I love making biryani with ‘sona masoori’ (bangaru teegalu). The sole reason is, I make biryani at least once in two weeks and to my notion, biryani tastes best the next day it is made. Biryani made with basmati rice, will be heavy on single serving and I cannot have more…greedy me…..isn’t it?? I do make biryani with basmati rice, but only on special occasions like Eid or Parties…
Is Sona Masoori rice good for biryani?
Yes, sona masoori is good for making biryani. Sona masoori is ideal for daily cooking and in Andhra it is called Bangaru Teegalu. Use fine quality ‘Sona Masoori’ to get best and perfect grained biryani. I bet you will love this more than the biryani made with basmati rice.
Now coming to the recipe. This is a long recipe, so please read it completely before you start making it. Check if you have all ingredients at home before you start to make. Follow my tips carefully to make a delicious and
Hyderabad Style Kacchi Chicken Dum Biryani
INGREDIENTS:
PREPARATION:
FOR MARINATION:
- 1 kg. Chicken, cleaned, washed and drained
- 2 tbsp. Red chili powder
- ½ tbsp. Turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp. Garam Masala
- ½ cup Birista, deep fried Onions
- 2 tbsp. Ginger-Garlic paste
- 3 tbsp. Hara Masala
- ¾ cup Curd, beaten
- 2 tbsp. Salt
FOR HARA MASALA:
- 2 medium Onions, sliced
- ½ cup Coriander leaves
- 5 Green chilies
FOR RICE:
- 1 kg. Sona Masoori, wash and soak for ½ hr
- 1½ tbsp. Ginger-Garlic paste
- 5 Cardamoms, 5 Cloves and 2 1” inch pieces of Cinnamon
- 1 Badi Elaichi | Black Cardamom, 1 Star Anise and 1 Bay leaf
- 1 tbsp. Salt
TO SOAK:
- ½ tbsp. Saffron/Orange food color
- 3 tbsp. lukewarm Milk
FOR GARNISH:
- 3 tbsp. minced Coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp. minced Mint leaves
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
- ¾ cup Ghee or you can use ½ cup Oil + ¼ cup Ghee
- 4 Onions, finely sliced
- 4 tbsp. fresh Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. Garam Masala
How to make Kacchi Chicken Dum Biryani (Step by Step Recipe)
HARA MASALA:
- Grind the ingredients listed under ‘Hara Masala’ to coarse paste.
MARINATION:
- Marinate the chicken pieces with the ingredients listed under ‘For Marination’ and leave it in fridge for 6-7 hours or overnight by covering with a plastic foil or tight lid.
THE NEXT DAY OR AFTER 6-7 HOURS:
- Take out the chicken from the fridge and leave it on the kitchen counter to bring it down to room temperature.
- In a heavy bottom cooking vessel, add ghee and drop in cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon. When the spices start to leave their aroma, add in finely sliced onions.
- Fry till crisp and nice brown. (Be careful, fry on low flame, stirring frequently). Now carefully using a slotted spatula separate fried onion slices from ghee and take out on to a kitchen tissue. Set aside. Collect ghee in a cup and set aside.
- Add 2 tbsp. of hot oil to the marinated chicken and mix well.
COOKING RICE:
- In a heavy bottom cooking vessel (used for cooking rice) add 12-15 cups of water (if more also no problem, as we will drain off the water), salt, ginger-garlic paste, 3 cardamom’s, 3 cloves, 2 sticks of cinnamon, black cardamom, star anise and bay leaf. Bring water to boil. When the water starts to boil add soaked rice and cook till rice is just done.
- After adding rice, don’t go anywhere, stand near the stove and keep an eye on rice. As we are using sona masoori, the rice will take less time to cook and we need just done rice not completely cooked rice.
- When you hold the rice in between your thumb and index finger, the rice grain should be soft not mushy (cooked 3/4th). At this point, turn off the flame.
- Drain and collect the water using a sieve in a cooking vessel. Drain well and start working soon.
LAYERING:
- Now in the same vessel add little ghee (the one which we fried onions) and spread it over the bottom. Sprinkle some fried onions and spread over the marinated chicken pieces. Sprinkle half of garam masala, little deep fried onions, 2 tbsp. of lemon juice, fresh coriander and mint leaves.
- Cover it up with cooked rice. On it add remaining ghee (the one which we fried onions), kesar, fried onions, garam masala, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, fresh coriander and mint leaves.
- Transfer the vessel on to the stove and cook by covering with a lid. Keep the strained water on top of the lid or seal with foil or dough.
FOR DOUGH:
- In traditional way, biryani pot is sealed with whole wheat flour dough, which is made mixing 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 tbsp. salt, 2 tbsp. of ghee and enough water to make firm dough. Seal the cooking vessel and lid with the dough thoroughly. This process helps in retaining the steam and aroma of the recipe.
FINAL STEP:
- Cook for nearly 40-45 minutes on low flame.
- Turn off the flame and leave the vessel on the stove for another half an hour.
SERVING:
- When you are ready to serve, mix in the biryani slowly and gently. Serve hot garnishing with fresh coriander and mint leaves. If you want you can add fried cashews or half sliced hard boiled eggs before serving.
TIP:
- Add ½ tbsp. of sugar while frying onions. This gives nice color and caramelisation to the onions.
- Always remember to fry onions on low flame. Avoid burning onion slices as it will impart bitter taste to the biryani. Fried onions are called ‘Birista’.
- Keeping strained water vessel on top of the lid provides weight and helps in locking the aroma.
- As we are using salt in marinating chicken and cooking rice, so adjust accordingly.
Other very famous biryani recipes on ‘Yummy Food are,
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth says
Nothing like a biriyani for a meal. I am wondering how cooked the chicken would become. Since it is marinated overnight, it would cook faster right? I have never made biriyani with sona masoori, it is always basmati and I feel it is light enough… 🙂
Lubna Karim says
Believe me and try it….Chicken will be perfectly done Rafeeda…No as it is marinated and layered below semi cooked rice, it will be cooked just to perfect. Try using fine quality sona masoori rice…it is more tasty.
Sahar says
Looks yummy
Lubna Karim says
Thank you Sahar.
American Hijabi says
Okay okay so Biriyanis are some of my favorite dishes and your step-by-step instructions and pictures make it look so incredibly easy! I’ve never actually attempted to make a biriyani because I’ve always be able to just pick it up for take out or to eat in the restaurant. Since moving to KSA I haven’t been quite as lucky, and I haven’t had the chance to explore as many restaurants as I would like. This seems like something that could easily be prepped and made for Ramadan. I’ve never seen Sona Masoori rice but just as Raeeda said, I’ve always seen basmati. Is there a major difference between the two? Do you have any tips for making the dish more spicy in terms of heat?
Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to try this!
Lubna Karim says
Thank you for the comment…Sona Masoori are no aromatic short grained rice compared to basmati rice. Add more red chili powder or increase the number of green chilies to increase spiciness in the recipe. Do let me know how it turned out when you make it.
Rabia S. says
I love how you describe in detail and also the pics make it very easy for people not being familar with the culture. I would love to see a pic of the sealed pot too. I never heard about sealing it with dough. Do you have somewhere a post for newbies – basic ingredients you need such as spices, oil, pastes?
Lubna Karim says
Thank you for the comment Rabia. Somehow I missed posting it. InshaAllah will soon update the post with the pic. Just go through the recipe, spices are easily available and oil is refined Sunflower oil and about pastes…i have got it in my blog. Use the search button on top right…
Suhaila says
MashaAllah sister, I’m really happy to have found your blog! I love all your gorgeous food pictures and simply worded recipes. You make it look so easy!
maryamkabir says
I never had biryani in my life !! I don’t know what the hell I’m waiting for. It looks so good 🙂 but it has so many small steps haha
Muslim Mummy says
I love biryani…think I am the only one in the family that prefers it over pilau! This one looks delicious!
imanatss says
I should so not have read this whilst fasting! That looks amazing! I like having the sauce separate to the rice and I love that tip for caramelising onions! I’m going to try it inshaAllah when I make some after Ramadan 🙂
Zainab Dokrat says
I love this dish! I have a similar recipe on my blog, what I realized is every recipe even if it’s the exact same dish will have it’s few differences and that is what makes it unique. I love that you share the step by step pictures, I wish I could do that but it’s so difficult living in a home with so many people lol (www.beautywithzainy.com and http://www.spicyfusionkitchen.com)