How to make Biryani: Hyderabadi style
India is famously called the land of spices. Here people of different culture prepare different kinds of food and the delicacies are so delicious that people from other parts of the world on having Indian food for the first time always wonder why they’ve missed it all their life! [hana-code-insert name=’rectangle’ /]The aroma of Indian spices and dishes pulls in a lot of tourists from all over the world. Not only is its landscapes worth treasuring, so are the welcoming people and the food they serve to their guests, called ‘Atithi’ with love and care. Here they believe, “Atithi Devo Bhava”, which means that the guest holds an equivalent position to the Almighty and that he/she is to be served nobly with care. Different parts of India are famous for different kinds of food.
Talking of Biryani, it is such a famous dish in India that people from all other cities and states apart from Hyderabad too love having it. We always lure the dish and long for the next trip to Hyderabad to savour the taste of the very famous dish of the Nizams, the Biryani. So, here’s a simple recipe of this famous dish so that the next time you wish to have it you can easily prepare it at home!
Ingredients to cook biryani
- 3 tablespoonful of cashew nuts
- 3 tablespoonful of raisins
- 2 cups of Basmati rice
- Finely chopped 1 potato, 1/3rd cabbage, 1 carrot, 50 grams beans, 2 green chillies, 2 garlic cloves, 2 tomatoes and 1 onion.
- 50 grams fresh green peas. If It’s not a peas’ season, frozen peas can also be used which is easily available in the market.
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoonful of red chilli powder
- 2 tablespoonful of dalchini
- 2 tablespoonful of zeera
- 5 cloves of laung
- 2 pinches of mustard seeds
- 3 pinches of pepper
- 1 cup yoghurt or dahi
- Refined oil.
Method for preparing biryani
- Rinse Basmati rice in clean drinking water thoroughly.
- Take a pan and add 2 cups of water, the rinsed rice, a pinch of salt, cashew nuts and raisins in it.
- Cook the rice without closing the lid. Remember not to cook the rice fully and leave it half cooked to be later cooked fully with the vegetables. The Basmati rice just needs to be flavoured with cashew nuts and raisins.
- Take a large pan and add 2 tablespoonful of refined oil and sauté finely chopped vegetables in it. Also add green peas to it.
- Then add zeera, dalchini, laung, mustard seed and pepper in it. Mix it well.
- Add salt to taste and red chilli powder too in it.
- Fry them till they are well cooked.
- Till the vegetables get fried blend the yoghurt well to make it thin. Remember no lumps should appear.
- Now add the yoghurt to the vegetables being fried and stir it well.
- When the yoghurt gets mixed in the vegetables add the Basmati rice to it and let it cook for 5 minutes.
- Garnish Biryani with dry fruits, elaichi, mint and saffron.
- Serve the aromatic, mouth- watering Biryani with Pyaz Ka Raita and become a true Hyderabadi for a day!