The biriyani has come a long way, indeed for the Kerala palate. Some years ago, a biriyani just meant lovely scented rice in which chicken or mutton and spices, were cooked. The ingredients were found everywhere and there were maybe three or four types. But food has travelled a long way and international cuisine has had its influence on even so national a dish as biriyani. You can cook it in manifold ways and flavours are of many varietals.
Look at the Biriyani Festival on at Café Luciano, Hotel Elite Palazzo, Angamaly, which started on May 13.
One of the biriyanis you can tuck in is Arabian Kabsa. Yes, it is very West Asian, says Chef Rajesh. It is a very common dish in Saudi Arabia. Kabsa in Arabic means rice and meat.
The main protagonist of the biriyani show is undoubtedly Thallappakattu Biriyani, says Chef Rajesh. It's a type of biriyani that is popular in Tamil Nadu. The meaning of thallapakattu itself is turban. So you can guess the kind of place it has in the culinary world.
There is this Srilankan Biriyani which is very spicy. The character of this biriyani itself is different. We normally have a boiled egg to go with some biriyanis here, but in this Sri Lankan variety, you serve it with scrambled eggs or vegetables.
In the Awadi Biriyani, also known as pukka biriyani, the rice and meat are cooked separately and then layered.
The very Kozhikodan Biriyani, known by the same name has ghee to differentiate it from the others. The rice mixed with ghee gives that Malabari flavour.
Next comes the chutta chicken biriyani, which is the chef's special in this festival. Here, the chicken is first marinated with spices, cooked in a clay oven and then mixed with masala and rice.
The biriyani is served in clay pots along with raitha, pappad and of course the ubiquitous pickles.
Now which biriyani will you have? It is on till May 22.
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