Pakke Gosht ki Biryani, Dahi ki Chatni and Baigan aur tamatar ka Salan
Hyderabadi Biryani comes in different flavors and different styles of cooking it.
The Akhni is the secret sauce of the Biryani which consists of Meat with Masalas, Spices, Curd, Ginger and Garlic Paste, Red Mirchi Powder and lots of other ingredients that are marinated for few hours before being cooked.
In Earlier times the aristocratic Hyderabadi families used to safeguard the Biryani making process by having trusted cooks and the girls in the family were not allowed into the kitchen during biryani making process to protect the secret sauce from going outside the family once the girls get married.
In Hyderabad there are 2 ways a biryani is made, Pakhi(precooked)Akhni and Kachi(raw)Akhni.
The Akhni is layered in slightly precooked basmati rice. When akhni is raw its called Kache gosht ki Biryani and if its precooked it is Pakke gosht ki Biryani.
The Biryani with the layered akhni and rice are cooked on slow heat for a long period of time on low heat for the Dum(pressure) which cooks and softens akhni and rice
Pakhi Akhni is easy to make and does not require the precision as the akhni is separately cooked and then layered with precooked rice.
The Kachi Akhni Biryani is more delicious than the Paki Akhi Biryani and requires Mastery and a good amount of experience to know the proportion of heat, time and dum(pressure) given to a biryani.
A Master cook can just know by the aroma the different stages the biryani is in and when it is ready to serve. The Biryani is usually served with dahi ki chatni and baigan ka salan or Mirchi ka salan.
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