The food for Parties and Celebrations
Every time I cook the Dan Bout ( in Burmese ), Chicken Bariani ( in Indian ), we have lots and lots of memories from childhood. My dad always brought us for the family dinner to the Indian Restaurant in Downtown ( Magol road former name) now Shwe Boan Thar road. I do not really know if the authorities still keep on changing the road name and we couldn't even remember anymore. There are a lot of building and roads has it's own identities and historical values in Burma ( Myanmar). Then there are a lot of other famous restaurants that gave catering services for big parties or celebrations such as weddings, ordaining ceremonies, house warming parties, Graduation parties, and others.
As we grew up with the taste of the Biryani that was adapted for the Burmese people, I noticed the difference when I tasted the biryani dishes in Singapore, Malaysia, and America. I appreciate the taste of most of it and how each Bariani is cooked differently. But I really like the way the Chicken Biryani is cooked and serve in Burma. I do not really know why our Myanmar old folks gave the name " Dan Bout". But every Bariani restaurant displays the really really big aluminum pots at the storefront and a plate of scooped_up rice with chicken and gravy on top together with mango pickle or lime pickle as a side condiment. some generous restaurants add ( mint, green chili, and onion salad) as an add on too.
One sweet memory of Dan Bout is actually funny. I and my husband were still friends at that time. One day during the final year field trip to the TV Broadcasting stations and the satellite station quite far from our campus, we all went by bus together with our group of friends. We had Bariani for lunch together. The Bariani packet for one serving was quite generous and as a young lady, I couldn't finish it all, so my future husband helped me out to finish the food.
One more sweet memory is that he invited all of us ( as a group) over to his home and treated Bariani for his Birthday. As for his Birthday present, I gave him a pocket-size oxford dictionary. He told me that this present is the best one. It is also my most vivid memory of Bariani associated with him.
Oh.. one last thing... it was during the covid-19 period in January 2020, there was no lockdown yet, and as a dinner, night out we went to Indian Restaurant. We happily order Dosa as an appetizer and goat curry and chicken Bariani as dinner. The server boy was so overly attentive and so eager for us to finish our dinner quickly, thinking we are Chinese. At the time, my plate was not even halfway done, and we were quite mad when he brought the bill before even we had finished our dinner. Only at home, my husband and I talked about it and realized " Oh.. maybe he is panicked because he thought we might bring that Covid-19 virus into the restaurant". I am getting tired of this dangerous killer virus.
Hope all the people in this world care for each other as responsible and kind human being.It will be Peaceful and harmonious to live in this world.
When I cook Bariani for my family. I try my best to make the taste similar to the Bariani from Burma ( Myanmar).
Chicken Biryani ( 5-6 Serving)
Ingredients
1 whole chicken ( cut into 8 pieces remove all the skin)
8 small cups Basmati rice ( Soak 3-4 Hours)
5 pcs Shallots ( Thinly sliced)
2 cups chopped onion
1 tbsp Ginger ( chopped )
5 cloves of garlic ( chopped )
2 tbsp Chili powder ( for chicken )
1 tsp Turmeric powder
3 tbsp Salt
2 cinnamon bark
3 bay leaves
3 star anise
6 cardamon
5 cloves
2 tbsp curry powder for Chicken
3 tbsp Rasin
2 cup frozen carrots and green peas
2 cups Yogurt
9-10 Cashew nuts optional
5 tbsp Butter for rice
1.5 cup Oil for Chicken Curry
1.5 tbsp salt for chicken marinate
1.5 tbsp salt for rice
1 tbsp sugar for rice
Instructions
1. In the mixing bowl add all the chicken pieces. add Chopped (ginger, turmeric, salt, garlic, and onion). Then chili powder, yogurt, curry powder, and mix thoroughly. Then set aside.
2. In the rice cooker, add the rice and add water to 1 inch above the rice. In the skillet, add the butter and let it melt on the stovetop with medium-high heat. Then add 2 bay leaves, cardamons, star anise, clove together, and stir till fragrant.
3. Add that seasoned butter into the rice cooker and let it cook.
4. In the cooking wok, add the oil and heat with medium-high heat. add sliced onion and turmeric to make crispy shallots. Fry until golden brown and strain it from oil and set aside.
5. In the same wok with the oil, add the curry powder and yogurt marinated chicken and cook until all the juices from the chicken evaporated.
6. In the mixing bowl, add the frozen vegetable ( carrot and green pea), Bariani masala 2 tsp ( we can get from the Indian grocery store), raisins, cashew nuts, and fried shallots together and mix lightly.
7. In a small bowl, add 3 tbsp yogurt 2 tbsp milk with 1/4 tsp orangy-red color, and mix.
8. When the chicken curry and rice are ready, In the tray or I-pot pressure cooker ( 10 qt)
(a) add 1/3 of chicken, spread, then add 1/3 of the 1/2 cooked rice, and on top of that add 1/3 of vegetable mix.
Repeat the procedure as in (8, a) but this time sprinkle the colored yogurt milk mix onto the rice before adding the chicken.
Finally, we may repeat the procedure from 8 (a) as the third layer with the rest of the ingredients.
9. Cover the pot and set the rice cooking setting and cook.
10. If we choose to cook in the oven. spread the chicken then rice and vegetable spread the yogurt milk mixture on top then cover with an aluminum sheet. Set the heat to 375 degrees F and cook for 60 minutes. After 30 minutes of cooking in the oven, we may sprinkle a cup of milk on the rice to make sure the rice is not too dry.
11. We may enjoy that biryani with mango pickles from Jar ( Store-bought) or homemade cucumber raitha. ( It is optional)
( Note: spicy cucumber Raitha: In the mixing bowl, add 2 cups yogurt, 2tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, 2 tbsp chopped cucumber, 2 tbsp chopped sweet onion, 1 tbsp chopped carrots, 1tsp chopped green chili, 1 tsp chopped cilantro, or mint then mix it well blended together)
