🍛 Hyderabadi biryani
Hyderabadi biryani is a layered dish of goat meat marinated in yogurt and spices and long-grain basmati rice, sealed and slow-cooked so the meat and rice steam together. Fried onions, mint and saffron perfume each layer. The rice grains stay separate and fragrant, and the meat comes out tender; it is served with a raita or a spicy gravy.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 kg goat meat on the bone, in pieces
- 500 g basmati rice
- 250 g yogurt
- 3 onions, thinly sliced and fried golden
- 20 g mint leaves
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste, 2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp chili powder
- A pinch of saffron in 3 tbsp warm water
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil, salt, whole spices (bay leaf, cardamom, cloves)
Method
- Marinate the goat with the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, chili, half the fried onions, half the mint and salt for at least 2 hours.
- Soak the rice for 30 minutes, then boil it in salted water with the whole spices until about 70% cooked; drain.
- Spread the meat and marinade in a heavy pot with the oil, layer the rice on top and scatter the remaining onions and mint.
- Drizzle over the saffron water, seal the lid tightly and cook on high heat for 5 minutes, then on the lowest heat for about 1 hour.
- Rest for 10 minutes, then mix gently from the bottom and serve.
How to make it lighter
- Use 2 tbsp of oil instead of 4 and fry the onions in a non-stick pan; 1 tbsp oil ≈ 120 kcal.
- Choose leaner cuts and trim visible fat from the meat.
- Fill half the plate with cucumber-onion salad and keep the rice to one ladle.
History
The dish is associated with the court kitchens of the Nizams of Hyderabad, where Mughal and local Deccan cooking traditions met. The best-known style is kachchi biryani, in which raw marinated meat and partly cooked rice are layered and cooked together under a sealed lid (dum).
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →