20+ Simple tips to make your Biryani tasty

Biryani is one of the oldest and trademark south Asian dishes, widely accepted across the region. Though vegetable variants are also prepared, its non-vegetarian varieties are more popular. In India, Biryani is popular for its locked aroma of Indian spices, and prepared as an excellent dish for weddings, private parties, get-togethers etc. If you take care of these things, you can make your Biryani dish tastier and colourful. Have a look.

1. Always use vessel with thick bottom to prepare biryani. Otherwise while dum is done, chances are more your whole dish gets spoiled. Rice may stick on to the bottom.

2. If you prepare non-vegetarian biryani such as chicken, fish or mutton, marinate the pieces with gravy and masalas for at least one hour or two before you prepare it. Your biryani tastes better.

3. After layering chicken and rice for dum, using the tail of spatula, make small pits in the layers and pour a little ghee to avoid biryani sticking to bottom.

4. In the thick bottom pan, before you start layering, apply a thin layer of ghee and place a layer of tomatoes (sliced round). Then you can start layering. Your biryani won’t stick to bottom. You can also use double vessel method. Place a tawa first and biryani vessel on it. If so, your biryani won’t get direct heat. You can also use microwave oven. 

5. Instead oil, use ghee for biryani preparation or a combination of both. Your biryani tastes better.

6. Fry some onions till it turns golden brown and add to your biryani. Your biryani improves in taste. Also decorate them with fried raisins and cashews and a little coriander and mint leaves.

7. Always use fresh ginger, onions, green chillies, curry leaves, mint leaves and coriander leaves for biryani preparation.

8. To dum your biryani (bake), cover the vessel using aluminum foil and then seal with the container’s lid. To close the tiny gaps, use maida or wheat powder mixed with some water. Maida paste is the best option.

9. While boiling water to cook rice, add a few cardamom, cloves and cinnamom, a little ghee and lemon juice too, to add extra flavour to your biryani.

10. To dum your biryani, you can also use samosa leaf or pastry sheet as an alternative to maida/wheat paste.

11. It’s always a better choice to place your biryani vessel on a tawa instead of placing it directly in low flame for baking. Heat will evenly spread to every corner of biryani vessel bottom.

12. After you prepare biryani, boil water in a big vessel. Then place your biryani inside it. It’s an easy method to set your biryani, without sticking to bottom.

13. If you fry rice in a little oil before cooking, your biryani tastes better.

14. If you plan to drain rice while cooking biryani or fried rice, do it when biryani rice in 3/4th cooking done. While draining and mixing, the rice will be cooked perfectly.

15. If you are not using cooked rice very soon, spread it in a plate or cotton cloth. Use a fork instead of spoon to slowly spread it.

16. If you cook biryani rice in coconut milk or chicken/vegetable stock, your rice tastes better. You can also sprinkle coconut milk in between the layers during dum process. Adding coconut milk to the chicken/meat also improves the quality of the dish.

17. Always take measurement of rice before you wash it. Double quantity of water is needed to cook biryani rice.

18. You can add a little ghee, fennel seeds, cloves, mace, sha jeera, bay leaf and cinnamon in the boiling water before you add rice. You can also fry these items in ghee before adding water. Your biryani tastes better.

19. You get exact flavour of biryani, add Sha Jeera while cooking rice.

20. You can increase the taste and flavour of biryani by adding thin sliced pine apple slices during the final stage of baking.

21. While preparing rice for biryani, add a little ghee, lime juice or cooking oil to the water used for boiling rice. It prevents rice from forming lumps.

22. Marinate the chicken/meat used for biryani with curd and ginger-garlic paste. and allow to rest for 5 hours in refrigerator. It cooks easier.

23. Add lemon juice in the proportion of 1 small spoon equals to 1 litre of water while cooking rice for biryani. It improves colour, flavour and aroma of rice.

24. After washing rice, strain water completely and place it in a strainer for 10 minutes. Later cook it adding lemon juice. Rice won’t stick easily. 

25. If your biryani or pulao sticks to bottom of the vessel during preparation and an unpleasant smell comes out, place a slice of bread on the top and tightly close the lid. Within 1 minute, bread slice fully absorbs the burnt smell.

Dates chutney is an amazing combo for biryani. Here is its simple method of preparation. Heat oil. Sauté mustard and fenugreek seeds together. Then add one small spoon ginger, two big spoons of garlic and sauté again. Then add 6 Bird’s eye chillies (Kanthari Mulak) as whole, and when it splutters, add a small spoon chilli powder and ½ small spoon turmeric powder. Saute the contents and when a pleasant aroma comes out, add 1 cup seedless dates and tamarind juice prepared from 150 g to it. Mix the chutney well, and add two small pieces of jaggery (crushed) as well. Add salt to taste and put the flame off.

Image source: Pixabay

You can go through Vanitha Recipes section to get recipes of different varieties of Biryani

Want to know how to enhance and improve the taste of some of the common dishes? Here is the page link. Click on the images in the gallery to read