Whenever anyone asks a Pakistani about their favorite dish, the answer is almost always ‘Biryani’. When Pakistanis hear that Biryani is on the menu, they tend to go crazy. The reason is the sophisticated layering coupled with a unique combination of spices which give the exquisite taste and aroma, making it irresistible for food lovers. Let’s explore the best biryani secret tips revealed from the masters. 

Originating in South East Asia by Mughals, biryani culture has traveled from region to region and now exists in various forms in Pakistan, India, Iran, and Afghanistan. In general, biryani is a rice dish that is made up of boiled rice combined with layers of meat that can be of chicken, mutton, lamb, fish, or prawn. The nature of meat used for cooking gives biryani a different flavor and category, making it different from the other existing types.

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Variants of Biryani

‘Dum’ is an essential step consisting of steaming the rice so that none of the ingredients remains uncooked. A small quantity of desi ghee is drizzled in the finishing stage of cooking to add extra flavor to the recipe. The steaming technique has given this type of biryani the title of Dum biryani. Furthermore, the dish has given rise to several variants based on the regions where the recipe has traveled such as Kashmiri biryani, Bombay biryani, Hyderabadi biryani, and the Afghani biryani. The spice mixture also determines the category of biryani discriminating Tandoori biryani from a Tikka biryani. This variety indicates the fame that this dish enjoys and the local residents of different areas have added their regional ingredients to integrate extra flavors to produce new versions of biryani.

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Biryani Secret Tips – 10 Genius Ways to Make the Best Biryani

After reading about these variations, you certainly would be wondering how to master the recipe. We have 10 biryani secret tips for you to prepare the best biryani:

Appropriate Quantity

The best ratio recommended by connoisseurs is the 1 to 1 ratio for the meat and the rice. This means if you wish to prepare biryani in 2 kilograms of rice, then cooking it with only 1kg of meat would not add the exact taste. Rather, for 2 kg rice, you require 2 kg of meat, be it chicken, mutton, lamb, or fish. This will give you the perfect taste that you are looking for.

Rice Quality

As introduced at the outset, biryani is basically a rice dish so you have to be cautious of the rice type and quality. Make sure not to use brown rice as these are generally used for making pulao. On the contrary, you can either go for pure basmati, basmati sella or simply sella rice. Nevertheless, basmati should be your top choice due to their complete absorption of water and aroma so the biryani is enriched with a perfect flavor of the meat.

Properly Soaking Rice

The rice is perfectly puffed up when soaked in water for a particular period of time. For soaking Sella rice, you need 45 minutes of soaking time. Whereas, basmati needs less time to get soaked, around 20 to 30 minutes. 

Perfect Amount of Salt

You probably know the difference that salt on a fried egg adds to your morning breakfast compared to having one without it. You have to remember the same ingredient for your biryani for enhancing its taste. It’s one of the important biryani secret tips. Of course, you are not supposed to add it in excess. Usually, 2 to 3 tablespoons of salt stay sufficient for 1 kg of rice.

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Thick Skillet

When it comes to your cooking wares, make sure the pot that you have chosen for preparing the biryani has a thick base. This will protect the rice layer at the bottom from getting burnt from the heat. Furthermore, it is not necessary that you will simply take out all the rice at once in a dish. Rather you ought to keep it at a low flame to keep it warm and ready to serve once the dish gets empty and your guests are anxious to have another plate filled with your masterpiece. Thus, the low flame would be helpful if the cooking ware is thick. In case it is thin, then you can go for placing a tawwa or a griddle under it to come in between the flame heat and the biryani itself.

Avoid Overcooking Rice

Make sure that you give proper time to rice in terms of soaking and boiling so that the rice may not get meshed up after dum. In order to avoid this, just boil the rice for ten minutes after soaking. This will give you the best result as each grain of rice would remain separate from the other. Secondly, leave the rest of the cooking to the biryani stage where you are giving the final dum to rice. This will give you a perfect puffed-up biryani.

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Spiced Water for Rice

You would have noticed that biryani is enriched with aroma and spicy flavors. One of the best biryani secret tips is to prepare such a spicy and delicious biryani is to boil water in spiced water. Just add in some cumin, pepper, cardamom, and bay leaf in that water. Stir it well to change the watercolor. Next, add in some rice and cook them for ten minutes. The important point to remember is to leave the rice partially cooked as the rest of it would happen at the final stage of steaming.

Juicy Meat Gravy

Remember to keep the curry/gravy thick and juicy. It should not be dry. Otherwise, your biryani will not develop the flavor that you wish to create with masala. For making it, you need oil, cumin seeds, bay leaf, green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, onion, tomatoes, green chilies, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, red chili powder, and yogurt. Blending these ingredients will make the perfect juicy gravy for the meat to be cooked in.

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Layering

One of the smart biryani secret tips is to add korma in layers. For example, the base of your biryani should be filled with rice. Add a layer of korma along with meat. Then pour a layer of rice over it. Next, add the second layer of korma over this newly added layer of rice. This layering gives a mix of orange, yellow, and white-colored rice to your biryani, which is the signature look for it.

Lemon Cuttings

Adding small cuttings of lemon adds a special tangy taste to your biryani. Keep these cuttings of such size that these are easy to find and the person eating a biryani plate can easily remove these cuttings before finishing their plate.