If you have ever had ‘Biryani’ before, then just the mention of the word is likely to tingle your tastebuds and evoke the memory of the wonderful aromas that is so characteristic of a good biryani. And if you are not served it shortly after, you will surely start experiencing cravings:) I have posted a detailed recipe for Chicken Biryani before. Biryani is indeed a labor of love. But over the years I have created several short cut versions too including the Handi Biryani.
This one that I have today for you is a ‘Dum’ version, which I have been recently trying out a lot. The ‘Dum’ version, which was unique to the ‘Awadh’ region of India and was introduced to India by the Nawabs (Persian influence) utilizes a ‘slow cooking’ technique where both the meat and the rice (half-cooked before) are cooked together in the same pot. “Dum” literally means “taking in air” in Hindi. This cooking method allows for the meat, coated with fresh spices and herbs, to slow cook in its own juices, retaining moisture resulting in a succulent, juicy meat.Dum cooking uses a round, heavy-bottomed pot, a handi, in which food is tightly sealed and cooked over a slow fire. It is also an easier recipe since it uses fewer spices and ingredients than other biryani recipes.
Dum Biryani is indeed very tasty and traditionally long grain fragrant basmati rice is used. Today I tried to make a healthier version using brown rice. I also eliminated any butter or ghee since I am on a dairy free diet. Traditionally onions are fried for this biryani but I baked them instead using less oil. To make up for the lack of ghee or butter, I added ground almonds to give it richness of flavor. The biryani came through pretty good and the aromas were enticing as usual. To add to the aromatic flavors, I also used floral extracts of rose and kewra and so even without the fragrant basmati, the biryani was nothing short of ‘extraordinaire’! And oh, I almost forgot, the rose petals in the pictures are from my gorgeous roses in our garden 🙂
Bringing this fragrant and healthy, wholesome biryani to Throwback Thursday and Fiesta Friday this week. Your co-hosts this week at Fiesta Friday are Quinn @ dadwhats4dinner and Elaine @ Foodbod.
Delicious! Can’t wait to try this!
I hope you do! 🙂
Sounds delicious! Is now on my list of “must try!” Looking forward to reviewing more!!
Kind regards and now starving- K lol
thank you! Pls do try and lmk! thanks for stopping by! -Indu
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Diet is so key to so many issues – I have been way off my normal routine since being at the folks, but trying to do better…food can be so healing – or deadly!!
This is such a gorgeous dish! My gosh, it could be in a book! Thanks for sharing with us on Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
thank you Mollie for your compliments! And yes I absolutely agree with you that diet is so key. Hence I am persevering with my diet even though it is hard since I want to get my RA under control.Enjoy your time with your folks – its ok to go off routine once in a while!
The time with them is precious; I just keep trying to sneak in veggies in their food, lol!
lol! that is funny! How old are they? I wouldn’t worry too much about their diets if I were you. I think after a certain age, it is important to enjoy the good things in life 🙂
89 & 86. I will say this, make sure you floss your teeth!! 🙂 My dad is wonderful, my stepmom eats Jimmy Dean Sausage sandwiches, fried rice, noodles with alfredo sauce and ice-cream…
yeah let them enjoy life and do what they want even if its alfredo sauce and ice cream! 🙂
🙂
Looks delicious!
thanks Ahila. yes it was delicious even with brown rice and without the use of butter/ghee.
Looks tasty. kewra is a new term for me. What is it?
It is a floral extract. I think the scientific name is pandanus.
This dish looks so very tasty, I wouldn’t mind having it in front of me right now… 🙂
ha ha! yeah biryani would definitely fill you up and make you happy 🙂
Hi, I do like a biryani and this looks delicious. I will save this to try at a later date. Thanks for sharing, Chloe.
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You are welcome Chloe! Yeah I hope you do try it! thanks for stopping by 🙂
Thank you for educating me about the differences between the dishes, it sounds like the slow cooking of the dum version would be very flavoursome ? I like the changes you’ve made to the dish too, thank you for sharing this with everyone at this week’s Fiesta Friday xx I hope you’re well xx
Hi Elaine! yes the slow cooking is key here. Since I used boneless chicken I had to cook for less than 30 minutes but other meat needs to be cooked for longer. And yes I loved the healthy version. I am doing ok – still on elimination diet but chicken seems to be ok and does not aggravate my symptoms so having it occasionally 🙂 Hope you are well. Happy FF!
I’m glad to hear you’re doing okay xxx