A spicy curry that completes the biryani

Chennai

Talking about heritage food, most dishes of India, have an interesting story behind them and how the ingredients came together to create a tantalising dish. Recipes carefully handed down from generation to generation, have been tried and tested to establish some of the greatest dishes. 

One of my close friends Bharathi, living in Chennai, runs an authentic Hyderabadi restaurant. Eating at her place and listening to her grandfather’s food stories, one gets transported back in time. One story in particular which he narrated was so interesting. It was about the origin of Hyderabad and a dish that I had to share it with you all. 

The story goes that Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, a ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, was the founder of Hyderabad city. After ascending the throne, Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah defied all traditions, married a Hindu Bhagmati, and made her his queen. In the year 1591, he laid the foundation of a new city which he called Bhagyanagar after his beloved queen Bhagmati. Bhagmati embraced Islam and took the name Hyder Mahal, and consequently Bhagynagar was renamed Hyderabad after her. 

Legend has it that her cooking was as famous as her dance and she would make special saffron rice and mirchi ka salan for the prince. He was much younger than her and yet after ascending the throne, he fought for love and married her, building the city of Hyderabad and introducing in all royal kitchens the Nizami food which included mirchi ka salan, an original recipe of Chichlam, where Bhagmati came from. 

The land of the Nizams, Hyderabad, located in the deccan plateau of India, is a melting pot of many historical influences and kingly inspirations that are embodied in the city and as much seem to reflect in its rich cuisine and culture. 

Promoting the native cuisine, along with their own, Hyderabadi cuisine had become a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad, as it began to further develop from there. It is an amalgamation of Mughal, Turkish and Arabic influences, along with the flavours of the native Telugu and Marathwada cuisines. The cuisine comprises a broad repertoire of rice, wheat and meat dishes and the skilled use of various spices, imported herbs and natural edibles. Most dishes have original recipes and mirchi ka salan is one such dish, a gastronomical gift from Bhagmati to her prince and now a famous Hyderabadi delicacy. 

Hyderabadi feast also known as Dastarkhan is usually a five-course meal — Aghaz (Soup), Mezban (appetizers), Waqfa (Sorbet), Mashgool Dastarkhwan (Main course) and Zauq-e-shahi (dessert). It’s a roster of dishes that tend to be rich, aromatic and tilting a bit on the spicy side of the palate. The cuisine exemplifies a rich confluence of many different impressions that date back to over 400 years. So, while one might say that the biryani’s are reminiscent of Nizami culinary heritage, the mirchi ka salan is thought to be a gift from the kitchens of Chichlam. An accompaniment which is usually eaten with the biryani, mirchi ka salan is like no other in the country — distinct, fiery, aromatic and utterly irresistible. The chilli pepper (mirch) is cooked in a peanut and coconut spicy curry. Here’s the recipe of the finger-licking good dish. 

NIZAMI MIRCHI KA SALAN

• Serves: 4
• Preparation time:30 mins
• Cooking time:25 mins

INGREDIENTS

Green chillies: 250gm (the big ones) 

Cumin seeds: 2½ tsp 

Curry leaves: ¼ cup dried 

Curry leaves: 1 tsp fresh ones 

Mustard seeds: ½ tsp 

Nigella seeds: ½ tsp 

Fenugreek seeds: ½ tsp

SPICE MIX / MASALA DRY 

Poppy seeds: 1 tbsp 

White sesame seeds: 2 tbsp 

Ground nuts/ peanuts: ½ cup 

Freshly scraped coconut: ¾ cup 

Dry roasted coriander seed: 1 tsp 

Cumin seeds: 1½ tsp 

Dried and crushed curry leaves: 1 tsp

THE GRAVY MASALA 

Vegetable oil: 5 tbsp (groundnut oil would give the original taste) 

Red onions: 2, large 

Ginger garlic paste: 2 tsp (grind 6 cloves of garlic and 2 inch piece of ginger together. Always use fresh ginger-garlic paste) 

Turmeric powder: ½ tsp 

Cilantro / coriander leaves: 3 tbsp, finely chopped

Thick tamarind pulp: 3 tbsp 

Fresh cream: 1 tbsp (optional) 

Salt to taste

METHOD: 

• Wash the large, green chillies, leave the stalk intact and pat them dry. 
• Slit down the middle to top and discard the seeds with the help of a spoon. These tiny seeds of chillies are real cause of the spiciness. Some add the seeds while grinding the masala. 
• Heat a tava and dry roast the scrapped coconut, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, peanuts, coriander seeds and cumin seeds, all separately. 
• While this is going on, heat another pan and in little oil, roast the sliced onions till they turn brown. Add a pinch of salt to quicken the process of browning.
• Grind the roasted coconut, sesame, poppy seeds, peanuts, coriander seeds and cumin seeds all separately in a small masala grinder/ mixer. Keep it aside.
• Grind the roasted onions to a fine and smooth puree. 
• Grind the ginger and garlic. 
• Now heat some oil in a pan up to smoking hot and add the chillies carefully. As soon as the chillies come in contact with hot oil, blisters will form on its surface. 
• Lightly toss the chillies in hot oil and with the help of a slotted spoon, take them out and drain on a tissue paper. 
• To the same oil, add the spices meant for tempering and let them splutter for a few seconds. Make sure it doesn’t burn. 
• Add the puréed onion and mix it well, so that the roasted onion can absorb the flavours of spices.
• Fry for some time on low heat and add next the ginger garlic paste. Let it fry for a couple of minutes. 
• Next add the coconut paste, freshly ground sesame powder, poppy-seed powder, and peanut and stir fry for few more minutes until the oil separates. 
• Add the red chilli powder, turmeric powder and a pinch of salt. Stir fry it for few more minutes until the rawness of peanut and coconut disappear. 
• Add the cumin, dried curry leaves and coriander powder and mix well. 
• Add around 3 cups of water and the diluted tamarind pulp. Mix thoroughly, gently add the tossed green chillies to it stir it and cover, let it simmer for 20 minutes till done. 
• At the end, chillies should be soft, intact and well absorbed in the creamy masala gravy. 
• Add the fresh cream, wait for 40 seconds and then switch it off. 
• Serve the hot mirchi ka salan with Hyderabadi biryani, the best accompaniment it can get. 
• It tastes good with steamed rice or plain roti/ parantha. 

Kitchen tip for the day: Use lime juice to neutralise strong flavours in the vessels while cleaning or before using dish washer. Fresh lemon removes all strong odours, especially those form egg/fish.

— The writer is a chef and author of Festive Offerings to the Gods 

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