Biryani & Me!

If you are from the Indian subcontinent, you know "Biryani". If you are from elsewhere, you need to know that "Biryani" is not only a dish to savor your taste buds, but it is happiness for some people like me.

Biryani comes in a lot of varieties and variations, the variations range from Mughlai to Lucknowi to Hyderabadi to Ambur to Malabar depending on which part of the Indian subcontinent you are in... the varieties range from Vegetarian to Chicken to Mutton to fish to prawn...Well, this write up is not about biryani, it's about Biryani and Me!

I have loved biryani from ever since I can remember, wherever I go if it is biryani, it is "yummy"! My Mum makes the best chicken biryani, but we all love our Mum's cooking so that is a no brainer. I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a lot of different biryanis over the years and will abstain from naming any clear favorite as it is still an internal conflict of my conscience. There is but one biryani that was amazing and I would like to share its story here.

It was the mid-2000s and I was living with my grandparents in a joint family setup in India, my uncle's (mother's brother) wedding had just been "fixed" (because it was an arranged marriage), of course, the biryani was all that I was concerned about. Those days catering companies had just entered the Mangalore market and were rarely hired, it was the time of the "cooks". The first thing the family had to decide was as to who would be the cook for this wedding? A couple of well-known cooks were in the fray and in the end "Cook Monu" won by a clear majority. Cook Monu was one of the best Cooks of Biryani in Mangalore, he was a self-taught cook who had worked his way up by helping other cooks to become a well-known cook in his own right.

It was decided that "Mutton biryani" would be served for the wedding reception. and the first step in the plan of action was Monu handing over the list of items and quantities to be procured for him to commence cooking.

The list of items included Onions, Green Chili, Tomatoes, Ginger, Coriander leaves, Turmeric Powder, Salt, Ghee, Sunflower Oil, Basmati Rice, and Mutton.

It was the day before the wedding that we all started the procurement process (to retain the freshness of the ingredients, it would go straight to the kitchen). It took a whole day to visit wholesalers and procure these items in the required quality and quantity. In the case of Mutton, we had to inform the butchery about it a week in advance, apparently, those guys had to source the goats within the right age group and the best breed. I had no intention to get into anymore finer details, so that is about it on the goats.

After getting all the ingredients and items on the list we headed straight to the wedding venue, where Cook Monu and his helpers had already set up their kitchen, logs of wood for lighting the fire, huge utensils the size of bathtubs, spoons like overgrown shovels were some of the sights there.

As soon as all the items were unloaded, Monu and his helpers swung into action in sync with each other, a couple of helpers opened the onions, tomatoes, chilly and ginger and started chopping and cutting with industrial precision and speed. Monu and a couple of other helpers started lighting the logs of wood and positioning them in the most optimum manner so that the flames are spread across proportionally. Once the fire got going, large triangular stands were placed over them and the Utensils were left on top to heat, Oil cans were opened and poured into the utensils, by this time a large amount of ginger, onions, tomatoes and chilly was chopped up and ready, these were all poured into the utensil one by one, the time gap between each item going into the utensil and being stirred by the shovel-like spoon was being monitored by Monu, spices like cardamom, star anise, turmeric powder were also thrown into the fray of the making of the masala in the utensil. The aroma was enticing, and my stomach was making weird sounds. Ginger and garlic were being ground on a grinder, not the modern grinder but huge stone grinders with electric heads to keep the stones turning.

Water was being heated in a separate mighty utensil and once warm enough, sacks of basmati rice were emptied into it. Spices like cloves, cardamom was added into the cooking rice. it was well past midnight now, and the meat was being cooked in water, once it was tender enough Monu ordered his helpers to transfer it into the utensil with the masala and after mixing it up, left it to cook again, by this time the rice was cooked and ready, it was almost sunrise and the rice was ordered to be transferred into the utensil with the mutton and the masala, coriander leaves and lemon zest was sprinkled all over and the utensil was sealed shut with dough, that when I realized that there were about 5 such sealed utensils. I went home to get ready and when I returned, the guests had started arriving, in the kitchen Monu and his team were relaxed and just chilling, the flames had almost died out, but the 5 utensils remained sealed and shut.

Just before noon, the first of the seals were opened and the cover was removed, there was such a surge of spicy aroma, the most I have relished till date. serving had begun, plates were brought in and one by one biryani was being served on plates to seated guests, by around 3 pm when almost all guests had finished, finally, it was the hosts who got to eat, and biryani from the fifth and last utensil was served to us, we had the choice to get extra masala and extra mutton pieces.

I hadn't eaten anything since dinner the previous night in preparation for the biryani onslaught (well, that's my uneven eating habit). The biryani just connected with my taste pallet, it was different, it had a homely taste with a heavy feel, every morsel was mouthwatering, and I think worth the wait. Monu and team had done a fine job, Monu applauded us for getting fresh and good ingredients and we appreciated his skill and efforts. It was truly a happy and emotional feeling to stay awake for more than 24 hours and keep smelling all the aroma as it was being prepared and to finally get to eat it.

What this made me realize is that when we all eat whatever somebody else has cooked for us, we sometimes don't realize the hard work, the effort, the perseverance, and the dedication someone gives to it. I had newfound respect for restaurant chefs and cooks. it was truly a once in a lifetime experience to see the preparation of my favorite dish on such a large scale.