There has been a debate of late on the context of the Indian Kitchen which is whether should Biryani be made the national dish, although Indian Cuisine is a beautiful concoction of dishes which are visually, olfactory and taste-wise appealing.
One dish that tops the chart is the Indian Biryani, the reason being biryani is a dish in itself that is a balanced diet.
The base constituent of Biryani is rice which is a source of carbohydrates, the rice is traditionally cooked in ghee to provide richness firstly to make up for the good fat in the dish and secondly for those who feel rice has a glycemic index on the higher side, Ghee consists of SCFA or short chain fatty acids that lower the glycemic index of the Rice. Biryani consists of dry fruits that provide the dish with the required amount of vitamins and minerals that are usually not found in the dish.
TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO BIRYANI AND THE REASONS BEHIND
The traditional Biryani consisted of chunks of meat layered onto the layers of rice, the chunks of meat that compensated for the protein that was required for a balanced diet. The dish was usually served with an accompaniment in a curd-based form, curd as well known consists of lactic acid and lots of good bacteria which aid in the process of digestion and soothes the intestinal walls.
An Indian restaurant in Penrith which has been dedicating itself towards educating people about the true knowledge of Indian cuisine says “The most popular kind of Biryani are only of two kinds which are Lucknowi and Hyderabadi but we need to understand that Biryani is one such dish just like rest of the dishes in the Indian cuisine can be remade with the help of the available local ingredients and still carry the original flavour of the same.
A food blogger has been suggesting people places where to try out Indian Food in Penrith explains “ The Origin of Biryani was accidental it was discovered accidentally while in the battlefield it was previously called Birinjyani, Birinj being derived from the Turkish word which meant rice, it was once when after an intense battle the “KHANSAMA” or the royal cook was asked to prepare a meal for the soldiers when he was not able to get the ingredients he mixed up all that was available in the kitchen and steamed the rice, that was how this mighty dish was born”.
VARIATIONS OF BIRYANI WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME
Biryani since then has seen many variations Goan Biryani, uses a mix of marinated, fish, shrimps and herrings because Goa being a coastal region has a lot of fish handy, whereas in Bengal the biryani is made with chunks of baby potatoes that are deep fried in oil, it is said that the invention of the Kolkata biryani happened when the nawab of awadh was removed from his position and was forced to flee to Kolkata because of the British colonialization in Kerala there is another variation where people use buffalo meat as a substitute to mutton and flavour the rice.
Biryani thus has umpteen variations to experience the burst of flavours in your mouth do visit our place.