How to Make Your Biryani Tastier

If you’ve never tasted biryani before, then you’re definitely missing out on a popular and truly mouth-watering Indian dish that could brighten up (or simply leave you feeling content) any day.

Biryani is an Indian one-plate dish of rice, vegetables and/or meat, slow-cooked in a fragrant blend of herbs and spices, and can be found in any Indian restaurant menu. There are many different ways this dish can be cooked, but its taste essence remains the same in offering the authenticity of traditional Indian cooking and a full-bodied experience of textures in the various ingredients thrown together in one pot.

But how exactly do you achieve that wonderful balance of flavours in the spices used? How can you cook your own biryani, right at home, and make it taste just like the one you tried in the restaurant? Here are a few tips we offer you for creating a biryani that will have your family or dinner guests asking where you ordered it. Enjoy their wide-eyed, open-mouthed gapes when you tell them you cooked it yourself! Perhaps you’ll even be surprised at your own culinary prowess.

So here are those little tips and tricks to make a show-stopping biryani:

1.       Use the freshest ingredients you can get hold of. Delicious Indian cuisine is all about using fresh ingredients, and as far as possible, making everything from scratch. Make sure that your onions, ginger, garlic, green chilis, coriander and curry leaves, and all spices to be used for the biryani are in their freshest condition.
2.       Add your spices before cooking your rice. Whole cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cumin seeds should go together with some ghee and water, for their flavours to penetrate nicely into the rice grains.
3.       Shallow fry the chicken or meat on its own before mixing with the other spices. This allows the meat to release its flavour and infuse your cooking oil with it before adding the spices.
4.       If you prefer to boil your meat, save the broth and pour it over the uncooked rice for greater flavour.
5.       Use homemade, freshly-fried onions instead of the store-bought ones. Taking the extra time to crisp up your own fresh onions will do a world of wonder for your biryani, as store-bought ones tend to lack taste.
6.       As an optional step to further enhance flavour, you can use 2 pinches of saffron soaked in milk or water and pour it over the rice during layering.
7.       Use good quality Basmati rice. Rice is the core ingredient in this dish, which makes it essential to make sure your rice will have just the right texture. Not sticky or starchy, but light and fluffy.
8.       Dum your biryani. That means cooking it slowly in its own steam inside a tightly covered pot to let the spices and other ingredients mingle nicely together. If you can, use a clay pot, wrap dough around the top edges of the pot, and place the lid on to make sure the steam doesn’t escape.
9.       Lastly, sprinkle fresh mint leaves over the rice layers for that added taste dimension.

So there you have it! Your biryani should be confidently ready for the ooh’s and ahh’s of delighted diners at your next meal or dinner party after following our tips here.

If you’d like to experience what an authentic Indian biryani tastes like, you may order it from us at Curry Corner for takeout or delivery. Our dishes are passionately home-cooked and have been served to generations of Melburnians. We’re sure you’ll love our popular biryani dishes. Visit our store or website and choose from a selection of chicken, lamb or vegetable biryani. Whichever you choose, we promise you won’t go wrong with the best Indian takeaway food in Melbourne!

Curry Corner

Shop 3/292 Victoria St., North Melbourne VIC 3051, Australia

Email: enquiries@currycornermelbourne.com.au

Phone: 0406 238 094

Landline: 03 9663 4040