The creator introduces his 'Hometowns' series, then proceeds to make Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani from scratch. He shows the entire process, from frying onions and marinating the chicken to par-boiling the rice and layering all the components for the final 'dum' cooking method. After revealing the finished dish, he plates it, tastes it, shares feedback from a neighbor, and delivers his final verdict on whether the dish 'sucks'.
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HYDERABADI CHICKEN BIRYANI
Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS
For the chicken:
3 lb bone-in, skinless chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
1 cup whole-milk yogurt
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
6 green chilies, sliced lengthwise
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
3 large onions, thinly sliced and fried until deeply golden
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup ghee
1/4 cup neutral oil
For the rice:
3 cups aged basmati rice
2 tbsp salt, for the cooking water
6-8 green cardamom pods
1 black cardamom pod
6-8 cloves
2 inches cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 tsp shahi jeera (black cumin seeds)
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
8-10 black peppercorns
1 small star anise
1 blade mace
For layering:
1/2 tsp saffron
1/4 cup warm whole milk
2 tbsp melted ghee
Reserved fried onions
Reserved mint + cilantro
1/2 tsp rose water
#hyderabad #indianfood #biryani #recipe
Transcript
Welcome to Hometowns, where I make food from your hometown and tell you if it sucks. Today, we're making chicken biryani from Hyderabad, India. And rank, this was a lot of worse. But I had an Uber driver recently challenge me to make it. He said every region in India makes it differently, but this one's the best. Let's see if we can do it justice. So you marinate the chicken with a million ingredients that I'll put below. I spent a whole afternoon at the Indian market just to find them, but I gotta say they have the best employees. They love helping a white boy in need. Speaking of whites, I'm always trying to get my friends to eat Indian food with me, but they're scared of a little heat. I'm working on them. Now like I said, this style of biryani comes from Hyderabad, which has gotta be one of the sickest names for a city. And if you live there, you're a Hyderabadty? Come on. Now based on my research, what makes this dish challenging is you can't open the lid once you put it on. The goal is to finish cooking the chicken and the rice at the same tier. And in order to do that, the heat level needs to be just right on the stove. Moment of truth, looks good to me. The rice is cooked and the chicken is tender. It smells amazing, and I think my favorite thing about it is the variation of color between the rice grains. But the real reason we're here is does it suck? I gave some to my neighbor for an unbiased opinion. He said it's 90% close to an authentic biryani. I'll take it. It should be obvious this one doesn't suck. What do they eat in your hometown?
