Chicken Biryani

A royal rice dish

Biryani is most often linked to the kitchens of the Mughal Empire, which ruled much of the Indian subcontinent from 1526, though some historians argue that rice and meat dishes like it existed in India, especially the south, before the Mughals. Its name is usually traced to Persian, either birinj, rice, or biryan, fried or roasted. Persian pilaf traditions met Indian spices, and cooks at royal courts refined the idea of cooking meat and rice in layers until both were perfectly done at the same moment.

What dum means

The heart of biryani is dum, a style of slow cooking in a sealed pot. Partly cooked rice is layered over marinated meat, the lid is sealed with dough or foil, and the pot cooks on gentle heat so the steam trapped inside finishes everything. When the seal breaks at the table, the smell of saffron, mint, fried onions and whole spices fills the room.

Good biryani has separate grains, each one tender but intact, with the bottom layer moist and richly flavored by the meat juices and the top flecked with saffron gold and white.

The rice is usually long-grain basmati, rinsed and soaked so the grains stretch long as they cook. Fried onions, called birista, add sweetness and color. Whole spices such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf flavor the water used to parboil the rice, and saffron soaked in warm milk is drizzled over the top layer for its golden streaks and floral scent. Rose water or kewra water, a floral essence, sometimes adds a final perfume.

A city for every style

Hyderabadi biryani is famous for kacchi style, where raw marinated meat goes under the rice and cooks entirely in the pot. Lucknow, in the old Awadh region, prefers a gentler pakki style with meat cooked first in a delicate stock. Kolkata biryani is known for its potatoes and boiled eggs. On the Malabar coast of Kerala, cooks use a small fragrant rice called kaima, and Sindhi biryani from Pakistan adds plums and a bolder chili kick.

Serving biryani

Biryani is a feast dish for weddings, Eid and family gatherings, often cooked in huge pots. Serve it with cool yogurt raita, a sliced onion and lemon salad, and in Hyderabad, mirchi ka salan, a tangy chili and peanut curry. Scoop deep with each serving so everyone gets both rice and meat.

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