Biryani

Biryani is a rice dish from the Indian Subcontinent made from a mixture of spices, basmati rice, meat/vegetables and yogurt. There are many kind of biryanis and each kind has a uniqueness about it. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from East India to West India, there are different varieties of the dish. It can be considered a casserole dish, as the ingredients are ideally cooked together in the final phase and is time-consuming to prepare. Pre-mixed biryani spices from different commercial names are easily available in markets these days, which reduces the preparation time though the taste differs considerably.

The spices and condiments used in biryani are what primarily contribute to the taste; these are generally cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander and mint leaves, apart from ghee, ginger, onions, garlic and yoghurt. The premium varieties include saffron. For a non-vegetarian biryani, the main ingredient that accompanies the spices is the meat—chicken, goat, lamb or sometimes beef, though vegetable biryani varieties are also popular. The dish is served with raita, korma, curry or a sour dish of brinjal.

Though there are several methods of preparing biryani, the Hyderabad Biryani is by far the most popular version. Historians claim that the earlier Nawabs of Hyderabad wore a matching turban for each variety of biryani. The Nizam's kitchen boasted of 49 kinds, which included biryani made from fish, quail, shrimp, deer and hare. The Sindhi variant of biryani is very popular in Pakistani cuisine and biryani of all types are eaten in all parts of Pakistan. Another popular form of biryani is the Awadhi biryani.

In Pakistan during the past 5 years, biryani has acquired substantial popularity. This is specially the case in Karachi, where the chicken version is popular with both young and old alike as a dish of choice. This is related to Awadh biryani but combines elements of Bombay biryani and includes potatoes. A popular restaurant for the dish is Student Biryani which has a home delivery service on the pattern of US fast food chains. A tasty import from Bombay is Shrimp biryani which uses small sized shrimp.

Tehri is the name given to the vegetarian version of the dish and is very popular in Indian homes.

The vegetarian version might have some Textured vegetable protein based protein balls to present the impression of a meat-based dish for vegetarians. The difference between biryani and pullao is that while biryani may be made by cooking the items together, pullao, is used to denote a dish where the rice is cooked separately from the other ingredients.

In Myanmar, biryani, known in Burmese as danpauk, is popular among the populace. In Yangon, there are several restaurant chains that serve biryani exclusively. It is often served at religious ceremonies and luncheons. Biryani in Myanmar utilises a special species of rice grown domestically rather than basmati.