[I:http://www.naturmeds.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/JackShepherd11.jpg]Chicken biryani is amongst the most admired dishes of Indian and Pakistani cuisines
In earlier times this dish was particularly made on the events such as festivals, feasts as well as at the time of vacations.
To know more about Biryani we need to travel back into history. An description of Biryani follows.Lets start with the history of the Biryani to understand the precise source of this appetizing recipe.
Mughals intense love for food & the availability of the large choice of Spices in India gave birth this fusion type preparation.
Past accounts show Biryani being made from Lamb primarily, but now there are endless forms to this, even Vegetable Biryani catering to vegetarians.Even chicken biryani has also several variations and this is the reason that I amwriting the wholearticleon this scrumptious dish.
Biryani is a aromatic rice dish prepared from a mixture of Spices, Nuts, Cream, Yogurt, long-grained Basmati rice and Meat.Cooking this fragrant dish is an art.The name is derived from the Farsi word Birian,which is frying of the rice in oil before washing.Thisprocedure of rice frying makes the riceslightly nutty and it imparts apleasant flavor.Based on the name, and the cooking style the dish originated in Persia or Arabia.Along with huge number of historical tales,biryani is linked withfew legends as well.One has it that Timor ‘the Lame’ brought it down from Kazakhstan via Afghanistan to north India.Few ancient evidences also indicates that Mumtaz Mahal, the wife of a famous Mughal empire, has feasted the complete Mughal military with the appetizing recipe of Chicken Biryani Lucknow (Awadh) is the capital of Indian State Uttar Pradesh. Biryani left it’s footprint from the Mughals in Awadh. From Lucknow the Biryani moved to Calcutta when, in 1856, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was deposed by the British. This Nawab (King) when deposed moved with his army of cooks and the Biryani.
There are 2 essential varieties of Biryanis: Kutchi and Pukki.
Kutchi – Raw type.Here raw meat, spices, gravy and Basmati are layered and cooked in Dum style. This slow cooking style is called ‘dum’ style or dum Pukht and this is mainly utilized to cook all sort of biryanis.Dum cooking allows rice and chicken to cook in the inherent juices, no water is added. In this way rice are completely cooked and infused with the flavors of spices and chicken.
Pukki- In this technique cooked meat and rice are included.Pukki cooking calls for chicken and rice cooked separately and then combined together in layers.
South Indian biryanis are made with Kutchi method whereas North style biryanis are prepared through Pukki.
Though the procedure of preparing Chicken biryani is time-consuming but the resultant dish is always superb.The secret of making an awesome chicken biryani is all in the spices.I personally recommend using Basmati rice. It’s thin and a fine grain rice which can be used for a variety of purposes.
For further fine points on the many types of chicken biriyani please look at the ifood community at chicken biryani recipes Those interested in vegetable biriyani recipes can take a look at vegetable biriyani