After seeing CA's superb photos of his Chicken and Mushroom Biriani (and hoping in vain so far for a recipe to follow), I thought that I had to have a go at this dish. It's something that I've been wanting to try for years, but I've never found a recipe that "looks" right, if you know what I mean.

I based the dish on Dipuraja's Chicken Tikka Biriani recipe. I used Dipuraja's Mushroom Rice recipe which incorporated CA's Pilau Rice. I already had Blade's Chicken Tikka, CA's spice mix powder and CA's base gravy to hand, so they were used in the dish too, rather than making new batches to Dipuraja's specs.

I never took any photos of the cooking process or of the final plated dishes (as my good lady and I were starving!), but I DID take a photo of the leftovers, or tomorrow's lunch as it is destined to be known.



My verdict? It wasn't awful - but it wasn't great either. It was certainly edible, and nearly enjoyable. It had no heat in it at all, but that's only to be expected as Dipuraja's recipes didn't call for any heat and CA's spice mix powder and base gravy are very mild anyway.

But, it was disappointing.

Birianis don't appear to have much of a following on this forum, which is a pity as the dish is a good alternative to the mainstream curries.

All suggestions for improvement are welcome - and if you have a "silver bullet" of a biriani recipe, then I'm all ears!

Had a go at making a biryani yesterday myself.  Not a fan of TA biryanis as the sauce tends to be on the bland side. Made some saffron/peswari pilau rice (sort of KD2).  Had a go at colouring some of the rice (red and green).  Over-did that part. Heated 1 tbsp sunflower in a frying pan.  Added a few sultanas and cashew nuts.  Mixed in the rice and Blades chicken tikka.  That was it basically it.  The sauce was C2go base, a good helping of C2go bassar mix powder (with Jalpur GM), and a bit of chili powder. Garnished the dish with fresh chopped green chilies and julienned ginger.  Mighty spicy and mighty fine I thought.  Got a bit of the rice left over so will make it again this evening with some mushrooms, and a perhaps a boiled egg.  Will try to get a photo. I gather traditional biryani involves layering and so forth.  A bit beyond me at the moment .   

Quote from: Naga on October 09, 2012, 08:13 PM

Birianis don't appear to have much of a following on this forum, which is a pity as the dish is a good alternative to the mainstream curries.

All suggestions for improvement are welcome - and if you have a "silver bullet" of a biriani recipe, then I'm all ears!

Hi Naga, I'd also like to see more discussion of the noble biryani - I'm very partial to a biryani with vindaloo sauce. I've tried cooking a chicken biryani several times - using Dipuraja's recipe and also curry 2 go. The curry2go recipe had the edge, but was still far from a BIR biryani. I suspect this was probably to do with my cooking method than anything else. I don't have a wok or gas cooker at home.

The last time I had a BIR biryani I also noticed there were several cardamons and fennel seeds in the rice (which are not always included in recipes).

Thanks to both for your thoughts.

The photo of the leftovers doesn't do the plated dish justice as it was just chucked into the container when the rice and sauce were cold. The plated dish looked the business, but the food was just so bland I could hardly believe it.

Of course, I'm making no comment on Dipuraja's original recipe as I used variations on the different components, but I'm happy with my other BIR cooking, so this biryani was something of a disappointment. OK, it was my first ever, but still...

Maybe it's just nostalgia on my part as I haven't actually bought a TA biryani for many years, but my memories (such as they are!) are definitely positive.

Maybe I expected too much from the dish. I started off this thread saying, "I've never found a recipe that "looks" right" and, having thought about it, maybe I should have substituted right with complicated enough. On reflection, many of the recipes on the web seem a bit cheffy, but when you look at recipes such as Abdul Mohed's Chicken/Lamb Biryani, the ingredients list is pretty short and the cooking method is simplicity itself.

I also referred to 3 packets of Laziza Biryani, Bombay Biryani and Sindhi Biryani spice mixes I bought on offer a while ago. Although I haven't actually used them yet, the recipes on the back reflect Abdul's recipe in their simplicity of ingredients and cooking method. And not a sultana in sight!

I now wonder if the apparent lack of biryani recipes on the forum reflect a general disinterest in the dish or whether, in fact, no-one seems to have a decent recipe.

Whatever the answer is, and in the absence of a firm recommendation for a "proven" biryani recipe (whatever that may be!), I think I'm going to try Abdul's version as well as the recipe suggestions from the commercial spice mixes and see how these "simpler" versions compare against my fading memories of a BIR biryani.

Quote from: getonthegarabi on October 11, 2012, 06:55 AM
Had a go at making a biryani yesterday myself.  Not a fan of TA biryanis as the sauce tends to be on the bland side.

Confused !  To what sauce are you referring ?  I eat biryanies reasonably regularly, and none that I have eaten has ever had a trace of sauce.  There is rice, lamb, spices and so on, but it is a dry dish.  Are there really places where a biryani is made with a sauce ?

P.S. I don't normally cook biryanis at home, but the one I have cooked is Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi's -- definitely not over-simplistic!

** Phil.

Not sure if Abdul's biryani is for me.  Not a criticism of the recipe, but I think I'll be experimenting with the use of whole spices.  I suppose that?s not very BIR, or maybe it is, I don?t know.  I added bassar mix powder to the rice, together with green cardamom, cinnamon and clove (these whole spices are the KD2 pilau sort of bit).  Would be nice if there was more on biryani and rice dishes in general.  I'm hoping to get around to making Reza Mahammad?s Sweet-sour Lamb Pulau (Reza's Indian Spice: Eastern Recipes for Western Cooks) one day. Looks absolutely fantastic.

Are they mustard or pomegranate seeds I'm seeing in CAs biryani, or something else?  Does look a nice dish.  But, add chopped chilies and julienned ginger on everything I say.

Rob         

Hi Phil,

perhaps this varies from region to region, country to country. Most places I've tried in the UK (Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Sussex, South Wales) tend to serve a vegetable curry sauce to accompany the rice dish. However, I think I once ate one in Manchester (Rusholme) in 1994 which wasn't accompanied by any veg curry. In France, restaurants also tend to serve the biryani without any sauce at all.

Quote from: vinders on October 11, 2012, 09:45 AM
Hi Phil,

perhaps this varies from region to region, country to country. Most places I've tried in the UK (Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Sussex, South Wales) tend to serve a vegetable curry sauce to accompany the rice dish. However, I think I once ate one in Manchester (Rusholme) in 1994 which wasn't accompanied by any veg curry. In France, restaurants also tend to serve the biryani without any sauce at all.

Ah yes, the vegetable side curry : very mild, and I always give mine to the wife (I like my biryani dry) so had forgotten about that.  I think I was just confused -- it seemed from the original message that (in some places) there was a sauce that was an integral part of a biryani, and that was what confused me.

** Phil.

Maybe it's the photo, but it looks a bit saucy and gluggy itself, almost like a risotto. I always remember BIR biryanis to be fluffy with separate long tender rice grains with chunks of the meat or veg layered through, and of course the veg curry as a side. In Cardiff they used to come piled quite high on the platter with slices of tomato and hard boiled egg on the top.

Quote from: beachbum on October 11, 2012, 10:21 AM
I always remember BIR biryanis to be fluffy with separate long tender rice grains with chunks of the meat or veg layered through, and of course the veg curry as a side. In Cardiff they used to come piled quite high on the platter with slices of tomato and hard boiled egg on the top.

Yes, that is how I think of a biryani : sadly the egg and tomato is less commonly seen these days, and as I have noted before, I have only once ever seen a traditional biryani complete with gold leaf -- that was in the Agra, Whitfield Street, in the late 60's.

** Phil.