Eat With The Pandits

No there is no shortcut to achieving the perfect chicken biryani. None at all. Let no one fool you, with the ‘Quick One Pot Biryani’! Because nothing like that exists.

Needless to say this perfection is all thanks to my Mum’s recipe — A rendition she learnt from her mother’s best friend. She has been making the same recipe for the last 41 years and it is bang on every single time. I have been making it for the last 13 years, yes from the time I have been married.It is the traditional Kacche Ghosht Ki Biryani, layered with lots of flavour and loads of love.

My mother was brought up in a pure vegetarian household in Bombay’s Shivaji Park. Her favourite food then was, I kid you not — Curd Rice or the occasional Masala Dosa. Yes that is where her culinary pallette started and ended.

When she was engaged to my father, yes it was an arranged match, she was suddenly exposed to a very very evolved food lifestyle. My father, a South Bombay kid, took her on dates to the Kamlings and the Khybers of the world. A complete culture shock for her. My father is a complete foodie, and an experimentive one at that. To add to her woes he was bought up in an avid non-vegetarian household. Mismatch much?

So my mother started learning, slowly and steadily. She still tells me the story of how she had to wash meat for the first time and how horrified she was. But the women of those days were agile and they had the will to adapt.

This Biryani was made once a month when we were children. The collective family decision about Sunday Lunch was usually made during breakfast on Saturday. My mum spent the entire Saturday afternoon making the perfect golden brown barista and frying the potatoes. Sunday morning at 6am my father used to get up and go to the neighbourhood butcher and get the choicest cuts of meat. My mum used to prep the marinade and make the rice. I used to love watching her layer.

My father has always been passionate about food and I have got my love for food from him. My love for cooking comes from my mother, she loved to cook and she loved to feed. Every weekend we had family friends who loved her cooking.

Cook for 45 minutes on medium heat.
Serve hot with Raita / Yoghurt and of course all the left over beer! Enjoy.