Why Lucknowi Biryani Is Known as Pakki Biryani?

Why Lucknowi Biryani Is Known as Pakki Biryani?

Biryani is just not any usual rice dish, it is culinary heritage served in a platter. An eclectic mix of cultures is powerful enough to bring people from distinct backgrounds to bond over one table on a daawat. The author of much celebrated culinary masterpieces 'Biryani' and 'A Princely Legacy Hyderabadi Cuisine', Pratibha Karan spilled out the gospel truth for Biryani lovers, Biryani would be hailed as the God of food if there ever will be.

The evergreen delish biryani is majorly of two types: Kacchi and Pakki. A kacchi biryani refers to cooking of both meat, rice and ingridients in the same pot. Kacchi biryani is a delicate and slow process wherein the rice can be overcooked and meat can be easily burnt, this biryani surely tests your culinary patience. Hyderabadi biryani, Bombay biryani, Thalassi biryani are some of the examples of Kacchi biryani. A pakki biryani on the other hand is the real test of one’s culinary skills, it is the process where rice and the meat are cooked separately and then brought together moments before being served, majorly - Lucknowi chicken biryani,Lucknowi mutton biryani.

We are both united and divided by biryani, Lucknowi biryani is a subtle blend of spices that has a rich culture and history from the city of Nawabs. This lucknowi style is synonymous to ‘pakki’ as the style originated in the biryani capital- Lucknow. The pakki style of biryani where the meat and rice are cooked separately and then put together in the last stage…where the dish is all about flavoured fragrant rice and meat is the authentic pakki method of cooking. The process involves the meat to be marinated for a shorter time, and then cooked before being layered with the rice and cooked sealed handi. In Pakki Aqni (with cooked gravy), the ingredients are cooked before the final cooking. Cooked in the royal Awadhi style, the textures, taste and essence of Lucknowi biryani are softer and the spices are milder. The first step involves making a yakhni stock from meat that is slow boiled in water infused with spices for around two hours or more. This makes Lucknowi biryani the most moist, tender and delicately flavoured than any other biryani.