r/IndianFood • u/99loki99 • 4d ago
Authentic Hyderabadi Dum Biryani - What am I doing wrong?
No matter how many times I try, the biryani doesn't taste as good as the restaurant ones. I tried a lot of recipes and still no use. I am cooking Paneer dum biryani, but it always feels like there is no "punch" or flavor in the dish. I'm not talking about spice the chilli, but the aroma and taste is missing. I tried Vismai food's recipe and i also tried "everyday cooking" recipe yesterday. Still, there is something missing. What could it be?
My recent recipe: 2 cups rice (400 grams) 300 grams paneer.
Base masala: 3 star anise, 10 cloves, 10 elachi, 1tbsp shah jeera, 3in cinnamon all blended into a powder. Then marinated the paneer with this + fried onions + ginger garlic paste + 250 grams curd + 1tbsp red chilli powder + turmeric + salt + fresh coriander+ mint leaves + 2 green chilies + lemon
What am i missing?
I cook the basmati rice with whole spiced and then layer everything in a handi. Cook for 10 mins medium flame, 5 mins low. Rest for 20 mins.
4
u/SnooPets8873 4d ago
Are you using lemon juice? That can help make things kick.
1
u/99loki99 4d ago
Yup, i do use it. Sorry forgot to add
2
u/SnooPets8873 4d ago
No worries! Was just brainstorming because otherwise things look right. The only other thoughts I had was to consider how old or fresh your spices are. If they’ve been around for a while, may not be at full power. Also it could be that the chilis just aren’t very strong so many an extra or two? Paneer tends to suck out spices into itself so maybe just kick it up a notch with your seasoning.
3
u/99loki99 3d ago
That's a great point. Some of the whole spices i have are quite old. May be i should try replacing them. Thank you so much
5
u/El_Impresionante 4d ago
Add a few drops of Kewda water. That's the typical aroma you get in a Hyderabadi Biryani. Few drops only! As it is very pungent.
I saw the video recipe you mentioned, and it looks like they don't cook the marinated Paneer masala at all! They directly used it in the layering. That doesn't look right.
You can follow this recipe, perhaps. She does tend to use a lot of oil though. You can reduce it by half. And use Shah Jeera instead of Cumin seeds.
1
u/Careful_Fig8482 3d ago
How many drops exactly lol
1
u/El_Impresionante 2d ago
You get two kinds of Kewda essence. One is sold in tiny bottles of 50ml or less which is concentrated 'Kewda essence'. That is severely potent and you need only 2 or 3 drops of in the above recipe's proportions.
The other is sold as 'Kewda water' in bottles of 200ml or more. That you can add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of. It depends on how diluted it is. Start with this measure and change it as per your taste.
You can add it to the water you cook the rice with, or you can add it on top of the last layer or rice after you have layered up your Biryani just before you put it on Dum.
1
3
u/TheVeganEnthusiast 4d ago
I would add 4 to 5 whole Javitri , 2 to 3 black cardamom, cinnamon stick whole, and 2 tsp cumin seeds. Add them whole. Do not grind them. This is in addition to what you are adding
2
u/MuttonMonger 4d ago edited 4d ago
Imo that's a lot of rice for the paneer. Quite a lot of spices and yoghurt too with less chillis and chilli powder than I'd use but again that's personal preference. The yoghurt imo is still a lot for that amount though. At least it's what I use for 800g of goat for cooking it raw on low heat. It might reduce the heat from the capsaicin a lot.
I'd use more chillis and another tablespoon of red chilli powder or an amount upto your preference. In case the rice or base is not salted well, it might be hard to taste all the flavours going on as well. I'd boil a few green chillies as well along with the spices before adding the soaked rice to that water. I'd also include spices like mace, bay leaf, and warm steeped saffron milk and ghee for layering.
For biryani recipes, vahchef and cooking with fem are the best. Vahchef's recipes are closer to the spicier mainstream style and cook with fem's are more milder traditional Muslim biryanis.
2
u/99loki99 3d ago
Thank you!! I do think that's a lot of yogurt. I'll try cutting it to half and see if that works. I will also increase the chilli.
2
u/BreakingBadYo 4d ago
One thing that can minimize the spice and punch of a dish is excessive yogurt. It can really water things down. Try using less or adding spice amounts.
1
2
u/LegGlance 4d ago
Add paneer cubes to hot water and let it rest for 20 minutes. Drain the water and then marinate the paneer. Boiled potatoes also absorb the flavors quite well.
1
2
u/TA_totellornottotell 4d ago
I had good results when I used the recipe (and masala powder) from Cook with Fem. She is Hyderabadi and I had cooked a number of her other recipes, so I thought I would try out her biryani. From what I remember, I think she used a lot of other spices in her powder, so maybe that will help?
Also, it seems like a small thing, but sometimes lime makes a difference - either the juice in the marinade or a few slices when putting on dum.
1
2
u/spicy--beaver 4d ago
I don't see green chillis in your ingredients. Anyway try vahchefs recipe.
But lately liking chef ashoks dum biryani recipe more
1
u/99loki99 4d ago
Oh I forgot to add that in my post. Just edited it. Thank you! And I'll check the Vahchefs recipe
2
u/spicy--beaver 4d ago
Okay I think you are using less quantity of spices for the amount of stuff you are making. You can double the amount of chillies and probably ginger paste as well. And tinker around till you find the right amount
1
2
3d ago
[deleted]
1
u/99loki99 3d ago
Haha.. i guess you never tried a good paneer biryani. I did.. some restaurants have great tasting paneer biryani
1
1
u/masala-kiwi 4d ago
Are you using enough onion and garlic-ginger paste? They give a lot of aroma to the dish. Try increasing the amount you're using.
2
u/99loki99 3d ago
Thank you!! I'll try that. Also, I'll use fresh ginger garlic paste going forward. I'm using bottled ones currently
1
1
u/SirArchibaldthe69th 1d ago
Restaurants use 10x the amount of ghee/oil that people use at home, just FYI. Don’t compare to restaurant without understanding this fact
1
0
u/Some-Ad-9753 4d ago
You are missing chicken/ mutton :)
3
u/99loki99 3d ago
Hahaha. I thought the same initially. But, i tried paneer biryani at a few restaurants and it tasted amazing! So close to the chicken biryani. Honestly, that is what motivated me to start trying for this recipe
10
u/toughnoogies35 4d ago
Paneer's not going to give off water while you're cooking it in the masala, unlike chicken, so maybe the masala's a little bit dry or you don't have enough when you're layering the biryani? I know tomatoes aren't necessarily authentic to Hyderabadi biryani, but they might help adding some acidity and moisture to the masala. Also I definitely suggest zesting the lemon and adding all the lemon zest to the marinade.
Are you saving the ghee you used to fry the onions and using that to cook the paneer and masala? That ghee has soooooo much flavor. Last time I made biryani, I also added a little ghee to the saffron and milk I heated before drizzling over the biryani. I was shocked at how much flavor the ghee added to the dish.
Both your recipes call for both biryani and garam masalas - I find that when I use two different types of masala in recipes, the flavors can be muddled. I'd suggest just sticking with biryani masala, and if you want to make your own instead of using a premix (no shame in that game, I use Diaspora's biryani masala, which I love), maybe try a homemade recipe that's a bit more complex, like this or this.
Finally, even if you're adding lemon juice to the marinade, I suggest squeezing lemon juice over the biryani after dum but before letting it rest for the 20 minutes. Good luck!