Morog polao is the signature rice dish of Old Dhaka weddings, lighter and more aromatic than the richer kacchi biryani, served at the same celebrations. A whole chicken is marinated in yogurt, ginger, garlic, garam masala and a touch of sugar (the sugar is a Dhakai touch, balancing the spice), then steamed with basmati rice in ghee using the dum method. The rice absorbs the chicken's juices and the yogurt marinade, each grain fragrant and separate, while the chicken becomes fall-apart tender. The dish is associated specifically with Old Dhaka's Urdu-speaking Mughal-descended community, and it is served at wedding dawats (feasts) across the old city. Unlike biryani, morog polao contains no potatoes or boiled eggs, keeping the focus on the chicken and rice.
Each grain of rice fragrant, separate and glistening with ghee, the chicken beneath so tender it pulls apart with a spoon, the whole dish perfumed with cardamom and a faint sweetness from the yogurt marinade. Lighter and more refined than biryani.
The technique is a dum (sealed steaming) cook with a marinated whole chicken. The chicken is marinated 4 hours in yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, salt, sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, mace and nutmeg. Ghee is heated in a heavy pot, the drained chicken added and browned, then covered. Basmati rice is parboiled 5 minutes with whole spices, drained, and layered over the chicken. The pot is sealed with dough or a tight lid and placed on a tawa over very low heat for 40 to 50 minutes. The chicken and rice cook together in the sealed environment, the rice absorbing the chicken's juices from below. The sugar in the marinade is a Dhakai refinement. The dum method produces separate, fragrant grains.
Variations
Some add a pinch of saffron to the rice. A version with cashew paste in the marinade is richer.
On the Palate
Where Morog Polao Dhakai sits in the Bangladeshi flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
6 steps · 40 min
- 16 min
Marinate a 1.5kg whole chicken for 4 hours in 200g yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, 1 tsp sugar, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, mace and nutmeg.
- 26 min
Heat 100g ghee in a heavy pot; brown the chicken on all sides.
Watch outBrown the chicken on every side to seal in the juices before sealing the pot — that's what keeps it moist through the long steam.
- 35 min
Parboil 750g basmati rice with whole spices for 5 minutes; drain.
- 46 min
Layer the rice over the chicken; add 1/2 cup water; seal the pot.
Watch outSeal the pot airtight — the whole point is trapping the steam rising off the chicken juices below to cook the rice.
- 58 min
Cook on a tawa over very low heat for 45 minutes.
Watch outKeep the heat so low you barely hear a faint sizzle — any higher and the bottom scorches before the rice is done.
- 64 min
Rest 10 minutes; mix gently; serve.
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