Newbie Nonya Cooks Briyani
With many versions out there — Hyderabadi, Malabar, Ambur — briyani can get personal. Many families have fought over which shop has the best briyani. Okay, it is just my family who are passionate about their food choices.
Up until 6 years ago, I finally found the right briyani for me.
My cousin, Indiraa and her husband, Arul, made a yoghurt-base briyani with lamb meatballs. Eating that during winter in Australia, was so shiok. It was just what this girl from the tropics needed.
The way my cousin and her husband made their briyani was delicious AND healthy (usually the best briyanis have a lot of ghee). The rice was light and fluffy, the curry definitely packed a punch. Going for seconds was a must!
When Mother came over to Australia, she improvised my cousin’s recipe to suit Father’s taste. The recipe here is her experimented version. Right about now I would introduce a funny story but enough of that. Let’s dig in to the recipe, enjoy!
The Aruls’s / Mother’s-Experiment Briyani Recipe
Briyani is a little like a lasagna — it has layers. Cook the meat and rice separately then combine them together in a deep pot. Sounds like a lot of work but I promise you, it is worth the effort. The ingredient list above should help you start it off.
- Use ingredient list in (A)
Heat star anise and cinnamon in a wok. Next, fry it with the sliced onions, chopped tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, and curry leaves.
2. Use ingredient list in (B)
Add curry powder, chilli powder, and garam masala powder to the fried paste made out of ingredient list (A). Mother uses, BABA’s Curry Powder brand, but if you want a robust flavour, you should definitely get the spices grinded. Quickly stir the powders in before it get clumpy.
*Quick tip: add a green chilli, chopped chunkily for added spiciness
4. Add your meat — mutton, lamb, or chicken — to the stirred mix. Turn this dish into a vegetarian version by switching out the meat with firm tofu or a mushroom medley.
Place the meat mix aside. Now it is time to start on the rice.
- Use ingredient list in (C)
In a deep pot, add 2 tablespoons of ghee. Heat 1 star anise, some cardamoms, and half a cinnamon stick. Dice 1 big onion and add that to the spices. In this family we love our ginger-garlic paste so add about 3 tablespoons of it to the mix, as well as carrots and peas. Add a pinch of saffron.
2. Use ingredient list in (D)
Add the yogurt-water mixture to your Basmati rice in a separate bowl.
Why Basmati? You could use Seeraga Samba rice or Kichili Samba. It is just a matter of personal preference. In India, different rice varieties were used for their briyanis because they were specific to a particular area. My family loves how Basmati feels light on the tummy. Basically, it is an excuse to eat more.
3. Finally, add the rice to the mix from ingredient list in (C). Stir it well.
4. Seal moisture and heat within the pot helps the rice to cook quickly as steams it so you get some nice, fluffy grains.
Partially cook the rice because you would want to layer the meat then cook them together. To prevent the rice and meat at the bottom of the pot from getting burned, add sliced potatoes before adding the layers of rice and meat. Then leave it to cook a little longer. Finally, garnish it with coriander leaves and fried onions.
DONE!
Easy? Well if it helps, do the preparation the night before so all you would need to do is focus on the cooking.
Try it out for yourself and if you have any leftovers, I will be more than happy to help you out with it :)
Glossary:
Briyani — a saffron-rice dish
Ghee — butter made from cow’s milk. Pssst it is lactose-free! Again don’t go to crazy with it, it is still butter after all
Garam Masala—a blend of roasted ground spices
