Great Indian Food: The Wonderful Flavor Of Chicken Biryani
Date: Saturday September 4, 2010Posted in: Health
Biryani is a rice based recipe that consists of meat or vegetables as the major ingredient. Plenty of herbs and spices go into making Biryani and the meat and vegetables are encrusted and baked. Biryani in Persian pertains to cooking and roasting and the word Biryani comes from the same.
This very tasty dish has its origins in Persia. The story goes that the nomads and the tribals carried lots of dried meat and rice with them during their travels, and they layered the meat and rice and added some dry herbs and nuts and allow it to seethe on a wood fire for sometime and later buried it under the sand for a few hours, after which the dish was considered ready. It was a pretty straightforward way of cooking Biryani those days, utilizing nature and her resources.
Nowadays there are lots of styles of Biryani prepared using numerous diverse cooking styles. There are probably more than a hundred varieties of Biryani prepared using various combinations of meat and vegetables.
Biryani has meat and rice as its important ingredients. The rest of the ingredients, vary based on the variety and style of the Biryani being prepared.
There are many varieties of Biryani within India with each city having its own style, but perhaps Biryani from Hyderabad is the most famous of the lot. Believe it or not, some of the biryani recipes are secretly guarded by restaurants and families across generations. Biryani was infact introduced to India by the Mughals which was then improvised by the local Indians to suit their spice craving.
A tasty Biryani consists of perfectly cooked meat and the right mix of spices and herbs, baked along with rice. The meat and rice is not mixed whilst cooking. They are both cooked independently. The final phase of the cooking consists of layering the two alternatively and generally cooked either in an oven or on conventional wood fire, using gentle heat.
For additional information on the numerous varieties of chicken biriyani please visit the ifood community at chicken biryani Those interested in vegetable biriyani can take a look at vegetable biryani recipes
