44 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:
The recipe is from The Yogi Cook Book, Yogi Vithaldas and Susan Roberts, Bell Publishing Company, New York, 1968 (pp 36-38):
"Like so many things in life, Bryani is more difficult to explain than to prepare. I lead you gently toward it. To do otherwise would discourage you, and that would be too bad."
It is a five layered dish of basmati rice, sautéed scallions and potatoes, saffron rice, fruit and nuts. The final layer is yogurt. The vessel is covered in waxed paper and wrapped in muslin. Baked 325F. I confess these days I omit the waxed paper and muslin, and just cover with a lid.
When the book was new there were few people from India living in this area. Fortunately at the university I was acquainted with two people from India. I asked each about bryani. One told me bryani could not be made with meat. The other told me bryani could not be made without meat. Given this information I prepare the recipe vegetarian as written and serve grilled lamb on the side.
What is the difference between bryani and biryani? I have only seen biryani, and only seen made with meat - I've seen chicken, mutton, goat and fish versions... from Hyderabad (the most famous), Punjab (also Pakistan) and elsewhere... the recipe you discuss seems very different from every Hyderabadi biryani recipe I've ever seen, of which there are many (all of which are relatively similar).
ETA: I would assume that the Yogi Cook Book is completely vegetarian (if not vegan), no? Just because most really hardcore yogis stress ahimsa (roughly translated as non-harming) but is often (not necessarily correctly) thought to mean that you must be vegan to be a yogi - although there are many gurus who would disagree with that.
