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2 October / Hyderabad
Today, I decided to abstain from any sort of food, all in anticipation of the biryani I was about to taste. biryani literally means fried or roasted. The meaning of the word definitely doesn’t describe the complex make-up of this dish, which is the pride of the Muslim community. If I had to pick a place from where I would like to have biryani, Lucknow and Hyderabad would share the number one spot. To distinguish the two, Hyderabadi biryani is popular for being ‘
kacchi’
implying that the meat is raw, and is set as the first/bottom-most layer in the pot. In the tradition of Lucknow, biryani is made by cooking the rice and meat partially in separate containers and then layered together, for a final
dum,
which literally means to breathe in and conveys a slow cooking method for elaborate preparations like biryani where the lid of the cooking pot is sealed shut by wrapping dough around the circumference of the lid. The pot is then put on a slow flame. The trapped steam allows the cooking of meat and retaining of flavours.
Usually, foodies seem to have varied opinions and stories about biryani. As much as I love eating it, I have never claimed to be an expert. Today, I was to meet a man who while walking down the street, can catch a whiff of biryani being cooked and tell you if it is good or not. This biryani king’s throne was located at Café Bahar at Basheer Bagh in Hyderabad. His name was Sayyed Hussain, who started his career at the age of seven as an assistant cook. Now, above 60, he still makes the biryani with his own hands, despite having a fleet of cooks who work for him. He revealed that he wanted to be a cook from the beginning and had to do the odd jobs around the kitchen to gain some respect. Even I believe that the best chefs are the ones who learn it the hard way. He told me that his guru was a man called Noor Mohammad. The way Sayyed explained about the kitchens, cooking, food, and especially biryani, it made me feel like his whole life has been about perfecting the art of making the best recipe. Biryani, it seems isn’t about how much or how little, it is about each ingredient, right from buying the rice to the weight of the raw mutton. The weight of the goat has to be 9.5 kg, not a gram more, not a gram less. Even his saffron is sourced from Iran, something that could not be compromised, to him.
After he shared his stories with me, I met his son, Ali Asgar, who took me to the kitchen where 300 kg of biryani was being prepared. I stood next to a boiler that was cooking 40 kg of rice at the time, equipped with a specific rice temperature controller. Ali explained the practical aspect of putting together a biryani in such big lots. First, the rice should be washed until the water resembles clear drinking water. It is then drained and dried till there is no water left in the rice. Cooking the rice is another art form, a mix of science and art. When the rice is cooked, the grains at the bottom are cooked slightly longer than the grains at the top of the boiler. There is a difference of two minutes between the bottom and the top. This is done so that the rice that is layered at the bottom of the biryani comes from the top of the boiler. These grains would have cooked the least in the boiler and will cook the most in the biryani, because they will be covered with the water and juices of the meat that will go on top. The grains from the bottom of the boiler will be placed right on the top, because they have been cooked the most and will finish cooking at the top of the biryani with the help of steam. Therefore the rice at the bottom, with the meat, will be 20 per cent cooked and the rice on the top will be 80 per cent cooked. The meat is marinated for two hours with ginger and garlic, and then coated with
ghee,
yoghurt and spice for the final marination. I was lucky enough to witness the making of the famous
Hyderabadi
Gobhi Mussalam
Biryani
in this establishment, and I want to share the entire recipe with you, so that you can call yourself experts!
H
YDERABADI
G
OBHI
M
ussalam
B
IRYANI
(A mixed rice dish cooked with whole marinated cauliflower.)
Ingredients
Method
1. Remove the thick cauliflower stem. Don’t separate the florets; cut the stem just enough to hold all of them together. If the cauliflower is big, cut it into half.
2. Marinate the cauliflower with ginger-garlic paste and lemon juice. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes and keep changing the water, until it is not muddy and you can clearly see the rice. Also, soak the saffron strands in warm milk.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the biryani masala by grinding the above-mentioned quantities of cardamom, cinnamon, black cumin, cloves and peppercorns together. (If the quantity is too small grind in a big batch but use quantity as per this recipe).
4. To the marinated cauliflower add fried onions (save some for garnish), hung yoghurt, green chilli paste, salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and hot
ghee.
5. Mix this masala well and rub it over the cauliflower. Save the extra marinade in the same bowl, do not throw it away. Let the cauliflower rest for 10 minutes at least.
6. In those 10 minutes, put rice to a boil with salt and mint leaves. Once it comes to a boil, put it on simmer. The idea is to partially cook the rice, so do not cook for more than four to five minutes. The science behind partially cooking rice a bit early is that it will cook evenly with vegetables or meats that you’re cooking it with. Knead the dough by mixing flour and water together.
7. Now take the pot you’ll be cooking biryani in, ensure it is both deep and wide. Add a tablespoon of oil at the bottom. Put marinated cauliflower to this and spread the extra marinade evenly in the pan. Add two and a half cups of hot water. Now add top half layer of the rice that has been boiling for five minutes to this biryani pot and let it submerge in water. Add the leftover rice on the top of this; it will stay above water, as we have added only two and a half cups. The top half layer of the partially cooked rice is only 30 per cent cooked at the moment in comparison to the bottom half layer which is 60 per cent cooked, if you calculate technically from the time that rice went into boiling water and in the sequence it came out. Hence the top half layer will submerge in the water in the biryani pot (so it can cook more) and the bottom half layer of rice will mostly stay above the hot water in the biryani pot, as it needs to cook lesser and steam will be enough to make it fluff up.
8. Add one tablespoon oil in a swirl in the biryani pot and in the same way add the saffron milk so it spreads evenly. Put it on high flame and shut the lid. Seal the pot from all sides by rolling a long strip of dough and sticking it on all sides.
9. Once the lid starts to get hot, lower the flame to medium and then finally to low. After five minutes, add burning coal on top of the lid; this is to prevent the water droplet formation beneath the lid because of the steam. The coal will make sure the biryani cooks evenly in the pot.
10. After 10 minutes, take the pot off the heat. Open it after 30 minutes only. Serve immediately with some fried onion on top. (You can follow the same recipe for mutton or chicken; marination and cooking time will vary slightly.)
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Now it was time to taste the biryani; I sat down at a table and minutes later a huge plate of biryani was laid before me. If I didn’t have such a massive appetite, my whole family would have to be here to finish the food on my plate. Every bite was testament to the 55 years of experience of Sayyed Hussain. What stood out was the fact that the spices were just enough to elevate the flavour of the rice.
The whole day was spent at Café Bahar, learning, eating and digesting.
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3 October / Hyderabad
Hyderabad has two parts: the old city (my favourite) and the new city. I drove to the new city to meet Arun who has his own shooting academy called Shooting Stars in High Tech City. The history of archery goes back to ancient Hindu mythology. Arun’s academy believes in the same principles of the ancient Indians. Spirituality and physical fitness is a very important part of being successful at this sport. I tried my hand at being Robin Hood; it worked two out of five times. When you travel, I suggest take time out to explore other dimensions of a city’s culture. It is refreshing to see people who are passionate about learning and teaching what they are good at.
I also got a chance to visit an emporium where I met Prakashji who explained the intricacy of
kalamkari
paintings (type of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile, produced in parts of India. The word is derived from the Persian words
kalam
(pen) and
kari
(craftmanship), meaning drawing with a pen) to me. Trying to understand more about this art, I realised the word
kalamkari,
comes from the word
kalam,
meaning pen. There is a special type of pen that is used to make these paintings, and in the past this art form has been used to depict various Gods. The most stunning among these paintings was called
The Tree of Life,
where the painting had been detailed with the help of
kundan
work (traditional form of Indian gemstone jewellery involving a gem set with gold foil between the stones and its mount). Each painting, I was told, took up to 15 days to make. Another reason why I came to meet Prakshji was to be introduced to his cook, Abdul Hamid, who was an expert at cooking Hyderabadi dishes. I got to meet him later in the day and he taught me, step by step, how to make the famous
Baghare Baingan.
It is a brinjal recipe that belongs to Hyderabad. It involves peanuts, coconut, and sesame, a very unique blend of ingredients.
B
AGHARE
B
AINGAN
(Eggplant curry.)
Ingredients
Method
1. Take small brinjals and criss-cross them (dividing it into four quarters) from the bottom all the way till the stem or until 2/3 of the brinjal, so it is easy to cook them evenly and stuff them with spices. Apply salt on these and keep on the side for seven to eight minutes. Once the water is drained, strain these and half fry in oil, till it is tender but not cooked.
2. Separately roast the sesame; a teaspoon of cumin seeds, peanuts and coconut in a teaspoon oil each.
3. Make a paste by grinding the above along with green chillies and a little water. It has to be a thick paste. Take it out in a bowl. Add the coriander leaves, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt to this paste and mix thoroughly.
4. Heat four tablespoon oil a pan. Add the mustard seeds, one teaspoon cumin and black caraway seeds to hot oil. Once they splutter, add curry leaves followed by ginger and garlic. Stir this for a minute or so.
5. Now add the roasted masala paste. Cook on medium flame till it changes colour to deep orange for five to six minutes. Add the tamarind paste, half cup water and honey. Once it comes to a boil, add the brinjals and then let it reduce for five minutes. This will enable the masala to seep into the brinjals.
6. Take it off the stove when the gravy is semi thick. The dish is ready. Serve it hot with rice or
roti.
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It was very generous of Prakashji to invite me to his house and share his recipes and his cook’s knowledge with me. Luckily for me, Indians are very hospitable; all I needed to do was ask. As a farewell gift, he gave me a framed
kalamkari
painting to bring back with me to Delhi.
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I left the City of Nizams with fond memories and with my stomach full of biryani. I headed to Vishakhapatnam.