Hyderabadi Cuisine

Hyderabadi cuisine (native:Hyderabadi Ghizaayat) also known as Deccani cuisine of India, was developed after the foundation of Qutb shahi dynasty by Sultan Quli, promoting the native cuisine along with their own. Hyderabadi cuisine had become a princely legacy of the Nizams of Hyderabad State. It is an amalgamation of Mughlai, Turkish and Arabicalong with the influence of the native Telugu and Marathwada cuisines. Hyderabadi cuisine comprises a broad repertoire of rice, wheat and meat dishes and the skilled use of various spices, herbs and natural edibles.

Hyderabadi cuisine could be found in the kitchens of the former Hyderabad State that includes Telangana, Marathwada region (now in Maharashtra), and Hyderabad Karanataka region (now in Karnataka). The cuisine also contains city-specific  (Hyderabadi biryani) and Aurangabad (Naan Qalia), Parbhani (Tahari), andBidar(Kalyani Biryani).

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The cuisine emphasises the use of ingredients that are carefully chosen and cooked to the right degree and time. Utmost attention is given to picking the right kind of spices, meat, and rice. Therefore, an addition of a certain herb,spice, condiment, or a combination of these adds a distinct taste and aroma. The key flavours are of coconut, tamarind,peanuts and sesame seeds which are extensively used in many dishes. The key difference from the North Indian cuisine is the use of dry coconut and tamarind in its cuisine.

Traditional utensils made of copper, brass, and earthen pots are used for cooking. All types of cooking involve the direct use of fire. There is a saying in Hyderabad, cooking patiently (ithmenaan se) is the key; slow-cooking is the hallmark of Hyderabadi cuisine. The Slow-cooking method has its influence from the Dum Pukht method used in Awadhi cuisine.

Hyderabadi Cuisine has different recipes for different events, and hence is categorized accordingly, like banquet food, for weddings and parties, festival foods and travel foods. The category to which the recipe belongs itself speaks of different things like the time required to prepare the food, the shelf life of the prepared item, etc.

Mehboob Alam Khan is a foremost expert on the Hyderabadi cuisine.

Hyderabadi cuisine is basically a meat and rice oriented cuisine, it contains a variety of ingredients that are commonly used, ranging from vegetables, spices, meats, flavors, fruits and others. In the city of Hyderabad and its urban, use of flavors, tomato and tamarind are the most common ingredients. Meat (such as mutton and chicken) dishes are prepared by the technique of dum—(sealing the dish with dough and gently simmering its ingredients over a slow fire, to increasing the absorption of aromatic spices.).

The herbs and spices used in the dish as well as the method of preparation gives the dish its name. For example, Murgh do Pyaaza is named so because Onion ('Pyaaz') is added to the dish twice, in different variations.

Often for formal occasions, the food is garnished with warq (a very fine, pure silver leaf created by prolonged hammering and flattening of a small piece of silver).