It was at a culinary competition in Karachi in June this year that I first stumbled across purdah biryani. Biryani hidden behind a veil of baked dough.

“It’s called purdah moti biryani! Don’t forget the moti [pearls] in my biryani,” the woman at the stall, Chef Tabinda Qayyum, quickly corrected me when I inquired about it.

The motis were actually beef meatballs that melted in the mouth. The biryani rice, too, was cooked to perfection and tasted unlike any other. The judges at the competition, while tasting the various offerings, also remarked that the “dum” [slow cooking to seal in flavour and aroma] on Tabinda’s biryani was perfection itself and awarded her the top prize.

Tabinda prepares her biryani in a metal bowl sealed with a baked dome-shaped crust. You have to crack it open to get to the biryani and meatballs. 

Sharing the recipe, Tabinda says she prepares the meatballs first, adding coriander, onion and spices to the minced meat. Then, she prepares the biryani masala by frying onions until they turn golden brown before adding the usual curry spices, tomato, ginger and garlic paste to it. Next, she adds the meatballs to cook the curry, while parching it so that most of the water in it evaporates. Next, the rice is separately boiled until cooked to 40 percent.

The purdah moti biryani, cooked inside a golden baked crust, is unlike any biryani you have had before

“Normally, the rice for biryani is cooked to 60 percent [before the dum] but here, it will be baked as well inside the dough, so I keep it to 40 percent,” Tabinda explains. 

After that, she gets to the dough, which is normal flour dough, though not too soft. Tabinda kneads it well before spreading it out with a rolling pin. She layers the metal bowl with it before layering the boiled rice and the curry masala with the meatballs on top — as required for any biryani — and garnishing the layers with thin lime slices, coriander, green chillies etc. 

When done, the dough is folded on to the biryani layers and sealed from the top, before being coated with egg wash and sprinkled over with white and black sesame seeds. Next, it goes into a preheated oven and is baked at 150 degrees for 25 minutes. After that, the whole thing is brought out from the oven and turned over into a baking tray. This stuffed dome goes back into the oven for another 25 minutes before being coated again on the other side with egg wash and sesame seeds. “This way, the other side also gets a golden crust while the stuffing is being steamed to perfection,” Tabinda explains. 

Finally, the purdah moti biryani is ready. You crack open the crusty dome and dig in. 

Tabinda, who did a year-long chef’s diploma course from the Pakistan Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management and another cooking certification, works with various branded bread and spice companies and says she enjoys cooking continental dishes, too. “In fact, the purdah moti biryani is inspired by pies and casseroles,” she says.

“There are other purdah rice dishes too, but most are done with pulao or, if in the form of biryani, then with meat pieces or ribs,” Tabinda continues. “But my biryani has pearls in the shape of meatballs,” she smiles. “It is a treasure!”

The writer is a member of staff. X: @HasanShazia

Published in Dawn, EOS, November 23rd, 2025