What Is Dum Biriyani?

What does dum mean?

The word dum comes from a Persian word associated with breath. In Indian cooking it means slow cooking in a sealed vessel, where gentle heat and trapped steam do the work. Dum biriyani is the dish this method made famous: rice and meat cooked together, with the lid held shut so that no aroma escapes.

It is the reason a good biriyani smells wonderful the moment the pot is opened, and the reason it cannot be rushed.

How a dum biriyani is built

Methods differ from family to family and region to region, but the heart of the process is shared.

1. Prepare the masala and the meatThe meat is seasoned and cooked down with onions, ginger, garlic, herbs and spices into a rich masala.
2. Cook the riceThe rice is cooked partway with whole spices and salt, so that it can finish its cooking in the sealed pot.
3. Layer the potRice and masala go in layers, with fried onions, ghee and fresh herbs. In the Mappila tradition cashews and raisins are added as well.
4. Seal the lidThe pot is closed with dough, foil or a tight lid so that steam cannot escape.
5. Cook slowlyThe pot sits over gentle heat. In many Malabar kitchens the vessel is heated from above and below.
6. Rest and openOpening the sealed pot is called dum pottikkal in Malayalam, and in many kitchens it is a moment for an experienced hand.

Why the sealed pot matters

When food cooks in an open pot, steam and aroma rise and disappear. In a sealed pot they have nowhere to go. The steam circulates, condenses and falls back onto the rice, carrying the scent of the masala with it. The rice finishes cooking in the juices of the meat, the meat turns tender, and the flavours settle into one another.

This is why dum biriyani tastes more rounded than rice and curry simply served together. Nothing that evaporates is wasted.

Kachchi and pakki: two broad styles

You will hear two terms. In kachchi biriyani, raw marinated meat is layered with partly cooked rice and everything finishes together in the sealed pot. In pakki biriyani, the meat is cooked first and then layered with rice. Both are finished by dum, and many family recipes mix the two ideas.

How to recognise a well made dum biriyani

• The rice grains are separate and whole, not mushy or clumped.
• The meat is tender but not dry.
• The aroma rises as soon as the pot is opened.
• The masala coats the rice instead of pooling as oil.
• The salt and spice are balanced, so the flavours of meat and rice can be tasted.
• It is cooked fresh for you, not reheated.

Dum biriyani in Kochi

Kochi's best known dum tradition began on the wood fired stoves of Mattancherry, where Kayikka cooked every pot himself. Today his daughter Arifa cooks dum biriyani at Amina's Biriyani in Chullickal, with home delivery across Kochi. See the menu or plan an event on our catering page.

Dum biriyani questions