Many countries that are in close proximity share and influences each others cuisines. Sometimes when you have a great dish, an envious nation may take it on as their own national dish, with subtle changes form the original. And with hundreds of years of trade and travel existing between people from all over the globe, a dish created by one ethnic group can end up being adapted by another anywhere else in the world.
This is the position of where we find Biryani the national dish of Pakistan. Biryani is a dish made up of meat, vegetables, spices and rice (but can also contain fish and eggs amongst other ingredients). Different to other rice dishes such as Pilaf, Biryani has the rice and sauce cooked separately whereas when cooking Pilaf the rice is cooked with the sauce. After the separate cooking, the rice is mixed with the sauce, and layered to create a richly flavorful and spice-filled aromatic dish. Thought to have originated in Iran, Biryani was spread by travelers and merchants through the Middle East to South Asia and beyond.
Pakistan cherished in the introduction of this new dish, and over the years have adapted it into their own. Sindhi Biryani is a largely popular version of Biryani that contains chicken (although many varieties of Biryani can be found throughout Pakistan). It also contains yoghurt in the recipe, which can set it apart from other variations of Biryani. It is loved so much that the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, serves it to customers travelling to Pakistan.
Enjoy, or as they say in Pakistan, !مزےکریں (maze karein)
For a Pakistani take on the Biryani: http://www.simple-easy-recipes.com/indian-recipes/traditional-chicken-biryani-recipe/
Difficulty: 3
Appearance: 4
Taste: 4
TOTAL: 11
A few processes to this one, but still not a difficult dish to make. It is only time consuming due to cooking the rice and sauce separately, before adding them together. However, most of the time is spent relaxing whilst the Biryani simmers and does it's thing.
With so many spices and herbs add to both the rice and the sauce, your kitchen will smell fantastic! The concoction displayed when the rice is added to the sauce is also a treat, although with the use of chicken instead of lamb or beef it can leave the dish looking visually bland.
Despite this, I am thoroughly ecstatic to be making a rice dish that contains chicken and not beef or lamb. Throughout this journey so far, it has become apparent that most cultures prefer their rice with beef or lamb, but for me the taste can become too monotonous. Thankfully Pakistan has provided an alternative with this delicious dish. I love, love, LOVE Indian food, but have not tried much food from the other nations in the subcontinent. With the glorious aromatics wafting from my kitchen, I knew this was gonna be a tasty meal, but was a little concerned about the spicy factor. After several bites the full flavour revealed itself. Although it did create a little heat in my mouth, the textures of the chicken and vegetables were scrumptious. Not to mention the melding flavour from all those spices. Looking forward to sampling more novel dishes from the subcontinent.
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