dumadj.n.
/dʌm/, U.S. /dəm/ South Asian. Cookery.
A. adj.
Of, relating to, or designating food steamed in its own juices with spices in a sealed pot or (in later use) a pressure cooker; (also) designating this style of cooking. Frequently (and in earliest use) in the names of dishes, esp. in dum aloo (see aloo n.). Cf. earlier dumpoked adj.Also used as a postmodifier.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [adjective] > steamed
steamed1802
pressure-cooked1922
dum1956
1956 Times of India 16 Jan. 3/1 (advt.) Today's Specialities..Tanduri Chicken, Dum Mutton.
1979 Sûrya India Feb. 36/2 One can hardly serve ‘aloo dum’ or ‘sukhi bhindi’ in a cocktail party.
1993 Business Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 27 Nov. (Executive Lifestyles section) 10 For the main course, we had chicken shashlik..and dum biryani.
1999 B. Kirchner Sharmila's Bk. viii. 71 Don't expect Mughlai food here... This restaurant specializes in dum cooking.
2005 S. Rushdie Shalimar the Clown 104 Wedding guests clamoured for his dum aloo.
2008 R. Iyer 660 Curries 555/1 I have not applied the dum technique to this recipe.
B. n.
A style of cooking in which food is steamed in its own juices with spices in a sealed pot or (in later use) a pressure cooker.Sometimes the pot is sealed with dough that cooks into a bread.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [noun] > steaming
steaming1745
pressure cooking1917
pressure cookery1921
dum1963
1963 M. Ekambaram Hindu Cookery Gloss. 254 Dhum. A crude form of Indian baking which is the last process of cooking partly cooked food completely. In 'dhum' the vessel of food is surrounded with low heat above and below.
1984 P. Chapman Indian Restaurant Cookbk. 181 Dum , Steam cooking.
1998 P. Chapman 1999 Good Curry Guide 39 The Nawabs..perfected a style of cooking which was spicy and fragrant. Called Dum or Dum Pukt, it involves cooking the curry or Biriani in a round pot, whose lid is sealed into place with a ring of Chapatti dough.
2016 S. Usmani Summers under Tamarind Tree 22 Dum is the method that brings dishes like biryani to life.
Phrases
on (also under) dum: by steaming in the dum style. Frequently in to put on dum: to steam in such a manner.
ΚΠ
1963 M. Ekambaram Hindu Cookery iii. 60 Mix the three-fourths boiled rice evenly into the potato mixture and put on ‘dhum’ for an hour before serving.
1984 Times of India 23 Sept. 19/8 Cover the handi with a lid and seal it with atta and put it on dum in the oven..for 15 to 20 minutes.
1986 Parsiana 9 84 Bring to the boil and cook till the water is practically absorbed. Cover and finish on dum or put in a preheated oven..for 20 minutes.
2007 T. Podder Dishes & Desserts i. 49 The biryanis were cooked in handis under dum, in the Mughal era.
2016 Indian Express (Nexis) 22 May Once cooked, the biryani is put on dum in a mud pot for 20 minutes.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1956