Updated: 15-05-2025
Chicken Dum Biryani – Hyderabadi Special Dish
Chicken Dum Biryani is an authentic Hyderabadi special dish that is extremely popular all over India.
Biryani is a heritage classical South Asian cuisine that was originally invented during the Mughal Empire.
The recipe for the chicken Dum Biryani is a very slow process.
We need to have full patience, but this process is essential to bring the perfect aromatic flavours out of the Dum Biryani.
A Biryani is a compulsory dish in every Muslim wedding food platter which is cooked with a blend of aromatic spices, Basmati rice and a choice of meat, lamb, chicken or fish and it can also be made with vegetables.
The ingredients for the chicken Dum Biryani is from the lands of Nawabs Hyderabad.
Nutrition per serving:
| Calories | Fat | Vitamins | Potassium | Dietary Fiber | Sodium | Iron | Protein | Total Carbohydrate |
| 531.4 | 18.7g | Vitamin B-6 (7.5%) Vitamin C (7.1%) Vitamin E (0.6%) | 153.6mg | 2.5g | 9.6mg | 5.2% | 40.1g | 52.9g |
Preparation timings: 45 minutes + cooking time 45 minutes
Serves: Makes about 6 servings
Ingredients for Chicken Dum Biryani
For Marination:
- Chicken: 1 ½ kg (cut into large pieces)
- Garlic-ginger paste: 2 tbsp
- Red chili powder: 2 tbsp
- Turmeric powder (Haldi) 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Coriander leaves (Kottimir) 1 bunch
- Mint leaves (pudina), 1 bunch
- Green chilies 7
- Cumin seeds (Shahi Jeera) 1 tsp
- Cloves (Loung) 4
- Cinnamon sticks (Dalchini) 2
- Cardamoms (Elaichi) 3
- Black pepper (Kali Mirch) 4
- Garam Masala powder 1 tsp
- Onion: 2 cups (fried golden brown)
- Yoghurt: 2 cups
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
Procedure for cooking rice:
Water for boiling
- Basmati rice, 1 kg
- Cloves 3
- Cinnamon stick -1
- Cardamons: 2 or 3
- Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
- Black pepper 2 or 3
- Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
- Salt to taste
For layering Dum Biryani:
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- Coriander leaves ½ cup
- Mint leaves ½ cup
- Onion ½ cup (fried onions)
- Lemon juice 1 tbsp
- Saffron milk: 1 cup
- Ghee 1 tbsp
- Water: 1 cup or a little more
Method for Chicken Dum Biryani
Chicken marination:
- Wash the chicken pieces with lemon juice and water, then strain them completely and keep them aside.
- To this, add ginger-garlic paste and mix well.
- Next, add the dry spices like red chilli powder (Lal Mirch), turmeric powder (Haldi), and salt, and mix well.
- In a food processor, add a bunch of mint leaves, coriander leaves, and green chillies, and also add a pinch of salt, and make a fine paste known as green masala.
- Add this green masala to the chicken marinade.
- Next, add the whole Garam Masala spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and cumin, then mix the entire mixture nicely.
- Now add the crushed fried onion into the marinade.
- Take a bowl, beat the yoghurt, and mix the beaten yoghurt into the marinade.
- Finally, add oil, garam masala powder, and lemon juice and mix well.
- Now, check the taste and add salt if required.
- Refrigerate the marinated chicken for about 1 hour.
Procedure to cook the rice
Wash the Basmati rice and soak it for about 1 hour.
- Then, take a thick-bottomed pot and add water generously into it.
- Now add salt as per taste, then add cinnamon sticks, cloves, cumin seeds, black pepper, and cardamom.
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Now, add the soaked rice to the boiling water.
- Cook the rice until it’s three-fourths done.
- Next, strain the rice completely and keep it aside.
Procedure for layering and giving the Dum
- In a thick-bottomed pot, spill the oil all over the base.
- Now add the marinated chicken to it and spread it evenly.
- The next layer adds rice, which should be evenly spread all over the marinade.
- Now season the rice with coriander, mint, and fried onions.
- Add the lemon juice all over the rice. Then add saffron milk and ghee into it.
- Now seal the pot with aluminium foil or make a chapati dough and seal the lid and the cooking pot tightly with the dough.
- Take a tawa and heat it on a medium flame.
- Once the tawa is hot, lower the flame and keep the biryani pot and cook on the simmer flame for about 45 minutes.
- Once the biryani is ready, switch off the flame and let it stand for 5 to 7 minutes.
- Serve the biryani on a serving plate and garnish the chicken dum biryani with fried onions, coriander leaves, and mint leaves.
Note:
While taking the biryani out with a spatula, be careful and take it from one corner.
The spoon has to go down to the depth and should come out with the chicken and rice.
Use Basmati rice for making biryani because this makes the biryani very delicious.
Boil water for 10 minutes before you add the soaked rice.
Don’t cook the rice for a long time because it becomes soggy while making dumplings.
Always use fresh herbs for the wonderful fragrance of the biryani.
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