Iraqi biryani

Ingredients

• Chicken — in pieces1.2 kg
• Basmati rice600 g
• Vermicelli100 g
• Peas200 g
• Carrots2
• Potatoes2
• Almonds80 g
• Raisins80 g
• Baharat1 tbsp
• Dried lime2
• Onions2
• Tomato paste2 tbsp
• Ghee100 g
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Simmer the chicken with onion, pierced black lime and baharat for forty minutes. Keep the broth.

   45 min

2. 2

   Rinse the rice until the water runs clear and soak it twenty minutes.

   22 min

3. 3

   Fry the vermicelli in ghee to a deep brown, stirring.

   8 min

4. 4

   Fry the potato, carrot, almonds and raisins separately and drain them on paper.

   25 min

5. 5

   Joint the chicken and fry the pieces with the tomato paste until browned.

   12 min

6. 6

   Cook the rice with the fried vermicelli in the strained broth for twenty minutes, covered.

   25 min

7. 7

   Mound the rice on a platter and lay the chicken and all the fried components on top, unmixed.

   10 min

About the dish

Iraqi biryani differs from the Indian on principle: nothing is stewed together. Rice, meat, vermicelli, nuts and vegetables are each cooked apart and combined at the end.

The vermicelli is fried brown and boiled with the rice. It supplies a colour and a nuttiness that rice alone cannot give.

The baharat here carries black lime and cinnamon. Indian garam masala makes a different dish — these are separate traditions rather than versions of one.

Worth knowing

• — Each component is fried separately. Together they reach different states of doneness and the whole principle of the dish is lost.
• — The vermicelli burns easily. The moment it reaches the colour of strong tea, take it off; within seconds it goes black.
• — Assemble at the last moment. Mixed in advance, biryani loses the contrast of textures everything was cooked separately for.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

780 kcal

Protein

42 g

Fat

32 g

Carbs

86 g

More from Iraq

• Masgouf — River fish butterflied and cooked standing beside an open fire. A Baghdad dish from the banks of the Tigris.
• Iraqi dolma — Vine leaves and vegetables stuffed with spiced rice and meat, layered in one pot and cooked under a weight.
• Kleicha — Biscuits of date paste and cardamom, rolled into a log and cut into slices.