And we’re back with the 2nd episode/webisode of Sammy’s Kitchen – with some new camera angulations, abundant lighting (thank you Home Depot and their bulb selection), crispier contrast and colors – all thanks to Sameer Saadi’s dedication and skeeellz! And of course, this just couldn’t be Sammy’s Kitchen without my teeth showing at least a couple of times – And yes, I’m not AS serious as I was in the first episode and I made sure of that! Thank you for pointing that out to me! =D
In this 2nd webisode, we bring to your kitchens, the scrumptious and absolutely delicious Hyderabadi Biryani (by popular demand/multiple requests). ”Biryani” is a meat + rice + spice (or veggies + rice + spice) dish, originating from Persia, and was brought to the South Asian/Indian subcontinent mainly by Muslim merchants and travelers. And interestingly, Biryani is not only eaten in Pakistan and India, but its many variations can also be found in Iran, Afghanistan, Malaysia, etc. to name a few more countries.
The meat/veggies are cooked separately from the rice and then layered and steamed (dum‘ified – dum daytay hain! – Main bhi kahoon tu bhi kahay, dum duma-dum!). Hyderabadi Biryani, mainly non-vegetarian, is cooked the same way, and uses fried onions and yogurt to create the meat masala and finally topped off with saffron. (This is different from the “Kachchay Gosht ki Biryani” or the Raw Meat Biryani, also famous in Hyderabad, where the raw meat masala and uncooked rice are layered and cooked together.)
This is our family recipe and has been passed down in my Dad’s family who are originally from Hyderabad, India. And although my Mom (born in Aligarh, India) only grew up in Hyderabad, it was after she and my Dad got married that she quickly learned and adopted the Hyderabadi styles and ways of cooking, still keeping her own “Hindustani” cooking alive.
And since my Dad loved to cook so much, I often witnessed this heavenly biryani (and many other amazing Hyderabadi/Non-Hyderabadi dishes) being made by both my Mama and Pops. Their duo created, by far, THE BEST Hyderabadi Biryani I have ever, EVER eaten – the perfectly cooked rice bursting with the rich aroma of saffron, accompanied by the finger-licking good meat masala that was always balanced in salt and spice and tenderness and taste!
My lovely Mama & My beloved Pops – This one’s for both of you – for giving me your cooking genes. And I can’t thank both of them enough for passing the recipe on and giving me the opportunity to share it with you as well!
Comments, suggestions, critiques, likes, dislikes are welcome! The few sentences I speak in the “intro” are in Urdu, but in the Hyderabadi accent… an accent often made fun of because, well, it does sound funny! It doesn’t stop me from randomly throwing out a phrase here and a word there in Hyderabadi!
Bon Appetit and we humbly apologize for the delay in getting this 2nd webisode out!
(Thank you Shuja Bhai for the technical suggestions and feedback!)
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Sammy’s Kitchen is a new cooking show privately produced by Sameer and Samreen Saadi (s2elements.com) where we try a variety of recipes found on the net, created by ourselves or even family recipes that have been passed down from our parents’ generation.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Sameer
SammyQS
yum… I’ll have to ask aunty to make it for me when I’m there
)
NOT FAIR SAFI!!!
YUMMM Sammy…both you and the biryani are HOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Feelin’ hot hot hot… Thank you thank you, you’re too kind!
Excellent Job Samreen….I am so hungry now !!!!
Thanks Seema & Arif Bhai! You should try this recipe then… I’m sure Nasir Chacha knows it pretty well!
Hay yor, the recipe is great, I am cooking that on Sunday. I love cooking all kinds of food too though. From African to continental dishes.
Oh, Sammy, hope to see you on one of those Food Network doing your thing…
Sameer, when ever I there is a video production/movies coming up. I will get hold of you
Cheers
Chris-
Thank you so much Chris! Please let us know how it turns out. And I would love to learn some recipes from Africa. Do share!!
LOooooooooooved it, I am soooo gonna make this…. when i go out and buy rice, Zebra!! Um couple of random things I noticed…. was that a lime you were squeezing and not a lemon… oh yeah and the cardamom powder, was it also green ilaichi and not the black ilaichi. Sameer was hilarious whit the onions!
Hey Baabayyyy The Zenab!!
Definitely let me know how it turns out… Yes it was a lime. And very good observations… and glad you caught that. I should have mentioned that it was “GREEN” cardamom powder.
I love when Sameer cuts the onions – always with precision!
and I cant spell ‘with’
Salam S2.
i could literally taste the biryani while watching the videos…. great job! will you guys be posting up more hyderabadi dishes? *ehem* such as kacchi gosht ki biryani, chicken 65, khatti daal *ehem*
Thank you Imaad! Did you try making it? My father used to make Kacchi gosht ki biryani really well… should have learned it in more detail from him!
But definitely I’ll be doing khatti daal, maybe chicken 65… bhagaaray baingan… yum! Ok drooling now. 
Thanks for the feedback!
Samreen,
Excellent vid …nice details…i am trying it out today…
In between as someone rightly said “Both biryani and you are pretty Hot !! “…. and pretty Humorous tooo….I was smiling all the time while watching the video….
The ‘Kya kare tho kuch hota” – Great Hyderabadi touch ….and the messing up of the ‘Heating of the Oil” sentence was super ….
Great video ….also….
Regards
Deepu…Will keep you posted on the video….
Signing of with a Hyderabadi Dialogue…
Chalo mereko kaaamaan (work) hain bahut kaamman hain.
Salman khan, Amir Khan, Sharukh Khan, Ayub Khan, Sanjay khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan, Saif ali Khan sab logan humko Pyaar se Emraan Haashmi boltey, mere saath wale Pilot ko John boltey tereko kya boltey bol …tell tell
Thanks Deepu – appreciate the kind words.
You’ve done it again! Incredible post.
Thank you so much Tabitha!
Tried this one twice…one in pakki style and once in kacchi style.
Was awesome!! Think it is the best recipe for hyderabadi biryani I’ve come across!
Thank you Duppu… the recipe truly comes from the heart and a Hyderabadi stomach too!
Hi there!
I was looking up food of the Nizams on You Tube when I came across your videos and your blog. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, loved all the secret tips. Also, my mom makes biriyani in very similar ways, which is what I have adopted! Loved the Prawn masala video too, you should be putting up lots more recipes!!! Also, something else that caught my eye while looking up the video was the little I could see of your living room – the decor was beautiful!!!
Leah
Hello Leah,
Thank you so much for the compliments, you make us blush
I’m so glad you liked the videos and the living room too hehe With a full time job, it definitely gets hard to even take time off for ourselves but I hope to get another video done and out soon. Be on the lookout! Hyderabadi biryani is seriously one of my favs, not only because I grew up eating it (well, more like inhaling it! 
) and because I’m part Hyderabadi (from my Dad’s side), but because it’s made out of very different spices than the usual/normal biryani like “student” or “sindhi” or “bombay” or “shrimp”, etc.
awesome samreen, i am so gonna try this! loved your detailed steps- was just curious since you added the cardamom and garam masala to the fried onion mixture and then into the cooked chicken, i’m assuming that the spices got cooked a bit that way right? and you can use a lemon or lime? biryani is one of my ultimate fav foods, and this version of it will be so fun to cook!
Yup..when you add the spices to the chicken in the onion mixture it will get cooked in the steaming process of the rice and chicken masla.. and that part is what enhances the flavor!