Hyderabadi Kofta Curry

Few weeks ago I had shared a wonderful snack recipe: zucchini balls/lauki kofta recipe which is an easy recipe and can be served with any chutney or sauce as tea-time snack. I usually make a big batch of lauki kofta and freeze them. I make curries whenever required for those koftas and it makes an easy and quick lunch/dinner.

This Hyderabadi curry with lauki koftas is light and easy to digest as well. The use of fragrant spices and the curry masala makes this an awesome dish which can even be served to your guests or in a party.

More curry recipes on the blog:

Black eyed beans curry
Kaju curry korma
Paneer Makhani
Restaurant style tomato gravy
Hyderabadi mirch ka salan

For the kofta:
Zucchini balls/Lauki kofta recipe

For the curry:

Ingredients:

Onion (sliced): 1 big
Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tsp.
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Cloves: 2
Black cardamom: 1
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
Yogurt: 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Dried red chilli: 2
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Lemon juice: 2 tsp.
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Mint leaves: a handful
Tomato (chopped): 2
Saffron strands: a few

1.  Make a paste of the following: ginger.garlic, cumin seeds, green chilli, yogurt, half the mint leaves, salt, red chilli and lemon juice. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry until they are crisp and golden brown. Drain from oil and remove, keep aside.
3. Heat the same oil again on medium flame and add the whole spices: cloves, cardamom, cinnamon. 
4. Add the paste prepared in step 1. after half a minute. Mix well and let it cook for about 3-4 minutes.
5. Chop the remaining mint leaves and add to the paste.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes, sprinkle little salt and mix everything well. Cover and let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. 
7. Remove cover and turn off the flame. Add the fried onions and mix well. Curry is ready. Sprinkle some garam masala if required and garnish with coriander leaves (optional)
8. For serving: add the koftas in a big bowl and pour the curry over the koftas. Add a few saffron strands over the curry and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Serve hot. 

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More Hyderabadi recipes on the blog:

Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani

Qubooli Biryani (Veg)

Tamatar Ka Salan

Hyderabadi Mirch Ka Salan

Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani

Hyderabadi Chicken Curry

Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani

Me and my wonderful friends have always maintained that Biryani always equals mutton biryani and you cannot actually call anything else a biryani at all; and I'm sure my non-vegetarian friends would agree to the core. As I have not been eating meat for quite a long time now, I have always prepared chicken biryanis and fish biryanis and loving and embracing my biryani with all my heart.

To a non-vegetarian like me, the first choice for biryani would undoubtedly be mutton/chicken and that's the reason I haven't prepared anything remotely which would both be vegetarian and a biryani; well I call the vegetarian version a pulao. But recently I had vegetarian friends over and that was the sole reason to make me try my hands on making a vegetarian biryani. I did not want to serve a pulao, but something special; so I chose to prepare this Hyderabadi Vegetarian Biryani: inspired from my recipe of Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani which I have prepared and devoured many a times.

This is an elaborate recipe with long preparation time, and even though I never imagined, I actually loved the light and royal feeling, both at the same time with each bite of this flavorful biryani: the goodness of vegetables, the aroma of spices and the royal taste with cashews and saffron will make you drool just at the sight of this amazing dish. So let's move on to the awesomeness !!

Ingredients:

For the rice:

Rice: 3 cups
Cloves: 3
Green cardamom: 2 (add seeds and covers too)
Black cardamom: 1
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch

For the curry:

Cooking oil: 6 tsp.
Shahi jeera: 1 tsp.
Black cardamom: 1
Mace: 1
Cloves: 3
Cinnamon: 1 inch
Bay leaves: 2
Onion (chopped): 1 big size
Ginger-garlic paste: 4 tsp.
Tomato (finely chopped): 2
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Potatoes (finely cubed): 3
Carrot (peeled and cubed): 2
Peas: 1 cup
Yogurt: 1 cup

For the biryani:

Ghee: 2 tsp.
Cooking oil: 4 tsp.
Onion (thinly sliced): 1 big
Cashew nuts: 6-8
Mint leaves: a handful
Coriander leaves: a handful
Saffron strands: 3 pinches
Milk: 1/2 cup

1. First we will prepare the rice: Boil the rice as you normally do. If you want to see how I boil rice without a rice cooker, check this link: How to make perfect boiled rice. I drain the water and cover and let cook in steam and that's where I add the spices: cloves, green cardamom seeds (and covers separately), black cardamom and cinnamon. 
2. Add the spices after draining the water and before covering. Or you can add the spices while boiling the rice as well if you don't want to drain the water.
   
   
3. Now we prepare the vegetable curry. Heat oil on medium flame and add the whole spices: shahi jeera, cardamom, mace, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves. 
4. Add the chopped onions and let fry until they turn transparent.
5. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry until the raw smell goes away. I have used grated ginger and garlic in this recipe.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle a little salt. Let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Add the red chilli powder and mix well and let cook for another minute.
7. Add the chopped and prepared vegetables: potatoes, carrots and peas. You can also add cauliflower and green beans if you like but I did not add in this recipe. Sprinkle little more salt and mix everything well. Let cook for about 2 minutes. 
8. Add the yogurt and mix well. Do not add any water. Cover and let cook for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. If adding cauliflower, add the florets to boiling water before adding to the curry. 
   
9. Remove the cover and turn off the flame. The curry is ready and now we will layer the biryani.
10. Layering the biryani: Take a heavy bottomed pan and add the ghee to the base. This will prevent the biryani from sticking to the base.
11. Add a thin layer of rice and spread evenly. Add a layer of the prepared vegetable curry.  Sprinkle chopped mint leaves. 
12. Add another layer of rice and another layer of vegetables over it. Sprinkle the chopped coriander. Add the final thin layer of rice over it and cover everything evenly with the rice layer. 
13. Add the milk over the layered biryani and sprinkle the saffron strands over it. Cover and add weight over the lid (or seal it with dough) and put this complete setup over minimal flame for about 20 minutes to let every flavor mix in together and produce a wonderful taste.
14. While the biryani is cooking on slow flame, prepare the onions and cashews. Heat the oil and another pan and add the sliced onions. Let fry on medium flame until the onions fry completely and start getting brown and crispy. Drain the oil and remove the onions on kitchen paper to absorb extra oil.
15. In the same oil, fry the cashews until they start becoming little brown on the sides. Turn off the flame, drain the oil and remove the cashew too on a kitchen paper. 
16. To use up less oil in your biryani, fry the onions before you begin to prepare the vegetable curry. In step 3, first fry onions, then cashews and use the same oil for making vegetable curry.
17. Open the lid carefully and top with the fried onions and cashews. Mix carefully and serve hot. The accompanists for Hyderabadi Biryani is always Hyderabadi Mirch Ka Salan but you can also prepare Tamatar Ka Salan or Baby Onion ka Salan to go with the biryani.  

I had prepared this as a main course meal for my guests so did not prepare Salan but rather served it with rich and creamy Dal Bukhara, Boondi Raita, Mint coriander chutney and Mango Shrikhand for dessert.

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Looking for more vegetarian rice and biryani varieties? Try this Green Broccoli Pulao, Kashmiri Pulao, Mint Rice, Malabar Vegetable Dum Biryani, Achaari Coriander Pulao, Mix Vegetable Pilaf and Qubooli Biryani.  

Baby Onion ka Salan

Ingredients:

Peanuts: 10
Sesame seeds: 1 tsp.
Grated coconut: 2 tsp.
Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Baby onions: 8
Green chilli (sliced): 2
Mustard seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Dried red chilli: 1
Curry leaves: a few
Onion (chopped): 1
Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tsp.
Tomato (chopped): 1
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder: 1/ tsp.
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
Mint leaves: a few
Coriander leaves: a few
Tamarind extract: 1 tsp.
Jaggery (powdered): 1 tsp.

1.  Dry roast the peanuts, sesame seeds and coconut. Cool and grind to a powder and keep aside.
2. Heat oil and saute the baby onions and the sliced green chillis for a while. Drain from oil and keep aside. 
   
3. Heat the same oil and crackle the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Add the whole red chilli and the curry leaves.
4. Add the chopped onions and fry until they start becoming transparent. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute until the raw smell disappears.
5. Add the tomato and sprinkle salt. Mix well and let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. 
6. Add the turmeric, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Add the ground spice mix in the step 1 and mix everything well.
7. Add chopped mint and coriander leaves, tamarind extract and jaggery. I did not have jagery so I used 1 tsp. sugar instead. Mix everything well, add half a cup of water and cover. Let cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.
8. Remove cover and add the sauteed baby onions and green chillis. Mix well and turn off the flame. Cover and let sit for about 10 minutes so the onions get incorporated in the curry.
9. Remove cover and serve with chappatis or jeera rice. 

Hyderabadi Mirch Ka Salan

This weekend I made Vegetarian Hyderabadi Qubooli Biryani, and served this delicious Mirch Ka Salan with it to make it all the more flavourful. This can be served with any pulao or rice dish, also as a side dish with any meals.. and as a curry itself with roti/paratha/naan etc.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (chopped): 2
Green Chilli: Washed (whole): 1
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Dried red chillis: 2
Garlic (chopped): 4 cloves
Tamarind paste/Tamarind concentrate: 2 tsp.
Curry leaves: a few
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Onion (grated): 1
Sesame seeds (til): 1/2 tsp.
Poppy seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Peanuts: 4 tsp.
Coconut powder: 2 tsp. (I used grated coconut)
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Mustard seeds: 1 tsp.

1. Heat a pan at medium heat and dry roast sesame seeds, half cumin seeds, half mustard seeds, coconut powder and peanuts. Keep aside. 
2. Now, dry roast the grated onion and keep aside. Let cool and grind to a smooth paste along with the dry roasted spices and coconut. 
3. Heat oil and add the whole green chilli, fry until it turns white. Remove from oil and keep aside. 
4. Heat the same pan and add the remaining cumin seeds and mustard seeds. 
5. When they crackle, add the curry leaves, dried red chillis and poppy seeds. Fry for a minute.
6. Add the chopped garlic and mix well. Add the roasted spice paste prepared earlier. Add red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Add the tamarind concentrate, mix well and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Add little water if required.
7. Add tomatoes and salt and mix everything well. Add coriander powder and mix. Let cook until the tomatoes become soft and cooked completely.
8. Add the fried green chilli and mix well. Cook for about 30 seconds and turn off the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves (optional) and serve with Hyderabadi Qubooli Biryani or Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani and enjoy the royal Hyderabadi Cuisine.

Qubooli Biryani (Hyderabadi Layered Biryani)

I'm totally in love with Hyderabadi Cuisine and I try my hands on the same whenever possible. I had made this Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani, to which I drool till date.. also a very famous dish in my blog.. The procedure took long time, but the results cannot simply be described in words. So, when I got my hands on this another biryani (vegetarian version), I wanted to make it, so this has been on my bucket list since very long, also because the name sounded so royal.. Qubooli Biryani.. Wow! Hume Qubool hai !!

This weekend we were out of ideas, my husband suggested we make probably some biryani, even though both of us avoid rice as much as possible. So this clicked me and I prepared this another vegetarian style of biryani.. finger licking good!! I served it with Garlic Raita and Hyderabadi Mirch Ka Salan

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice: 2 cup
Chana Dal: 1/4 cup
Onion (sliced): 1 big size
Whisked yoghurt: 1/2 cup
Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Lemon juice: 1 tsp.
Mint leaves: about 20
Coriander leaves: a few
Milk: 1/4 cup
Cinnamon stick: 1/2 inch
Green Cardamom: 2
Peppercorns: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Cooking oil: 4 tsp.
Saffron strands: a few

1. Wash the chana dal and boil in an open container on high heat for 10 minutes with turmeric powder. Drain all the water and keep aside.
2. Boil the rice, drain all the water and keep aside. Boil as you would normally do. If you wish to see how I boil the rice perfectly, see How to make the perfect boiled rice.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry on medium heat until they become brown and crispy. Drain from oil and keep aside on a kitchen paper.
4. Heat the same pan again. Add cinnamon, cardamom seeds, peppercorns and cumin seeds. Cook for a minute and add ginger-garlic paste. Mix well and let cook for another minute.
5. Add the cooked dal and red chilli powder. Mix well. Add salt and yoghurt. Mix and let cook for about 2 minutes. Add the lemon juice and mix. Cover and let cook for about 5-7 minutes. Turn off heat and transfer this masala to a bowl.
6. Heat a deep pan (or kadhai) and add a layer of the masala at the bottom. Spread a layer of the cooked rice over it and add half the milk. Add half the fried onions, mint and coriander leaves. I used mint powder because I did not have mint leaves. Skipped onto coriander leaves.
7. Add another layer of masala and the remaining rice layer. Add the remaining fried onions and mint leaves. Add the milk and top with saffron strands.
8. Cover and put on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Remove the cover, mix well and enjoy !! Qubool hai !!

After making the layers, before putting on the cover.

After being cooked, removing the cover.

You might also like:

Hyderabadi Dum Chicken Biryani
Hyderabadi Dum Biryani

Mirch Ka Salan
Hyderabadi Mirch Ka Salan

Hyderabadi Chicken Curry

Had been months I prepared the delicious, wonderful, lip-smacking Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, the taste of it I could never forget. After so many attempts of preparing so many various kinds of chicken recipes, I once again decided to have the taste of the aromatic Hyderabadi spices; but I was not in a mood to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, nor I wanted rice in my dinner; so I retorted to trying making Hyderabadi Chicken curry. Made me remember the times when I was eating biryani, the same taste, minus the rice.. Ah! wonderful. So the recipe for the same goes here:

For the marination:

Chicken: 200 gms.
Yoghurt: 1/2 Cup
Ginger-Garlic paste: 2 tsp.
Salt: To taste
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp.
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Lemon juice: 2 tsp.
Green Chilli: 1 (finely chopped)
Mint leaves/Mint powder: A few/1 tsp.
Onion (sliced) : 1
Cooking oil: 1 tsp.

For the curry:

Cloves: 2
Cardamom (seeds) of 2 green cardamoms
Cinnamon Stick 1/2 inch
Sliced onion: 1
Cooking oil: 2 tsp.
Mint powder/Mint leaves: 1 tsp./6-7 leaves
Fresh cream: 2 tsp.
Saffron strands for garnishing

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry them until they are crisp and brown. Drain oil and remove from heat. Keep aside to cool.
2. Mix Yoghurt with ginger-garlic paste, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala, cumin seeds, lemon juice, green chilli and mint leaves/mint powder. Mix well. Add the sliced onions. Mix and marinate the chicken in this mixture for about and hour.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Again fry them till they are crisp and brown, same as done for the marinade. You could also fry them together and save half for later, and marinate in half. Drain oil and remove from heat and let them cool.
4. In the same pan, temper cloves, cardamom seeds and cinnamon. Add the marinated chicken after 30 seconds. Mix well and let cook for 2-3 minutes. 
5. Add mint powder/leaves and mix well. Add the fresh cream and mix well. Cover and let cook for 15 minutes. Remove cover and add the fried onions. Mix, simmer for a minute and remove from the heat. Garnish with saffron strands and serve hot.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Biryani.. Aha !! Mouth-watering.. isn't it?
My mouth waters every time I see pictures of biryani, cooked by self or someone else and I crave it immediately. I had heard a lot about the famous "Hyderabadi Biryani", but never did I think I would make it in my kitchen.. 

It is time-consuming, and not very easy to make, as the ingredients must be perfect, otherwise it won't taste half as good, with all the effort wasted, sadly !! So, after thinking for weeks on and pondering over weather should I make it myself or just wait to get back to India to have it in a nice restaurant, finally I decided to give it a shot.. and whoa !! It turned out to be perfect, and though it has been more than a month I prepared it, my mouth still waters when I look at the pictures.. Oh! It was just perfect.. I could only capture how it looked, I wish I could capture how it tasted as well. 

Biryani was introduced when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb conquered southern India. The blending of Mughlai and Telugu cuisines in the kitchens of the Nizam, rulers of the historic Hyderabad State, resulted in the creation of Hyderabadi Biryani.

These perfect pictures of the biryani remind me of the amazing taste and I drool over and over!!

Hyderabadi Biryani is made in two ways: Kacchi biryani and Pakki biryani.

In Kacchi biryani, we marinate the chicken for a longer time and cook it in steam, layered with rice. This is more difficult version of the Hyderabadi Biryani.

In Pakki biryani, we marinate the chicken for the shorter time, and is cooked before layering with the rice; which is the easier version.

I have cooked the Kacchi Biryani version, and here goes the recipe for the same:

Ingredients: 

Basmati Rice 2 Cups 

Chicken 500 gm 

Onions (sliced) 4 

Ginger (grated) 1 inch 

Garlic (grated) 3 cloves 

Green chilli (chopped) 2 

Mint leaves (or mint powder) a handful/ 2 tsp.  

Cumin seeds (or shah jeera) 1/2 Tablespoon 

Biryani Masala 1/2 tsp.  

Hyderabadi Masala: 1/2 tsp. 

Yogurt: 1 Cup 

Saffron: 2 Pinches 

Lemon juice 4 tsp.  

Orange food color 1/2 Tablespoon 

Milk 1/4 Cup 

Ghee 2 Tablespoons 

Cinnamon stick: 1 inch

Cloves 2 

Green cardamom 2 

Bay leaf: 1

Salt To Taste 

Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp. 

Cooking oil: 4 Tablespoons

1. Wash and clean the chicken and keep aside. 
2. Heat 2 tsp. oil in a pan and add 2 sliced onions. Fry them until brown. Remove from heat and keep aside. 
3. Mix yogurt, salt, red chili powder, ginger, garlic, Hyderabadi masala, cumin seeds, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 green chili (finely chopped) and half the mint leaves. 
4. Mix this with the fried onions. Marinate the chicken pieces in this mixture for about 4-6 hours. The longer the better.  
5. Wash and soak the rice for 1 hour in water. In a big pot, boil water with cloves, cardamom seeds (and covers), cinnamon, 2 tsp. lemon juice, 1 green chili, 2 tsp. salt and a few coriander leaves (optional). 
6. When the water starts to boil, add the soaked rice. Cook until the rice is boiled and done. Drain all the water and keep boiled rice aside. 
7. In a pan, fry the remaining 2 onions in a little oil (as done for the marinade). All the onions can be fried together also. Then use half for marinade and half for layering. 
8. Add 2 tsp. oil to the marinated chicken and mix well. 
9. Now, in a big pot (which can be covered tightly), add 1 tbsp. ghee and the bay leaf. This will keep the rice from sticking to the bottom. 
10. Now spread a very thin layer of boiled rice. 
11. Then add the marinated chicken with all its contents above the thin layer of rice. 
12. Now from the remaining rice, add half in the next layer and spread evenly. Then add fried onions and mint leaves (or mint powder) and spread evenly. 
13. Add the remaining boiled rice to the top layer and spread evenly. 
14. Mix food color in 2 tsp. water and sprinkle on the top. You could use turmeric powder also if you don't have the food color. 
15. Sprinkle the biryani masala and the saffron above it. 
16. Add the milk and ghee on the top layer. 
17. Now cover the container with the lid and tighten it with atta dough on all the sides. Keep it on lowest flame and let it cook for 60 minutes. Do not remove the lid in between to check. After 60 minutes, remove the lid, mix and serve hot with raita or achaar or Tamatar ka salan or Baby onion ka salan.