My Tryst With Food And Travel: Hyderabadi Dum Ka Murgh Recipe / Hyderabad Style Slow Steam Cooked Chicken Curry Recipe

Dear Culinary Enthusiasts and Food Adventurers here I am again, though after a long interval, sharing with you a very dear recipe from my mum-in-law's repertoire, HYDERABADI DUM KA MURGH. As the name suggests this dish originates from the Indian city, known worldwide for its royal past, the magnificent monument Charminar and lipsmacking cuisne, HYDERABAD. This is a chicken dish where the chicken is marinated in distinct but simple spices and aromatics, then cooked on Dum, meaning its own steam, very slowly, resulting in a ridiculously delicious Chicken Curry, which I can bet will have you cooking this dish again and again, on demand, in your kitchen till you loose count of it.

Just like the picture above you will always have a bunch of happy and satisfied diners, whenever this dish comes out of your kitchen. The best part about this dish is that it doesn't need you around when it's slow cooking on a gentle fire, to stir or mix, add ingredients etc. Once you have marinated the chicken in the required list of ingredients and covered the utensil, you only need to come back to put the pot or pan on the fire and then come back to turn off the flame after 30 ~ 45 minutes. Though practically no sauteing or stirring is required you will surely be surprised by the superlative nature of this chicken curry. Truly a chicken curry for the soul.

Chironji / Chiroli ~ An Introduction (let's get to know our ingredients)

Readers I would take this opportunity to introduce you to one very nouvelle ingredient I have used in this dish. It is popularly known as Charoli or Chironji in the Indian Subcontinent. The image on the left, just above, would give you an idea, how these almond~flavoured seeds look like. The pale brown skin that they have can be removed by soaking overnight or boiling in hot water. Chironji can be eaten raw, but if you lightly toast them, their nutty flavour becomes more pronounced. They are used in many Indian desserts with a lavish sprinkle on top or in the dish. They are also ground to a fine paste and are used to give a curry a nutty creamy base, just like the HYDERABADI DUM Chicken Curry. I am sure you will be able to buy Chironji in your city too as most Indian stores stock them.

What is Dum Style Of Cooking ?

I am sure most of you must be aware about the primary technique used to cook this particular HYDERABADI Chicken curry. DUM cooking or cooking the meat, vegetable or rice in its own steam is a method of cooking indigenous to the Mughal style of cooking. Originally Dum cooking was done either in pots or pans and after the primary ingredient was almost cooked, the dish was finished by adding all the remaining ingredients then covering the pot or pan with a lid and then the lid was sealed with whole wheat or refined flour dough. This was done so that no steam would escape, as the dish reached its finale. This ensured that all the aroma and flavours were captured within the pot or pan giving the dish the highest amount of taste and fragrance. Also the dough sealed pot or pan would be placed on a smouldering charcoal or wood fire and to bring about even heating some red hot wood or charcoal pieces would be placed on the lid. However nowadays the dough many a times is replaced with a sheet of aluminium foil and the oven is used to give even heating to the dish.

So let's get started. Dear friends this is a chicken dish where we use finely sliced onions, which are deep fried in the marinade, along with a cashewnut and chironji paste. We throw in 6 whole spices namely, green and brown cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper corns, which makes the dish immensely perfumed. The use of green chilli paste gives the dish a very distinct and delectable taste. This dish is cooked very slowly on very low heat and this style of slow cooking results in a finger licking, yummy chicken curry. So shall we take a look at the ingredients.

Hyderabadi Dum Ka Murgh Recipe / Hyderabad Style Slow Steam Cooked Chicken Curry Recipe

AUTHOR ~ PIYALI MUTHA

SERVES ~ 4

CUISINE ~ HYDERABADI

TYPE ~ MAIN COURSE / CURRY

TOTAL TIME TAKEN ~ 30 MINUTES PREPARATION + 2 HOURS MARINATION + 45 MINUTES COOKING

INGREDIENTS ~

1 KG CHICKEN ON THE BONE, CUT TO MEDIUM SIZE, SKINNED

20 CASHEWNUTS

2 TBSP CHIRONJI / CHAROLI ( IF NOT AVAILABLE YOU CAN SKIP BY INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF CASHEWNUTS, 30 OR ADD ALMONDS IN EQUAL QUANTITY, 15 ALMONDS, 15 CASHEWNUTS )

5~6 WHOLE GREEN CHILIES

2 LARGE ONIONS VERY FINELY SLICED

1 CUP OIL FOR DEEP FRYING

1 TBSP CLARIFIED BUTTER FOR FRYING THE CASHEWNUTS AND CHIRONJI

FOR THE MARINADE ~

10 BLACK PEPPERCORNS

1 STAR ANISE

1 BROWN CARDAMOM

4 GREEN CARDAMOM

1 INCH CINNAMON STICK

4 CLOVES

1TBSP GINGER PASTE

1 TBSP GARLIC PASTE

1 TBSP GREEN CHILI PASTE

1 CUP FRIED ONIONS APPROXIMATELY

1 TBSP RED CHILI POWDER ( INCREASE OR DECREASE ACCORDING TO TASTE )

1 TSP CUMIN POWDER

1 TBSP CORIANDER POWDER

1/4 TSP TURMERIC POWDER

SALT TO TASTE

4 ~ 5 TBSP CASHEWNUT CHIRONJI PASTE

3 TBSP YOGURT

1 TBSP OIL ( USE THE OIL FROM THE FRIED ONIONS FOR ADDED FLAVOUR )

1 TBSP CLARIFIED BUTTER /GHEE

4 TBSP FINELY CHOPPED CORIANDER LEAVES

YOU WILL REQUIRE A LARGE SHEET OF ALUMINIUM FOIL TO COVER YOUR POT OR PAN

LET'S COOK HYDERABADI DUM KA MURGH IN EASY STEPS ~

1) Soak Chironji covered with water overnight OR boil Chironji covered with water for 15 minutes.

Drain the water.
Take a clean cloth. Place the Chironji on the piece of cloth. Fold the cloth and cover the Chironji.
With your hand gently rub the Chironji by rubbing the cloth. This helps in removing the brown coloured skin of the Chironji. Continue doing this till all the skin is removed.

2) Take a frying pan. Add 1Tbsp clarified butter to it. Add the Cashewnuts and lightly fry them to get a golden colour on them. Transfer the cashewnuts into a plate and keep aside.

NOTE ~ DO NOT OVER FRY OR BROWN THEM

Similarly fry the Chironji in the remaining clarified butter till golden.

3) Transfer the fried Cashewnuts and Chironji into a grinder.

Adding about 2~3 Tbsp water grind them into a smooth paste

4) Place the Green Chilies inside the grinder.

Grind them into paste

5) Take 2 large onions.

Slice them very finely.
Heat 1Cup Oil in a wok or frying pan. When hot put the onions in.
Fry the onions till golden brown

NOTE~ WHILE FRYING ONIONS BE CAREFUL NOT TO LEAVE THEM UNATTENDED AS THEY BURN EASILY. BURNT ONIONS WILL RUIN YOUR DISH.

6) Take the pot or pan in which you will cook the Chicken. Place the Chicken in it. Start adding the ingredients for marination.

Add all the 6 whole spices ( Black Peppercorn, Brown Cardamom, Green Cardamom, Cloves, Star Anise, Cinnamon ).
Add Ginger Paste.
Add Garlic Paste.
Add Green Chili Paste.
Add Fried Onions.
Add Red Chili Powder.
Add Cumin Powder.
Add Coriander Powder.
Add Turmeric Powder.
Add Salt.
Add Cashewnut and Chironji Paste.
Add Yogurt.
Add Oil and Clarified Butter.

7) Mix the marinade very well with the Chicken pieces.

Add chopped coriander leaves.

8) Now cover the pot or pan with an aluminium foil. Take care not to leave any gap.

Place the lid and seal the pot or pan tightly. Leave this to marinate for at least 2 hours.

NOTE ~ SINCE I LIVE IN A HOTTER CLIME, I USUALLY PLACE THE PAN WITH THE CHICKEN INSIDE A REFRIGERATOR.

YOU MUST HAVE NOTED THAT IN THE PICTURES THAT MY CHICKEN HAD A YELLOW TINGE TO IT. THAT IS BECAUSE I ALWAYS WASH AND CLEAN THE CHICKEN PIECES. RUB THEM WITH SALT AND TURMERIC, ADD LEMON JUICE AND LEAVE THEM FOR 5~10 MINUTES. THEN WASH THEM AGAIN AND COOK OR MARINATE THEM. THIS LEAVES THE CHICKEN GERM FREE AND WITHOUT ANY RAW SMELL.

9) After at least 2 hours, place the pan with the chicken on a high flame.

NOTE~ DO NOT REMOVE THE LID OR ALUMINIUM FOIL

After 5 minutes, bring the flame to its lowest and let the Chicken cook for 30~45 minutes.

NOTE ~ DO NOT INCREASE THE FLAME. DO NOT OPEN THE LID. IF YOUR FLAME IS REALLY NOT VERY LOW, PLACE A GRIDDLE ON THE FLAME AND THEN THE PAN WITH THE CHICKEN.

10) After 30~45 minutes remove the pan from the burner.

NOTE ~ DO NOT OPEN THE LID YET. IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO OPEN THE LID MINUTES BEFORE SERVING THE DISH OR RIGHT AT THE TABLE SO AS TO ENTHRALL YOUR DINERS WITH THE WONDERFUL AROMA.

Your supremely delicious HYDERABADI DUM KA MURGH is ready to savour.

You can serve this with any kind of pilaf, white rice, flaked parathas, rotis, breads etc.

PICTORIAL STEP BY STEP COOKING METHOD ~

1) Soak Chironji covered with water overnight OR boil Chironji covered with water for 15 minutes.

Drain the water.

Take a clean cloth. Place the Chironji on the piece of cloth. Fold the cloth and cover the Chironji.

With your hand gently rub the Chironji by rubbing the cloth. This helps in removing the brown coloured skin of the Chironji. Continue doing this till all the skin is removed.