Nasi briyani draws inspiration from Indian biryani, but with a distinct Singaporean and Malay flair. Pamelia Chia writes about the nuances of this dishes and shares her recipe for this classic.

Biryani is a quintessential rice-and-meat dish from the Indian subcontinent that requires no introduction. A patient dish of layered meat and rice, biryani is a fragrant potpourri of spices, aromatics and herbs. While it has long been considered a royal dish, biryani is now enjoyed by the masses and can be found on the streets, in India.

Given its popularity, the dish is pervasive, with regional permutations spanning the Indian subcontinent. Sindhi biryani is a spicier variation that is known for its generous use of chopped chillies and dried prunes. Bombay biryani features the use of kewra water, which lends an aromatic note. Hyderabadi biryani involves cooking marinated chicken with parboiled rice in a sealed pot.

The influence of biryani has stretched beyond the borders of India. For millenia, religious missionaries, sailors and traders travelling outside the Indian subcontinent, in search of a new life, brought with them cuisines from their hometowns, resulting in the proliferation of biryani across the world.

In multicultural countries such as Singapore, a cultural affair of blending and influence began. Years of coexisting with the Chinese, Malays and Eurasians have resulting in a cross-cultural exchange of cooking styles and ingredients. It wasn’t long before a local version of biryani — nasi briyani — emerged, now wildly popular amongst the locals.

Govind Rajan of Mr. Biryani, a restaurant specialising in Hyderabadi biryani in Singapore, says, “If you ask me, they don’t call [nasi briyani] biryani, in India. They call it a pulao-rice, or a bukhari-rice in Andhra Pradesh. What we get in Singapore is an authentic Singapore-style briyani.”

Rajan is referring to the difference in cooking methods between nasi briyani and Indian biryani — the former is cooked using an ‘absorption method’ while biryani is often par-boiled before it is layered with meat, and cooked together in a process called dum.

Dum is a process where semi-cooked or raw marinated meat is cooked with rice, in a covered vessel that prevents steam from escaping. The meat in nasi briyani, on the other hand, is cooked separate from the rice, which is cooked via the ‘absorption’ method. The reason for this major difference comes down to different eating habits. Malays enjoy drowning their rice in thick gravies and curries. Cooking the meat separate from the rice allows for an abundant amount of gravy, which would be otherwise be absorbed by the rice if they were to be cooked together.

The owner of Geylang Briyani Stall in Singapore is Shiek A Hamid. His father came to Singapore from Chennai, and founded the stall in 1964. Over time, the flavours of the stall evolved to accommodate the local palate, featuring offerings with a distinct Malay touch, such as nasi briyani kambing, fried chicken briyani and ayam masak merah briyani.

A nod to the way biryani is traditionally prepared, Hamid’s nasi briyani is plated as though it has been cooked via the dum process, though they are cooked separately. A layer of rice would be placed on the plate first, followed by the meat and a ladle of gravy, and finally the meat is covered with more rice.

Hamid’s son, Hannan says, “In order to know whether a plate of briyani is a good one, the rice needs to have a fluffy texture and the dishes must be complementary. It should be fine even without dalcha, as long as the spices for the chicken or mutton are perfect. One should be able to taste all the spices added into the cooking pot. But the best type of briyani would be mutton briyani, for sure.”

The mutton briyani that Hannan is referring to is the stall’s bestseller — nasi briyani kambing, served with a dalcha made of mutton scraps, crunchy cucumber pickles (achar timun) and pickled fruit (acar buah). Kambing, meaning ‘goat’ in Malay, is popular amongst the Indian Muslim community in Singapore. Made with pieces of goat with the bone on, the marrow is considered the best part of the dish. One is encouraged to dig the marrow out of the bone and mix it with the rice for a truly ambrosial experience.

Like biryani in India, the nasi briyani at Geylang Briyani Stall begins with sautéing onions and spices such as cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in ghee. Raw basmati rice is then tossed and coated in the ghee. The Malays’ penchant for the lemak (or rich and fatty foods) has influenced their take on the biryani. In addition to water, evaporated milk is added to the rice.

While some varieties of Indian biryanis use kewra water, an extract of screwpine or pandan flowers, many hawker vendors selling nasi briyani in Singapore use the knotted leaves of the pandan, a plant that grows bountifully in the region. The pandan and a few stalks of lemongrass are often added to the rice as it cooks, and the rice is perfumed with rosewater at the end.

The yellow-tinged rice of briyani is iconic, sometimes achieved with infused saffron water, and in some cases, by dabbing the rice with yellow colouring, and mixing it just enough to yield a mixture of orange, yellow and white rice. Many Malays opt for a homemade, natural option of turmeric root-infused water to stain the rice. The result? Rice that is fragrant, rich but not heavy, and accented with little bursts of crunch and sweetness from fried shallots and raisins.

Fusion may be a dirty word these days, but one has to concede that much of the food we eat in this age borrows facets from diverse culinary cultures across the world. There is no one national cuisine that is completely isolated or self-contained. And when the clever assimilation of different food cultures produces such exciting results, who cares?

Recipe: Nasi Briyani Kambing

Serves 4-5
Ingredients

For the lamb
1kg lamb shanks, about 2 whole shanks
20 g biryani spice mix
200 g Greek yogurt
4 onions
350g ghee
2 green chillies
40 g ginger garlic paste
30 g raw cashews
5 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 star anise
1 teaspoon cloves
4 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
1 teaspoon rosewater
3 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar

Method
In a large bowl, combine the lamb shanks, biryani spice mix and yogurt.
Cover and allow to marinate overnight.
The next day, slice three onions thinly and place them in a cold pan with the ghee.
Set over high heat and allow to fry until the onions are a deep golden brown.
Pour the ghee and onions into a sieve, set over a pot or large bowl.
Blend the remaining onion, green chillies, ginger garlic paste and raw cashews until a fine paste forms.
Pour 4 tablespoons of the ghee to a pot that is large enough to accommodate the lamb shanks.
Rub off excess marinade from the lamb shanks; reserve the marinade.
Sear shanks until well-browned, before removing and set aside.
Add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cumin, star anise and cloves.
Fry briefly, then add the onion paste. Fry for another 2 minutes.
Return the shanks to the pot, along with the yogurt marinade, half of the crispy onions and enough water to cover the shanks three-quarters of the way.
Add the mint, rosewater, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 3-4 hours or until tender.
Remove lamb from the pot and shred meat into a bowl.
Heat the braising liquid over high heat until it thickens to a gravy. Return meat to the pot and stir to mix through.

For the rice
4 tablespoons ghee from frying onions (see above)
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom pod
2 star anise
5 cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
500g basmati, rinsed and drained
240 g evaporated milk
4 pandan leaves, knotted
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
4 teaspoons salt
20 g turmeric root, pounded
Remaining crispy onions from preparing the lamb (see above)
4 tablespoons chopped mint leaves.

Method
In a small pan, fry cinnamon stick, cardamom, star anise, cloves, cumin and ginger garlic paste in ghee over medium heat.

Transfer the contents of the pan into a heavy-bottomed pot or medium-sized saucepan, along with the basmati, evaporated milk, pandan, lemongrass and salt.

Bring to a boil over high heat, while stirring to prevent scorching. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid.

Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the rice is tender and all the liquid has evaporated. 

Meanwhile, pour 100 ml boiling water over the turmeric root and leave to infuse.

When the rice is cooked, strain and sprinkle over the turmeric water, crispy onions and mint leaves. Toss gently.

Serve with the lamb and its gravy, pickles, sliced red onion, sliced green chillies and yogurt.

Pamelia Chia is a Singaporean chef, author of the bestselling cookbook ‘Wet Market to Table’, and founder of online platform Singapore Noodles.

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