Here is our Sunday lunch – Vegetable Dum Biryani. This is one dish that needs a lot of patience as it needs to be simmered to perfection keeping all the grains intact. Thankfully, it was expected so I started on a Lazy Sunday Morning knowing I didnt have much to do anyway. I ground the pastes and prepared the purees, sorted the whole spices, cooked the basmati rice and microwaved the vegetables. It was a laborious procedure. No wonder it was made for the Royal Nawabs in Hyderabad as a delicacy. I remember Marut Sikka, the chef of Lock, Stock and 2 smoking tikkas creating this Biryani in a Handi. He was mentioning how this was relished by the rulers in olden times. The value of spices was so much back then that Pirates used to nab ships carrying spices more than the ones carrying gold or silver! Continue reading »