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| From left to right: Butter masala paneer, chicken biryani and buttermilk drink |
Biryani (also spelled biriani, briyani, biriyani and birani) is a rice dish that is cooked with spices, and sometimes meat, eggs and vegetables. Although biryani can be found in many countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Middle East and even my home country Malaysia, it is most synonymous with India. Sure, I could eat biryani everyday if I wanted to--there are hundreds of Indian restaurants in KL, and one just across the road from my house--but what would be cooler than trying this dish in its country of origin?
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| At a restaurant near Qutub Minar, Delhi |
To be honest, Indian food is never high on my list of favorites. India is a country that overwhelms, and you can say the same thing about its food. It's much too rich and spicy for me. Not spicy as in hot, but spicy as in having too much spices. They like to put spices in practically everything, including their teas, yogurt drinks and ice-creams. Every time I eat Indian food, especially biryani, I would end up stopping halfway, sweaty and teary-eyed, sniffling and wishing somebody would help me finish my meal.
My partner and I had biryani twice on our visit to India last month--once in Kashmir and once in Delhi. We found that they were both more flavorful than the ones we were used to back home. Compared to Kashmiri biryani, the Delhi version tasted spicier.
It was lucky that we ordered only one portion to share between us. The biryani came in a big pot, enough to feed at least 3 people.
Apart from biryani, we also tried idli, sambar, masala dosa, panipuri, lassi, buttermilk and kulfi.
