• Homemade Awadhi Biryani
    Recipes

    Perfecting the legendary Kolkata Biryani at home

    The potato in Kolkata Biryani is my favourite part of the dish. In this Awadhi style of cooking, the dum pukht technique allows the the aromatic juices from the mutton to ooze into the fine grains of rice. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. It’s certainly true in my case, but if I were to be specific about the kind of food, it would be Biryani and Mughlai food. Not any Biryani, but the Awadhi/Lucknowy style Mutton Biryani that we grew up eating in Kolkata. The Bearded Biker’s love for Awadhi Biryani made us hop into Lucknow for an evening, only to eat. His…

  • Kolkata

    Shiraz Golden Restaurant, Dubai | From Lucknow To Kolkata And To Dubai!

    The Shiraz Nostalgia Amongst all the golden memories of my college days in Kolkata, the one thing that consistently churns up is Shiraz Golden Restaurant in Circus Avenue, Park Circus (left). All our random parties or any special party during any festival, for example Holi, Diwali or even Durga Puja was necessarily powered by Mutton Biriyani, Chicken Chaap and Firni (an Indian Dessert made with milk and powdered rice) from Shiraz. Each one of us would be handed over one packet of Mutton Biriyani and one piece from the Chicken Chaap to start with… and would end up with forever licking the spoons that scooped out the mildly aromatic Firni…