Archive · 3 Oct 2026
A Hyderabadi Biryani That Sings With Quiet, Royal Flavours
Kulsum Begum cooks food inspired by her family’s royal kitchen in Hyderabad.
She has kept more than 300 old family recipes.
She says good cooking can use gentle flavours instead of lots of hot spices.
Her haleem is mostly made with finely minced mutton and does not include lentils.
She also makes a biryani that she says should have juicy rice and spices that do not overpower one another.
She uses old-fashioned methods, such as soaking and peeling almonds by hand.
Her daughter Maliha Khan is helping carry on the family’s cooking traditions.
Kulsum recently served several of these dishes at a pop-up in Delhi.
Chef Kulsum Begum prepares a subtle style of Hyderabadi and Mughlai cooking rooted in her family’s royal kitchen.
She has preserved more than 300 heirloom recipes and continues traditional preparation techniques.
Her haleem is made mostly with finely minced mutton and subtle spices, without chana dal or excessive oil.
Kulsum says traditional Hyderabadi biryani uses restrained spices, juicy rice and carefully prepared onions, rather than red chillies.
At a recent Delhi pop-up, she served haleem, shorba, coriander chicken, mutton biryani and arbi ka salan.
- Who
- Chef Kulsum Begum and her daughter, Maliha Khan.
- What
- Kulsum preserves and cooks heirloom Hyderabadi and Mughlai dishes, including her restrained style of biryani and haleem.
- When
- She recently cooked at a pop-up in Delhi; the article does not give a date.
- Where
- A pop-up at Chor Bizarre in Delhi; the cooking tradition is associated with Hyderabad’s Salar Jung royal family.
- Why
- Kulsum aims to preserve her family’s royal-kitchen recipes and traditional techniques.
- Chef
- Kulsum Begum
- Cuisine
- Hyderabadi and Mughlai
- Heirloom recipes
- More than 300
- Family legacy
- Her daughter Maliha Khan is carrying it forward.
- Recent event
- A pop-up at Chor Bizarre in Delhi
- Dishes served
- Haleem, shorba, coriander chicken, mutton biryani and arbi ka salan
- Biryani recipe quantities
- The article lists 1 kg basmati rice and 1.5 kg mutton, among other ingredients; the recipe instructions end after overnight marination.