My Obsession With Biryani (Food)

I first experienced Biryani in 1995, the love of 22 years and counting. My proclivity has lasted and lasted quite possibly the test of time who knows? 

You know, coming to think of it, if someone didn't know better, they would swear I was talking about a girl. 

I was only 7 at the time and god only knows, he really does, what on heavenly earth possessed me to try something so decadently delicious yet oh so incredibly and unbelievably wonderfully spicy? My Mum recollects I was sweating all over, my nose was streaming and my eyes were watering, yet I continued eating till I was done, and, not only that, I asked for more which only delighted my sister in law's mother. 

First off, I love basmati rice, it's incredibly fluffy, flavorful and delightfully aromatic. If it's possible, I would eat this rice for lunch every day of my life. (of course the rice being one of the side dishes). Secondly, I love the mixture of spices that comes with the seasoning pack (that can easily be bought from a supermarket in Trinidad and Tobago, but I suspect that one may have to travel to the nearest Indian store to get it). I also believe that one can make the spices from scratch, (I may have to do some more research on that). Finally, when you smoosh the two together, you get orgasmic explosions of flavor in your mouth. 

Here's the brand of spice mix, and how the final product is supposed to look, (of course it's staged for the photograph on the box). 

As you can see below, the box with the spics got slightly squished during the making process. 

So, now, some history on Biryani, Biryani (pronounced [bɪr.jaːniː]), also known as biriyani or biriani, is a South Asian mixed rice dish with its origins among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. There are an extremely wide variety of Biryani dishes (makes me feel I should put each variety on my Bucket List, to tick off in life as I've really should work my way through each one). 

• Tahari, Tehri or Tehari are variants on the name given to the vegetarian version of biryani. 
• Beef biryani, as the name implies, uses beef as meat. In Hyderabad, it is famous as Kalyani biryani, in which beef (buffalo meat) is used.
• The Delhi version of the biryani developed with a unique local flavour as the Mughal kings shifted their political capital to the North Indian city of Delhi. 
• The exotic and aromatic Sindhi biryani is known in Pakistan for its spicy taste, fragrant rice and delicate meat. 
• Hyderabadi biryani is made with basmati rice, spices and chicken.
• Malabar biryani, is the only variation of biryani found in the Indian state of Kerala.
• The Calcutta biryani is much lighter on spices and sometimes contains meat.
• The Ambur/Vaniyambadi biryani is accompanied with 'dhalcha', a sour brinjal curry and 'pachadi' or raitha, which is sliced onions mixed with plain curd, tomato, chillies and salt.
• Chettinad biryani is famous in Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is made of jeeraka samba rice, smells of spices and ghee. It is best taken with nenju elambu kuzhambu, a spicy and tangy mutton gravy. 
• In Bhatkali biryani the meat is cooked in an onion and green chilli based masala and layered with fragrant rice. 
• Memoni biryani is made with lamb, yogurt, fried onions, and potatoes, and fewer tomatoes compared to Sindhi biryani.
• The Dindigul town of Tamil Nadu is noted for its biryani, which uses a little curd and lemon juice to get a tangy taste.
• The Bohri biryani, prepared by the Bohris is flavoured with a lot of tomatoes.
• Kalyani biryani is a typical biryani from Hyderabad and is always made from small cubes of buffalo meat.
• Biryan traces its origins to the same source as biryani, and is today sold in Afghanistan as well as in Bhopal, India. Biryan is prepared by cooking gosht and rice together, but without the additional gravy and other condiments that are used in biryani. 
• In Myanmar (Burma), biryani is known in Burmese as danpauk or danbauk, from Persian dum pukht.
• One form of "Arabic" biryani is the Iraqi preparations, where the rice is usually saffron-based with chicken usually being the meat or poultry of choice.
• Iran - a dish called Berian is made with lamb or chicken, marinated overnight – with yogurt, herbs, spices, dried fruits like raisins, prunes or pomegranate seeds – and later cooked in a tannour oven. 
• Nasi kebuli is an Indonesian spicy steamed rice dish cooked in goat broth, milk and ghee. Nasi kebuli is descended from Kabuli Palaw which is an Afghani rice dish, similar to biryani served in South Asia.

If that list of different types of biryani across the world doesn't make you hungry I don't know what will. Just reading these amazing sounding words that I don't know how to pronounce nor have any idea what they are, but I suspect they will be all mind-blowingly great tasting food. Time for trusty old Google to assist here. 

Yes - I loveee spicy food, not peppery mind you, but spicy. 

From the list above, I suspect over the years I've only ever had the privilege of trying three or four variations of Biryani, guess I'll have to do a world tour to try them all. Sounds expensive to please one's stomach huh?

Here's one of the recipe versions of Biryani, conveniently stuck to the back of the box with every spice pack, this is the one I had today. I know, I know, it looks slightly different to what the box cover looks like, but that's all down to what additional seasoning you put in the food, as well as the type of meat you use. Today's meat was lamb. My favorite. Did this taste good or what?? 

One final thing, that's buried in the last sentence of the recipe, something called Raita, as Wikipedia so easily puts it - Raita is a common name of a condiment from the Indian subcontinent, made with yogurt together with raw or cooked vegetables, more seldom fruit, or in the case of boondi raita, with fried droplets of batter made from chickpea flour. The closest approximation in western cuisine is a side dish or dip, or a cooked salad. It is often referred to as a condiment, but unlike traditional western condiments like salt, pepper, mustard and horseradish that made dishes more spicy, a dish of dahi or raita has a cooling effect to contrast with spicy curries and kebabs that are the main fare of some Asian cuisines.

Now then, Raita has I've highlighted above, has a cooling effect, it's like an absolute must for people to have this side dish, as the spices for the biryani can be too much for a first timer, especially one who has not grown up on such spicy food. Today's Raita, was just Yogurt though, and it did not diminish from the overall pleasure of today's lunch. The only thing that was missing was some greenery which the Raita would have. I however got that greenery in the form of a salad in a separate dish.

Final dish from the oven, looks sooooo good! I'm hungry again. It's a good thing it has enough for about 5 more servings.    

Serving on my plate with Yogurt generously spread around. Now I generally dislike having Yogurt straight up (i.e. plain), but it has such a brilliant effect on eating Biryani, I suck up all my dislike and just bask in the pleasure of eating the biryani. 

Biryani is such a must for a Foodie, as it is not only a complete meal by itself, it lends itself to the experience of centuries of perfecting the dish that it is known as today. However, it must be said that, if any part of the entire dish is skimped on or under-cooked, the entire cultural affair would be diminished, therefore, it is a must that your first time having Biryani to be cooked by someone (or a restaurant which is fine as well) who knows that they're doing. 

Talking about Biryani so much has made me hungry for more, I'm off to gorge myself on some more Lamb Biryani till I'm in a food coma. Yay! Best feeling ever.