The bottom part of my Biryani always gets burnt, rice always gets sticky but I want each grain separated. How can I prevent burning & stickiness of rice?
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The key is to have sufficient moisture. So you need to have just enough of water at the bottom and do the dumming on low heat for 20 to 30 minutes. Needing each grain to be separate is a poor practice that's only meant for presentation. Rice always needs to be well cooked, and that requires cooking/steaming it well enough with more than 2 cups water per cup of rice if necessary such that rice becomes soft and properly cooked. At that stage, rice grains sticking to each other is perfectly normal. Read up about amylose and amylopectin.– NavNov 10, 2021 at 17:51
3 Answers
Some options:
- Prepare the biryani in an oven (used when making biryani with uncooked meat) in a really thick, covered oven pan, with no foiling at 200 degrees Celsius for around 30 mins. It won't stick to the bottom or get burnt.
- Keep a cast iron tawa underneath the pot the rice is in. Rice won't stick.
- Add some ghee at the bottom of the rice before layering.
- Keep the heat low. "Dum"ming the biryani is steaming it rather than cooking it with high heat. You'll also need to seal the container.
The sticky rice at the bottom is called "khurchan", and some people actually find it delicious. The burnt rice is because of the lack of liquid and the high heat. Happens mainly because the water evaporates while cooking.
There's a similar question asked here: How do I avoid dry meat and burned masala and rice in biryana?
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Great advice. Point 2(tawa) is a must-do if one is cooking in stove and the pot is thin-bottomed.– RonMay 25, 2016 at 20:28
Soak the rice for 10 - 30 minutes. Drain the water completely and in low flame fry the rice in 1 - 2 tbsp of Ghee and then add it to your briyani masala . If you are using pressure cooker, add the rice after the meat is cooked and make sure that the water just covers the rice. and pressure cook it in low flame and turn off the heat after one whistle and let it to rest. The pressure will cook the rice and make you meat tender. Hope this helps.
I had that same problem. Turn down the heat. I use a ceramic pot, and put it just over 2
(thats electric cooker for me).
If it really starts to shimmer i think its to much heat. I put it on the heat just over 2
and then turn it of after 25-30 mins, let it rest in the meantime. Keep the lid on and don't open it!