Hyderabad Dum Biryani Old City Telangana

Hyderabad dum biryani, the iconic slow-cooked layered rice and meat dish of the Nizam court cuisine, developed in the kitchens of the Asaf Jahi dynasty of Hyderabad from the seventeenth to twentieth century through the synthesis of Mughal biryani technique with the spice vocabulary of the Deccan, producing the distinctive Hyderabadi kacchi (raw) dum biryani in which uncooked marinated meat and par-boiled rice are layered together and sealed in a heavy-bottomed vessel with a dough seal for slow dum (steam) cooking over a low charcoal or wood fire for one to two hours, the meat cooking entirely in its own juices within the sealed vessel. The characteristic features of authentic Hyderabadi biryani include the use of specific Hyderabadi spice paste with stone-ground khada masala (whole spices fried in ghee), saffron-infused milk for colour, fried onion (birista) and fresh mint and coriander, and the specific Charminar basmati rice grown in Andhra Pradesh and long-aged for the dry non-sticky cooked grain essential to the dish. The Old City biryani lanes of Madina Circle and the Shah Ali Banda area contain the legacy biryani establishments, and the Hyderabad biryani has become a national food brand with franchise operations across India.