A speciality of the Mangalorean muslim community, where the chicken for the biryani is cooked in a super fragrant, delicious coriander-mint masala paste and coconut paste, followed by cooking the assembled biryani on dum
I have always spoken about our love for biryanis. Not only my husband and I love it, but even my parents and in laws are huge fans. I mean so much so that, we all would happily have a biryani every week and not get tired of it. While we – me, my mum and my mother-in-law – have our own homestyle biryani recipes up our sleeves, we love trying out the traditional ones, too. And with so many varieties of this incredible rice and meat dish, it is always a joy to explore and try new recipes. One such recipe that I tried for our Sunday lunch, was the chicken Beary (Mangalore muslim style) biryani. This traditional biryani recipe, belongs to the Beary muslim community of coastal South Kanara.
Also known as Byari, most people belonging to the community are professionally involved in trade and business. In fact, they are one of the earliest muslim inhabitants of India, probably through their trading. While researching on biryanis, I stumbled upon their recipe and I just knew that I had to try it out. That is also when I realised that I have actually tasted it. I had a Mangalorean colleague, in Mumbai, and I have tried the biryani from her lunch box. And that’s some taste that I will never forget. So, when reading up about the Beary style of biryani, I could easily connect the dots.
This biryani is traditionally made with beef or mutton, where it is cooked in a delicious green masala and coconut paste, before finally cooking with the rice. And this makes the meat curry extremely fragrant and scrumptious. The fennel seeds, especially, in the masala and coconut pastes, lend a beautiful aroma to the rice.
The Beary biryani
Since the Beary community is based along the coast, the use of coconut in the biryani seems pretty obvious. And that not only makes it delicious, but even so unique. While I know of recipes with coconut milk, the use of ground coconut makes this one indeed special. The chicken beary (Mangalore muslim style) biryani is not very high on spices or heat. Firstly, the use of yoghurt and then the coconut, tones down the heat that the fresh chilis impart. Moreover, there is no chili powder or even black peppercorns that go in the recipe, that could make it hot. So, you can easily up or lower the number of chilis you want to use here, as per taste. Also, the use of whole spices in much lower here, compared with other biryanis.
Even when pre-cooking the rice, it is flavoured with only cinnamon, cardamom and star anise. This is unlike other biryanis, where even cumin seeds, peppercorns, bay leaves etc are added. Additionally, even when cooking the chicken, there is no use of whole spices. However, the masala paste, made with coriander and mint leaves is incredibly flavoursome. Along with fennel seeds, there is also nutmeg and mace. Even though they are used in small quantities, the masala smells and tastes incredible. The coconut paste also has a little bit of poppy seeds along with the fennel seeds. And this small addition, makes it even creamier. So, you see, how everyday ingredients come together to make this chicken biryani truly amazing.
Cooking on dum
Once the chicken is cooked along with the tomatoes, yoghurt and these pastes, it is then cooked with with rice on dum. This is a very typical technique of slow cooking the assembled biryani. I, had in fact, cooked my paneer and spinach biryani on dum, too. But, the dum process makes more sense when making a meat biryani and not a vegetarian one.
This Beary style chicken biryani, may not be a quick one but it is an easy recipe, for sure. I agree that, the pre-preparation is going to take some time, but it is totally worth it. After all making a biryani is indeed a labour of love and highly rewarding too. And this one will definitely win your hearts, once you’ve made and had it. At least in my house, this is going to definitely feature more often now.
Share it
If you are a biryani lover and especially are fond of the mildly spiced, more fragrant ones then this would be right up your alley. This chicken Beary (Mangalore muslim style) biryani is so amazing that you won’t even need an accompaniment with it. Nonetheless if you wish, you could also serve it with a raita and cucumber slices. You can make it for your loved ones for a leisurely weekend lunch or surprise your guests at your next dinner party. And if you do give this or any of my other recipes a try, I’d love to know your feedback. You can write to me or even share your food picture over on Instagram, with me.
Also check these biryani recipes, you might want to try:
Eat hearty!
Chicken beary (Mangalore muslim syle) biryani
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot
Ingredients
- 600 g chicken on the bone
- 300 g Basmati rice soaked in water for 15 minutes
- ½ cup coconut grated
- ½ cup yoghurt whisked
- 1½ cups coriander leaves
- 1 cup mint leaves
- 6-7 chilis
- 2 cups fried onions birista
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup tomatoes chopped
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsp turmeric powder
- 1½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3-4 green cardamom
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 star anise
- 1 blade mace javitri
- ½ tsp nutmeg powder jaiphal powder
- 8-10 cashews
- 8-10 raisins
- ½ cup ghee
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Rub the chicken with the lemon juice and turmeric powder and keep it aside until needed. Set 5 cups of water with 2 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp ghee, cinnamon, cardamoms and 1 star anise to boil. When it comes to a roll boil, add the soaked rice. Cook until the grains are 75% cooked, then drain and set aside
- Heat a tbsp of ghee and fry the cashews and raisins until golden brown, drain and set aside.
- Grind together the ginger garlic paste, mint leaves, coriander leaves, coriander seeds, chilis, cumin seeds the other star anise, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, nutmeg powder and the blade of mace to a coarse paste, with 2 tbsp water
- Heat the cooking pot, over medium, with 2-3 tbsp ghee and add the ground paste. Fry until fragrant and the masalas don't smell raw anymore
- Add the tomatoes and the yoghurt, mix well and cook until the ghee separates. Next, add the chicken, 1½ cups fried onions and cook for 6-7 minutes. Add 3-4 tbsp of water, salt, cover and cook until the chicken is completely cooked
- In the meanwhile, make a paste with the remaining fennel seeds, coconut and poppy seeds with a 2-3 tbs of water. Add this to chicken when it is cooked
- Mix well and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Add some finely chopped coriander and mint leaves and remove from flame. Check for salt here and adjust, if needed
- Take a thick bottomed pan*, smear a tbsp of ghee inside it. Layer the biryani, starting with the curried chicken, then the partially cooked rice, followed by the garam masala, ghee, remaining fried onions, fried cashews and raisins and some mint and coriander leaves
- Wrap the pot with aluminum foil and cover with a tight fitting lid. Set this to cook over a very low flame for 12-15 minutes. Once done, remove from flame and let it sit for 10 more minutes before serving
- Using a spatula, scoop out the biryani from the bottom layers and serve your delicious chicken beary (Mangalore muslim syle) biryani along side some raita and cucumber slices. Enjoy!
Notes
- *At this point, the gas/flame is turned off
- To make fried onions - slice the onions thinly, rub a teaspoon each of salt and sugar and leave it for 5 minutes. In a cooking pot dry roast them until they catch a slight colour and then add two tablespoons of oil to fry them until golden brown. This you can use for the biryani or use store bought ones as well
- You could make the biryani with red meat too. In that case, pressure the marinated meat, until cooked, before adding it in step 5
- If poppy seeds aren't available, you could use soaked almonds instead
- I have also used organic, food grade colour in step 8. This is optional
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon
[…] city that serve various rice delicacies such as Shahi Biryani, Prawn Biryani, and the most popular, Beary Chicken Biryani. It’s your typical Dum Biryani with a twist. If you’re ever in town, try at least a few of […]
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