Hyderabad always accord the sound of royality and had large Indians and Muslim culture influences, brought by the different dynasties that ruled the city over many years.

These cultural influences are seen in many parts of haydrabadi culture --- their architecture, their demographics, their literature and most importantly their food.

Hyderabad has two of its special cuisine --- telugu cuisine which is influenced much more by South Indian cooking and hyderabadi cuisine. 

Hyderabad has its most famous food  type is Biryani and some say that briyani is synonymous with Hyderabad.Indian royal dinners are never complete without a hot pot of aromatic and flavourful Biryani.

Although cooking Biryani is nothing but a form of art, it is relatively easy to ace the authentic flavour and make a delightful biryani. It doesn't require much of an effort and also gives you the rich taste you're looking for.

For Biryani :

3½ cups water 
2⅓ cups long-grain basmati rice
4 Bay leaves 
½ cup warm milk
1 pinch saffron strands 
¼ cup ghee
2 onions thinly sliced 
2 green chopped chillies 
For marinade 
500gms Chicken Thighs or Drumsticks 
10 black peppercorns 
6 whole cloves
5 cardamom 
2 cinnamon sticks 
2 whole star anise
1 bunch of fresh coriander leaves 
1 bunch of fresh mint leaves 
½ tsp black cumin seeds
1 cup yoghurt
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp giner garlic paste 
2 tsp red chillies powder 
¼ tsp turmeric powder 
1 tsp biryani masala 
Salt to taste



 Instructions :

Grind black peppercorns,cloves cardamom,cinnamon,star anise, and cumin seeds into a fine powder. Chop mint and coriander leaves.
Add dry spice mix , chopped mint , and coriander leaves and other marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine all of them. 

Add the chicken and coat it well. Use a plastic wrap to cover the bowl and keep the marinated chicken in the refrigerator for about 2 hours .

Wash the rice thoroughly. Take a saucepan and add water and rice in it. Once it boils, add 2 bay leaves and reduce the heat to the medium low.
Cover it and let it partially cooked . Once done, drain the rice . Add saffron to a bowl of milk, stir and keep it aside.

Add ghee to a large pot with a tight-fitting lid or a pressure cooker, heat it over medium-high flame. Stir onions into golden brown for about 15 mins. Switch the flame to low and add bay leaves , chillies and stir for about 1-2 minutes and set it aside .

Add the chicken along with the marinade into the pot and cook for 2 mins per side until it's no longer pink. Spread the drained rice on the top,sprinkled fried onions and drizzle ghee with  saffron milk on the top.

 Cook it on high flame upto 8-10 minutes 
Turn off the flame and keep it covered till 15 minutes. Garnish with mint and coriander leaves on the top.