The ‘Dum’ In Dum Biryani

As soon as the thought of Biryani flashes across our mind, the first word that comes running by is ‘dum’. A pot dish full to the brim with the aroma of spices that burst out with delightful flavours; Dum Biryani is something very hard to resist for anyone let aside vegetarians or non-vegetarians

Slowly cooking all the ingredients inside a sealed, heavy-bottomed vessel for hours, or sometimes even cooking the biryani overnight which works like magic by helping the flavours burst inside our mouth with every spoonful, and in the case of non-veg the meat becomes unbelievably tender.

If you ask a culinary connoisseur, they would tell you that the style of cooking used is traditionally known as dum pukht. Furthermore, dum pukht isn't just restricted to cooking biryani but is also used in the preparation of various other dishes such as korma, haleem, nihari, raan, and sometimes even dal.

From Persia To Our Plate

Quite an ancient practice, dum cooking is closely associated with the Mughlai cuisine which is often thought to have originated from the Persian cuisine. Though there are multiple stories about dum biryani’s origin, the most popular one takes place during the 1700s and is about Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah, the Wazir of Oudh/Awadh.

When a great famine struck the area in 1784, the Nawab brought into existence a food-for-work programme to get the Bara Imambara built. As many people volunteered, the only viable option to employ was the method of dum pukht, as it made easy the job of preparing meals for a large number of workers, and made the food flavoursome with a minimal amount of spices, which were short in supply then.

One such day, the delightful aroma caught the Nawab's attention, and he immediately ordered the royal chef to make some for the Royals. This kind of preparation soon won the heart of ministers and the upper class bringing to light a whole new kind of delicacy.