Hyderabadi Dum ka Murgh

A traditional Nizami dish for weekend dinner.

Chicken that melts in mouth and a gravy that has rich creamy and velvety texture is a sure winner. Dum translates to cooking in steam and that’s how this dish is made.  The chicken gets marinated leisurely in spices, herbs, nuts,curd, fried onions, tomatoes and saffron before going on stove and getting slow cooked in it’s own juices. The recipe of Hyderabadi Dum ka murg comes from the kitchens of the Nawabs of Hyderabad.

The dum pukht cusine uses very few spices as compared to the traditional Indian cooking and the flavors and freshness of herbs gives the dishes a very delicate taste.

Tips

For best results cook dum ka murg in a handi, but if you can not you can cook it in a slow cooker (crock pot) or in a utensil with a tight lid over stove top. The cooking time will however vary with these so you will have to keep checking for the doneness of the chicken.

Dum Pukht

Dum pukht or slow oven cooking is a cooking technique associated with the Awadh region of India, in which meat and vegetables are cooked over a very low flame, generally in sealed containers.  Dum means to ‘breathe in’ and pukht to ‘cook’. Dum pukht cooking uses a round, heavy – bottomed pot, a handi, in which food is tightly sealed and cooked over a slow fire. There are two main aspects to this style of cooking; bhunao and dum, or ‘roasting’ and ‘maturing’ of a prepared dish. In this style of cuisine, herbs and spices play an extremely critical role. The process of slow roasting gently persuades each to release maximum flavor. The sealing of the lid of the handi with dough achieves maturing. Cooking slowly in its juices, the food retains all its natural aromas and becomes imbued with the richness of flavors that distinguishes the dish.

In some cases, cooking dough is spread over the container, like a lid, to seal the foods. This is known as purdah (veil), but on cooking becomes a bread which has absorbed the flavours of the food and the two are best eaten together. In the end, dum pukht food is about aroma, when the seal is broken on the table and the fragrance of an Avadhi repast floats in the air.
Source:  Wikipedia

Dum ka Murgh Hyderabadi Dum ka murg

Ingredients

• Chicken 1 kg (in bone)
• Ginger 2 Tbsp (grated)
• Garlic 2 Tbsp (crushed)
• Onions 4 large chopped finely
• Yogurt 1 cup
• Tomatoes 4 boiled, skin removed and chopped
• Green Chile 2 chopped finely
• Coriander 150 gms chopped finely
• Mint 100 gms chopped finely
• Almonds 18-20
• Cashews 12-15
• Chironji 2 Tbsp (Charoli / Seeds of Buchanania lanzan
• Cardamom 3
• Clove 4
• Cinnamon 1" Stick
• Peppercorns 10-12
• Coriander powder 2 Tbsp
• Cumin Powder 1 Tbsp
• Turmeric 1/4 Tsp
• Red Chile powder 1/2 Tsp
• Saffron 1 pinch
• Salt to taste
• Ghee 4-5 Tbsp
• Whole Wheat flour 1/2 cup (kneaded into dough)

Method

Serving Suggestions

Serve with hot phulkas or rumali roti or steamed rice.
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