Nalli Nihari

Foods like nalli nihari made our stay in Hyderabad oh so enjoyable. One of the delights was to drudge through the insane evening traffic on Fridays to head to old Hyderabad, to pick up some nalli. I have forgotten the name of the restaurant but the taste still lingers on in my memory.
You can make this with lamb or goat. Ask the butcher for shanks (leg meat on bone). Made with a lot of spices this needs some planning, but the results easily make up for your hard work.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs. lamb leg on bone
• 2 medium onions sliced
• 1/2 “ ginger cut into thin sticks
• 2 cups mutton stock
• 2 tbsp. clarified butter ( Ghee)
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
• 4 tbsp. ghee ( Clarified Butter )
• 1 tsp. sugar
• salt to taste
• 4 tbsp. Nihari masala powder
  • 1 and 1/2 tbsp. cumin seeds
  • 8 green cardamom
  • 3 black cardamom
  • 2” cinnamon stick
  • 10 cloves
  • 3 blades of mace
  • 1 tsp. grated nutmeg
  • 14 black pepper corn
  • 1 star anise
  • 2 tsp. fennel seeds
  • 2 tsp. poppy seeds
  • 1 tsp. dry ginger powder
  • 8 dry red chili
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp. roasted chana dal powder

Procedure

Take all the ingredients listed under Nihari Masala Powder and dry roast them on medium heat till you start getting a nice aroma.  Turn off the heat and bring them down to room temperature. Dry grind them in a blender to make a fine powder of them.
Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan till it melts. Now add onion slices to it and fry them on medium heat for about five minutes. Add meat pieces to it and sear them on high heat to lock the moisture inside.
Sprinkle 2 tbsp. of freshly ground nihari masala powder and mix well. Saute everything together for about ten minutes on low heat.
Season the meat with salt, sugar and pour six cups of water to it. Give a nice stir and cook it covered on low heat till the meat is tender. it takes about 45 minutes.
Now pour the mutton stock over it along with the rest of nihari masala powder.
Mix the flour with half cup of water the add this mixture to the cooked mutton. Mix well and allow the gravy to simmer till it thickens.
Turn off the heat. Finish it off with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Dish it out and garnish with cilantro and serve.

Chicken Manchurian (Hyderabad Style)

Old Hyderabad is littered with small bakeries that along with cakes and biscuits serve this mind blowingly spicy, yet yummy Chicken and Gobi “manchuri” (as they call it). I am sure they have nothing to do with real manchurian or the similar named region in China.

One of the places we used to visit was in Ameerpet close to Jayadurga furnishing which was one of my favorite hang outs. They were served in small plastic cups and a toothpick to pick them up. I have tried to recreate them to help combat the freezing weather here. The only difference is I have refrained from using food colors (which unfortunately is copiously used in Hyderabad).

Ingredients

• 1lb. boneless chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 tbsp. ginger garlic paste
• 1 tbsp. Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 tbsp. red chili powder
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. rice flour
• Salt
• 1 large onion thinly sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• 3 tbsp. green chilies finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• Few curry leaves
• 1 tsp. corn starch
• Oil

Procedure

In a mixing bowl mix chicken pieces with ginger garlic paste, chili powder, lemon juice and salt. Marinade the mixture for half an hour. Now sprinkle all purpose flour and rice flour on it and mix well.

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan and add chicken pieces into it. Fry till they turn crispy. Remove and drain them on a paper towel.

In a frying pan take two tbsp. oil and heat it up. Add minced garlic. fry on low heat for a minute and then add onion and bell pepper slices to it. Fry them on high heat  for a minute or two. Don’t over cook them as we want their crispy texture.

Now to this add fried chicken pieces and toss them well with fried onion and bell pepper. if required sprinkle salt now. Mix once again.

Dissolve corn starch into 2tbsp. water and sprinkle over the chicken mixture. Immediately remove the pan from heat. Add chopped green chilies, cilantro and curry leaves over it and toss them really well.

Serve them in small cups and enjoy. 

Hyderabadi Kacchi Gosth Biryani

Biriyani is just a name for traditional Indian way of cooking meat and rice. How it is cooked and what is added varies drastically across India. In one such variation meat is cooked separately with gravy and then mixed with half-cooked rice and put on the final “dum” (slow cooking). In another, marinated raw meat is layered in rice and spices and cooked together. The meat in this case is kacchi or raw. As you can guess this is what I cover in todays post.

This recipe comes from the Hyderabad Nizams kitchen. One of our relatives (Habu Dadu) ran away from home at a young age and finally with a lot of twists of fate landed as the apprentice of the Hyderabad Nizams chief chef. He worked in the Nizam’s kitchen for many years and finally retired in Kolkata. When he used to visit our home he used to come with his own bag of spices and cook for us. It used to be a grand feast which I remember till this date. Todays recipe dedicated to his fond memories.

Ingredients

For Marinating

• 1kg mutton cut into medium pieces on bone
• 2 large onions thinly sliced
• 1tbsp. salt
• 1/2tsp. sugar
• 1tbsp. ginger paste
• 1tbsp. garlic paste
• 1tbsp. green chili paste
• 1tbsp. garam masala ( You can use Biryani masala of your favorite brand)
• 1tsp. red chili powder
• Juice of 1 lime
• 250gms curd (Yogurt)
• 1 bunch coriander leaves finely chopped
• 1 bunch mint leaves finely chopped

For Rice

• 500gms. basmati rice
• 2 – 3tbsp. salt
• 50gms. ghee (Clarified butter)
• 1tsp. saffron soaked in quarter cup of warm milk

 

Required Appliance

• Heavy bottom pan (I use Martha Stewart or Simply Calphalon vessels)
• Tawa or skillet

 

Procedure

Soak basmati rice for 30 minutes.

Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the onion slices till they are brown. Remove and drain them on a paper towel.

Arrange mutton in layers in a heavy bottom pan. Add Half of the fried onion, ginger-garlic paste, green chili paste, chili powder, garam masala powder, salt, sugar, yoghurt, oil, lemon juice, chopped coriander and mint leaves to it. Mix everything well with mutton  and keep it marinated for 3-4 hours.

By the meantime in a pan take water along with 2- 3  tbsp. salt and bring to a rolling boil. Stir it well and add presoaked basmati rice to it. Once you have added the rice it will stop boiling. Wait till it again starts boiling. This rice is 50% done. Make an layer of rice on top of the marinated mutton. Add about a cup of water ( Preferably the water in which you boiled the rice).

Sprinkle some more fried brown onions on top of it. Drizzle few spoons of saffron soaked milk over it.

Now seal the vessel tightly with aluminum foil.

We will not be cooking this directly on heat because if we do so the meat will char by the time the biriyani is cooked. So take a tawa (skillet) and place the biryani vessel on top of it. Cook it on medium heat for about 45 minutes. By the end of this time you will see the aluminum foil has swollen up. That means it is ready. Remove the foil an serve it with raita.

Palak Moorg (Chicken in Spinach)

I had heard a lot about the Andhra Palak Ghosht from my friend Devyani. I didn’t realize how good it was until she made it once for me. I tried this recipe on both chicken and goat meat. I prefer the goat meat version but the chicken also turns out pretty good. For this post I used chicken, you can also substitute that with goat meat (and accordingly increase cooking time).

Ingredients

1. 1 kg chicken on bone
2. 1 kg palak or spinach finely chopped
3. 2 large onions finely chopped
4. 5,6 green chilies finely chopped
5. 1 tbsp ginger paste
6. 1 tbsp garlic paste
7. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
8. 1 tsp. chili powder
9. Whole garam masala
1. 1 tsp. shajeera (caraway)
2. 1” cinnamon stick
3. 2 green cardamom
4. 3-4 cloves
10. Salt
11. Sugar

Procedure

Heat oil in a pan and temper with whole garam masala. Once the oil becomes fragrant add chopped onion and green chilies to it. Fry on medium low heat till the edges of the onion turns brown.

Add ginger garlic paste to it and sauté till the raw smell of ginger subsides. Add chicken pieces to it followed by turmeric and chili powder. Fry the meat pieces on medium heat till it looses its raw color.

Season with it salt and sugar. Once you add salt to it it will start releasing lots of water. Cook till all the moisture dries up.

Add chopped spinach to it and give it a stir. Again you will see moisture releasing from spinach. The amount of moisture released from the chicken and spinach will be sufficient for the chicken pieces to get cooked, so you don't have to add any water to it. Cook it covered on medium heat till chicken becomes soft and all the chicken pieces are well coated with spinach and spices.

Allow all the moistures to evaporate. This is completely a dry dish which can be best enjoyed with parantha or kulcha.

Chicken Chettinad

I fell in love with the fiery Chettinad cuisine in Bangalore. There my restaurant of choice was Nandini Palace. When I moved to Hyderabad I had no trouble finding great chettinad food their either. Malgudi being my fav. Interestingly this is one of the few things that I didn’t have to compromise when I moved to the US. Our local Indian restaurant Mayuri can churn out Chettinad food with equal ease. When the waitress asks “low, medium or high” you need to coyly say “super-high please” and get ready for mouth throbbing, head numbing, sinusitis curing chicken chettinad to arrive.

Ingredients

1. 1 kg cut chicken on bone
2. Whole garam masala
   1. 3,4 Cardamom
   2. 5,6Clove
   3. 1"cinnamon
3. 1 tsp. whole cumin seeds
4. 1 tsp. whole black mustard seeds
5. 2 medium onions thinly sliced
6. 2 tbsp. Ginger+garlic paste
7. 2 tomatoes coarsely chopped
8. Handful curry leaves
9. 7-8 (or more :) ) green chilies
10. 1 tbsp. coriander powder
11. 1 tsp. cumin powder
12. 3 tbsp. red chili powder
13. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
14. 2 tbsp. Crushed peppercorns
15. Handful of chopped coriander leaves
16. Salt
17. Sugar

Procedure

Heat oil in a heavy pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and whole garam masala. Wait till the spices splutter. Add chopped onion with little salt and sugar and fry till they become brown. Adding salt takes the moisture out of the onion and helps to cook faster. Be patient and wait till they turn brown. This brown onion will dissolve when you add water and turns into a nice rich gravy.

Now add turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste. chopped green chilies and curry leaves to it. Fry till the raw flavor of ginger+garlic paste goes away. Add chopped tomatoes, chili powder, coriander powder and cumin powder to it. Fry on medium heat till they are soft and mushy. It will take about 10 mins for the tomatoes to get done. By this time you will see that the oil is oozing out of the spices.

Add chicken pieces and mix thoroughly with the spices. Cover it up with a lid and allow it to simmer for about 7- 10 mins. You need not add any water as the chicken will release enough moisture to get cooked. Adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper corn and mix it well. Finish it off with handful of chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with hot rice, chapathi or appam.