Biriani

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1.5 kggoat or beef, on the bone, in pieces
• 300 gplain yogurt
• 2 tbspginger-garlic paste
• 2 tspchilli powder
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 2 tspsalt
• juice of 1 lime

Masala

• 4large onions, thinly sliced
• 150 mloil or ghee
• 4tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbspbiriani masala
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspground coriander
• 4green chillies, slit
• 1large bunch coriander, chopped
• 1 bunchmint, chopped
• 2potatoes, halved and fried

Rice

• 800 gbasmati rice, soaked 30 min
• 4 litreswater
• 2 tbspsalt
• 1cinnamon stick
• 6cardamom pods
• 6cloves
• 2bay leaves

To layer

• a large pinch of saffron in 4 tbsp warm milk
• 3 tbspghee
• fried onions, reserved

Directions

1. Marinate the meat in the yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, chilli, turmeric, salt and lime for at least 2 hours.
2. Fry the sliced onions in the oil over medium heat for 20–25 minutes until deep brown and crisp. Lift out and drain two thirds for layering; leave the rest in the pan. Browning the onions properly is the base of the whole dish and pale onions give a flat biriani.
3. Add the marinated meat to the pan and cook 10 minutes, then the tomatoes, biriani masala, cumin and coriander. Cook down 15 minutes until the oil separates.
4. Add a cup of water, cover and simmer 45 minutes until the meat is tender and the masala is thick — it should cling to the meat, not be soupy, or the layered rice goes wet.
5. Stir in the green chillies, half the herbs and the fried potatoes.
6. Boil the rice in the heavily salted spiced water for 5–6 minutes only, until it is about 70 per cent cooked and a grain still snaps at the centre. Drain immediately. It finishes in the steam and rice boiled through here turns to porridge.
7. Layer in a heavy pot: half the meat masala, half the rice, a scatter of fried onion and herbs, then repeat. Finish with rice.
8. Drizzle the saffron milk and ghee over the top in patches, so the finished biriani is mottled white, gold and brown rather than uniformly coloured.
9. Seal the lid with foil or a rope of dough and cook on the lowest heat for 25–30 minutes — the dum. Rest 10 minutes off the heat before opening.
10. Serve by digging down through all the layers with a flat spoon so each plate gets rice, meat and potato, with kachumbari on the side.

Technique

• Undercook the rice deliberately. Everything about the dum stage depends on it.
• Dry masala, not wet. Excess liquid at the layering stage is the commonest cause of a mushy biriani.
• The Swahili coast version leans on tomato and fried potato, which distinguishes it from the South Asian biryanis it descends from.

Substitutions

• Chicken instead of goat, simmered only 25 minutes.
• Shop-bought fried onions (birista) save half an hour.

Variations

• Pilau, the Kenyan coastal one-pot cousin, cooked together rather than layered.
• A fish biriani made along the Lamu coast.

History

Brought to Mombasa and Lamu by Indian and Omani traders; the Swahili version keeps the layering but leans on local pilau masala.

Frequently asked questions

What is Biriani?

Biriani is a main from Kenya: layered coastal rice with spiced meat, saffron-tinted and served at weddings. Brought to Mombasa and Lamu by Indian and Omani traders; the Swahili version keeps the layering but leans on local pilau masala.

How long does Biriani take to make?

Biriani takes 45 min plus 2 hr marinating of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Biriani?

Yes, within limits. Chicken instead of goat, simmered only 25 minutes. Shop-bought fried onions (birista) save half an hour.

What is the most important thing to get right in Biriani?

Fry the sliced onions in the oil over medium heat for 20–25 minutes until deep brown and crisp. Lift out and drain two thirds for layering; leave the rest in the pan. Browning the onions properly is the base of the whole dish and pale onions give a flat biriani.