Biryani is an evergreen classic that really needs no introduction. India offers so much on its culinary platter but the one dish Indians unanimously love indulging in is the mouth-watering biryani. With local and hyperlocal variations having evolved into distinctive styles of biryanis, one is spoilt for options when it comes to experiencing this melting pot of flavours.
One legend has it that the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Timur, brought the precursor to the biryani with him when he arrived at the frontiers of India in 1398. Believed to be the war campaign diet of Timur’s army, an earthen pot full of rice, spices and whatever meats were available would be buried in a hot pit, before being eventually dug up and served to the warriors.
Another legend has it that the dish was brought to the southern Malabar coast of India by Arab traders who were frequent visitors there. There are records of a rice dish known as Oon Soru in Tamil literature as early as the year 2 A.D. Oon Soru was said to be made of rice, ghee, meat, turmeric, coriander, pepper, and bay leaf, and was used to feed military warriors.
It is said that Mumtaz once visited the army barracks and found the Mughal soldiers looking weak and undernourished. She asked the chef to prepare a special dish that combined meat and rice to provide balanced nutrition to the soldiers – and the result was biryani of course! At the time, rice was fried in ghee, without washing, to give it a nutty flavour and prevent it from clumping. Meat, aromatic spices, and saffron were added to it before cooking the mix over a wood fire.
The Nizams of Hyderabad and Nawabs of Lucknow were also famous for their appreciation of the subtle nuances of biryani. Their chefs were renowned the world over for their signature dishes. These rulers too were responsible for popularising their versions of the biryani – and mouth watering accompaniments like mirchi ka salan, dhanshak and baghare baingan – in different parts of the country.
The perfect biryani calls for meticulously measured ingredients and a practised technique. Traditionally , the dum pukht method (slow breathing oven in Persian) was used to make biryani. In this method, the ingredients are loaded in a pot and slow cooked over charcoal, sometimes from the top also, to allow the dum or steam to works its magic. The pot, sealed around the edges with dough, allows the steaming meat to tenderise in its own juices while flavouring the rice.
Other than the technique, spices also play a critical role in dishing out a good biryani – some recipes call for a very limited use of spices while others use more than 15 different spices. Meat or chicken is often the main ingredient, though in some coastal varieties, fish, prawns, and crabs are also used. Use of rose water, sweet edible ittar and kewra water in biryani is also common, a practice prevalent since the medieval era.
Hyderabadi Biriyani
The world-famous Hyderabadi Biryani came into being after Emperor Aurangzeb appointed Niza-Ul-Mulk as the new ruler of Hyderabad. His chefs reportedly created almost 50 different versions that used fish, shrimp, quail, deer, and even hare meat. While most other biryanis are dominated by their flavoured meat, in the layered Hyderabadi biryani, the aromatic saffron flavoured rice is the star of the dish. Hyderabad was also the place where the Kacchi Akhni Biryani was fine tuned and perfected.
Here is the recipe of Hyderabadi Biriyani
http://www.bawarchi.com/recipe/hyderabadi-biryani-recipe-oetppTgjedhbb.html