[gyanchawdhary]

Fun fact .. a tiny drop of sandalwood oil and mitti attar (the “petrichor” scent this article mentions) is used in traditional Indian biryanis. It adds an earthy note that helps round out and harmonize th intense mix of spices and aromatics. .. hsitorically, that earthy depth came from dried deer musk powder ... the italian equivalent of this flavour profile to dishes would be using porcini .. chanterelles in pastas and risottos ..

[namanyayg]

Thanks now I'm craving biryani. Any recs for authentic lucknow biryani spots in SF?

[ErroneousBosh]

Your house.

https://glebekitchen.com/chicken-biryani-indian-restaurant-s...

Yes, about half the page is "story" but it's actually got some quite important information about technique, it's not all waffle about the author's grandmother's favourite cake plates.

Everything on that site is good. Read up on "British Indian Restaurant Technique" and you'll nail all your favourite curries first time - the garlic ginger paste and onion gravy are essential.

[mrsvanwinkle]

Making me consider to finally try again. Had shied away from making curries after a disaster of a first. Followed measurements accurately from some random celebrated chef's chicken tikka masala recipe (this is supposed to be elementary, I assumed) and scaled to batches for meal prep. I definitely cooked an ingredient too long, most likely the ginger. It was tikka masala except something unmistakably bitter made the batches inedible. This was long ago and it may have been the onions as well. I had a similar disaster following Kenji Alt's French onion soup both pressure cooked and traditional. Maybe simply nondeterminism maybe skill, ingredients were fine.

[gyanchawdhary]

I’m in the UK/Dubai, so I can’t help much with SF but the best spot I can recommend in Palo Alto is Ettan. Their chicken biryani is a modern interpretation and very close to the recipe you’d find in most five star hotels in India.

In London, the most authentic biryani (by which I mean closest to the original style, before other regions adapted it to their own tastes) is Awadhi/Lucknowi biryani. You can find a great version at Biryani Kebab & Chai in Soho, and another solid option is at TH@51 Restaurant & Bar at St. James’ Court, which is owned by Taj Hotels ,.. a very old school Indian hotel group ...