One of the only things as interesting & fun as eating delicious food is hearing stories about said delicious food. So today lets talk about Dum Pukht Almost all of us have some ‘dum’ food at some point in our lives – Dum aloo & dum biryani being two of the popular dishes but do you know about the origins of the cuisine?
‘Dum’ means to ‘breathe in’ and ‘Pukht’ to ‘cook’. Dum Pukht cooking uses a round, heavy – bottomed pot (a handi) in which food is tightly sealed and cooked over a slow fire.
There are two main aspects to this style of cooking; bhunao and dum, or ‘roasting’ and ‘maturing’ of a prepared dish. In this style of cuisine, Herbs and spices play an extremely critical role (it’s also interesting to note that the dum pukht method of cuisine uses less spices than most other Indian forms of cooking). The process of slow roasting gently persuades the meat & vegetable to release maximum flavor. The sealing of the lid of the handi with dough achieves maturing. No water is added, and the food cooks slowly in its juices, thus retaining all its natural aromas and giving it a very rich flavor which distinguishes it from all other cuisines.

Writing about this has made me salivate at my laptop & I think I need to dine at Dum Pukht at ITC Maratha soon. According to them, Dum Pukht serves not just a cuisine, but an experience that goes beyond mere satisfaction of appetite to the realm of sensuality : an evocative presentation of aromas, flavors and textures that pays tribute to an appreciation of the finer things in life to become A Grand Cuisine.
