Hyderabadi Samosa
Ingredients :

For the dough :

Flour - 500gm
Salt - 1/2tsp
Ginger juice - 1tsp
Garlic juice - 1tsp
Ghee - 3tbs Milk - 1cup
For the Mince :

Minced chicken - 500gm
Ginger-garlic paste - 1tbs
Minced onion - 2nos (large)
Ghee - 2tbs
Coriander leaves - a handful Chopped
mint leaves - 1tsp
Groundnut oil - for frying
To be ground :

Green chillies - 6nos
Peppercorns - 5
Coriander seeds - 1tbs
Cumin seeds - 1/2tsp
Cinnamon - a small piece
Green cardamom - 4nos
Method of Preparation :

Grind all the ingredients to be ground to a fine paste and keep aside. Boil the mince with ginger-garlic paste and salt till done.

Heat ghee in a pan and fry onion. Add ground masala and sauté well for 3-4minutes. Add the mince and fry till dry. Mix in the coriander and mint leaves. Keep aside.

Sieve the flour and salt together. Rub in the ghee till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Make a bay in the centre and put in the milk, ginger, garlic juice. Mix well and knead to a soft, but not sticky dough.

Divide the dough into 6-8 portions. Roll each portion into a thin chapati. Place a heaped tablespoon of the mince filling at the centre. Cover with another chapati. Seal the edges by pressing down. Cut into triangles and deep fry in hot oil

Malai Korma
Ingredients :

Fresh cream (malai) - 2 cups
Finely chopped onions - 2nos
Finely chopped tomato - 1no
Garlic - 10 flakes
Peeled ginger - 1" piece
Split green chillies - 5nos
Finely chopped coriander leaves - 1tbs
Sliced cashew nuts - 10-12nos
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsp
Salt - to taste
Ghee - 3tsp
Method of Preparation :

Grind ginger and garlic to a smooth paste.

Heat ghee and fry cashew nuts. Drain and keep aside. Sauté onions in the same ghee. When it is done, add ginger-garlic paste, salt, green chillies and turmeric powder. Add tomatoes and sauté well till oil separates. Add fresh cream, stir and cook. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Garnish with chopped coriander and fried cashew nuts. Serve hot with chapatti, roti etc.


Sheer Korma
Ingredients :

Vermicelli - 100gms
Milk - 1.5litre
Sugar - 250gms
Chopped cashew nuts - 50gms
Chopped almonds - 50gms
Chopped dates - 50gms
Powdered cardamom - 6nos
Butter - 4tsp
Water - 250ml

Method of Preparation :

Fry nuts in 2tsp butter till light golden colour, drain and keep aside. Fry vermicelli in the remaining butter until golden brown. Make a sugar syrup (one string consistency).

Boil the milk until it is thickened to half the quantity. Add the fried vermicelli to the milk and cook. Do not allow lumps to form. Add sugar syrup and cook for a while until it comes to a homogeneous consistency. Sprinkle cardamom powder. Garnish with fried nuts.

Serve hot or refrigerated.


Hyderabadi Pucci (Chicken) Biryani
Ingredients :

Basmati rice - 400gms
Chicken - 1kg
Sliced onions - 100gms
Onion paste - 100gms
Garam masala - 5gms
Yogurt - 50gms
Ginger-garlic paste - 10gms
Crushed pepper corns - 5gms
Lemon juice - 1large
Chopped mint leaves - 2sprigs
Saffron - a pinch
Milk - 2tbs
Cardamom - 4nos
Cinnamon - 1"piece
Cloves - 4nos
Cumin - 1/2tsp
Ghee - 100gms
Salt - to taste
Chopped tomatoes - 2nos
Red chilli powder - 5gms
Flour - 1/2cup


Method of Preparation :

Clean and cut the chicken into 8 pieces. Marinate it with yogurt, garam masala, half quantity of onion paste, 1/2tbs of ginger- garlic paste, crushed peppercorns, lime juice and salt for 11/2hours.

Clean and soak rice for 30 minutes. Boil 1litre water in a vessel and put one clove, one cardamom and 1/2cinnamon in it. Add soaked rice. When it is half cooked add 1tsp oil and salt. Drain and keep aside.

Heat some ghee and fry the sliced onions till golden brown and keep aside. Knead the flour to a smooth dough by adding enough water.

Heat 50gm ghee in a thick bottom vessel. Add cumin and the remaining cardamom, cinnamon and clove and sauté for a while. Sauté by adding the remaining onion paste, followed by ginger-garlic paste. Add chopped tomatoes and red chilli powder and sauté till it is slightly cooked. Add marinated chicken and cook till the gravy leaves the sides of the container. Adjust the seasoning.

Remove half the curry from the vessel and spread half quantity of boiled rice over the curry. Garnish with half quantity of chopped mint leaves and deep fried onion kept aside. Place the second layer of curry over the rice and repeat the same. Pour the remaining ghee on the edges of the layered biryani.

Seal the container with the dough and cook on low flame for 10-15 minutes. Break the seal just before serving.

An alternative method is that a griddle is put on the flame and the biryani container over it with a weight on top. Or the container can be put in an oven and baked for 10-15 minutes on medium heat.


Shahi Tukre
Ingredients :

Slices of bread - 4nos
Condensed milk - 6tbs
Milk - 1/2litre
Ground cardamom seeds - 1/2tsp
Nutmeg - 1/4tsp
Almonds, pistachios, Charoli, walnuts, cashew-nuts, raisins - 15gms each

Method of Preparation :

Trim and cut each slice of bread into four pieces and deep fry to a golden brown colour. Drain thoroughly and keep aside. Fry all the nuts and pound coarsely. Also fry the raisins. Take a wide pan and put in milk, condensed milk, 2 tablespoon sugar, cardamoms and nutmeg. Cook on a low fire till the mixture turns a little thick, then put the fried bread side by side in the pan. Let it cook till all the moisture is absorbed by the bread. Serve cold garnished with nuts and raisins and covered with foil.