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Tag: Nizami

  • Qubani ka Meetha

    Qubani ka meetha is a classic Hyderabadi dessert made from dried apricots, which reached the Deccan from Afghanistan and Central Asia. It is a must at Hyderabadi weddings, where it is served as the final sweet course, often next to double ka meetha. The small, hard, light-brown dried apricots with their stones are essential to the true taste.

    The apricots are soaked, stoned and cooked slowly with sugar until they break down into a thick, glossy, amber-brown compote with some pieces still whole. It tastes deep, tangy-sweet and slightly caramel. It is served warm or chilled, topped with cream, malai or custard, and the cracked kernels from the stones are sometimes used as garnish.

    At a glance

    RegionTelangana
    CuisineHyderabadi
    DietVegetarian
    CourseDessert
    Prep time15 minutes
    Cook time35 minutes
    Total time50 minutes
    Serves6
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyEasy
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientsdried apricots / sugar / cream / almonds

    Ingredients

    • 250 g dried Hyderabadi apricots (qubani), with stones
    • 4 cups water for soaking
    • 1/2 cup sugar, adjust to taste
    • 1 tsp lemon juice
    • 1/2 cup fresh cream or thick malai
    • 10 almonds, blanched and sliced

    Method

    1. Wash the apricots well and soak them in 4 cups water overnight, or for at least 8 hours, until plump and soft.
    2. Remove the stones by squeezing each apricot gently; keep the soaking water. Crack a few stones and remove the kernels for garnish if you like.
    3. Put the apricots and the soaking water in a heavy pan and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium-low heat for 15 minutes until very soft.
    4. Mash about half the apricots with a spoon, leaving the rest in pieces.
    5. Add the sugar and cook on low heat for another 15-20 minutes, stirring often, until it thickens to a jammy consistency and turns glossy and deep amber.
    6. Stir in the lemon juice and switch off. It will thicken more as it cools.
    7. Serve warm or chilled in small bowls, topped with cream or malai and sliced almonds or the apricot kernels.

    Tips

    • Use the small Hyderabadi or Afghani dried apricots with stones; Turkish apricots give a different, brighter flavour.
    • Taste before adding all the sugar, since apricot sweetness varies.
    • Vanilla custard is a popular alternative topping at weddings.

    Serve with

    Fresh cream, malai, vanilla ice cream or custard.

  • Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

    Hyderabadi biryani grew out of the kitchens of the Nizams, and its most prized form is the kachchi style, where raw marinated meat and par-boiled rice are layered and cooked together under a seal. The meat cooks in the steam of the rice while the rice absorbs the juices of the meat. Getting both done at once is the test of a biryani cook.

    The finished biryani has long, separate grains of basmati in white, yellow and saffron-orange, with tender chicken that is spiced, tangy from curd and lemon, and fragrant with mint, fried onions and kewra. It is the dish of every Hyderabadi wedding and Eid, and of countless Sunday lunches. Every family guards its own ratio of rice to meat and its own garam masala blend.

    At a glance

    RegionTelangana
    CuisineHyderabadi
    DietNon-vegetarian
    CourseRice
    Prep time40 minutes
    Cook time60 minutes
    Total time100 minutes
    Serves5
    Spice levelHot
    DifficultyHard
    Gluten-freeYes
    Key ingredientschicken / basmati rice / curd / fried onions / saffron

    Ingredients

    For the marinade

    • 1 kg chicken, large bone-in pieces
    • 1 cup thick curd
    • 1.5 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
    • 2 tsp red chilli powder
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
    • 1.5 tsp garam masala
    • 1/2 tsp shahi jeera, crushed
    • 4 green chillies, slit
    • 1/2 cup chopped mint
    • 1/2 cup chopped coriander
    • 1 cup birista (fried onions from 3 large onions)
    • 3 tbsp lemon juice
    • 3 tbsp ghee
    • 2 tbsp oil from frying the onions
    • 1.5 tsp salt

    For the rice

    • 3 cups aged basmati rice, soaked 30 minutes
    • 12 cups water
    • 2 tbsp salt
    • 4 green cardamoms, 4 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, 2 bay leaves
    • 1 tsp shahi jeera
    • 1 tbsp oil

    For layering

    • a large pinch of saffron in 1/4 cup warm milk
    • 3 tbsp ghee
    • 2 tbsp chopped mint
    • 2 tbsp chopped coriander
    • 1/2 cup birista
    • 1 tsp kewra water
    • atta dough for sealing

    Method

    1. Mix all the marinade ingredients into the chicken in the heavy, wide pot you will cook the biryani in. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before cooking.
    2. Bring 12 cups of water to a rolling boil with the salt, whole spices, shahi jeera and oil. The water should taste distinctly salty.
    3. Add the drained rice. Boil on high heat and start checking at 4 minutes: when the grains are about 70 percent cooked, they break when pressed but still have a firm core, scoop out a third of the rice with a slotted spoon and spread it over the chicken.
    4. Boil the remaining rice for another minute and layer half of it over the first layer. Cook the rest another minute until about 85 percent done and spread it on top. Drain well, so very little water goes into the pot.
    5. Drizzle the saffron milk, ghee and kewra water over the rice and scatter mint, coriander and the remaining birista.
    6. Seal the lid with a rope of atta dough, or cover tightly with foil and then the lid.
    7. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes until you hear the marinade sizzle and steam starts to build. Then place the pot on a hot iron tawa and cook on low heat for 35-40 minutes.
    8. Switch off and rest for 10 minutes. Open the seal and serve by scooping from the side so each portion has chicken from the bottom and rice from all layers.

    Tips

    • Use a heavy pot and a tawa underneath during dum to prevent the chicken from burning.
    • Large chicken pieces with bone hold up to the long dum without drying out.
    • Aged basmati gives long, separate grains; new-crop rice breaks.

    Serve with

    Mirchi ka salan and onion-cucumber raita (burani).

  • Double ka Meetha

    Double ka meetha is a royal Hyderabadi dessert that is said to descend from the Mughal shahi tukda. The name comes from double roti, the old Hyderabadi term for bread, which doubles in size as the dough rises. It is served at weddings, during Ramzan and at Eid, often next to qubani ka meetha.

    Slices of bread are fried golden in ghee, soaked in a cardamom-saffron sugar syrup and then cooked with reduced milk until they soak it all up. The result is soft and moist, almost like a set pudding, but still with some texture from the crisp fried bread. It is very rich, sweet and fragrant.

    At a glance

    RegionTelangana
    CuisineHyderabadi
    DietVegetarian
    CourseDessert
    Prep time10 minutes
    Cook time40 minutes
    Total time50 minutes
    Serves6
    Spice levelMild
    DifficultyEasy
    Gluten-freeNo
    Key ingredientsbread / ghee / milk / sugar / saffron

    Ingredients

    • 8 slices white bread, a day old, crusts removed, cut into triangles
    • 1/2 cup ghee for frying
    • 1 litre full-fat milk
    • 1/2 cup sugar for the syrup
    • 1/2 cup water
    • 2 tbsp sugar for the milk
    • a pinch of saffron soaked in 2 tbsp warm milk
    • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
    • 2 tbsp khoya (optional)
    • 12 almonds, sliced
    • 10 pistachios, sliced
    • 10 cashews, halved

    Method

    1. Simmer the milk in a heavy pan on medium-low heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring often, until it reduces to about half. Add 2 tbsp sugar, the saffron milk, cardamom and khoya if using.
    2. Meanwhile, make a syrup by boiling 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup water for 5 minutes until slightly sticky but not stringy. Add a pinch of cardamom.
    3. Heat ghee in a frying pan on medium-low heat and fry the bread triangles in batches for 1-2 minutes per side until crisp and evenly golden. Drain.
    4. Fry the almonds, pistachios and cashews in the remaining ghee until lightly golden and keep aside.
    5. Dip each fried bread slice quickly into the warm sugar syrup and arrange them in a single layer in a wide pan.
    6. Pour the reduced milk over the bread. Cook on low heat for 5-6 minutes until the bread absorbs most of the milk and turns soft but still holds its shape.
    7. Garnish with the fried nuts. Serve warm or chilled.

    Tips

    • Day-old bread fries crisper and absorbs less ghee.
    • Fry slowly on medium-low heat; quick-fried bread is golden outside but soggy inside.
    • For a shortcut, use a can of condensed milk mixed with 1 cup milk instead of reducing.

    Serve with

    Served after biryani at weddings and Eid dinners.