Vjylku

I've had chicken biryani in restaurants and their biryanis taste extremely different from what we prepare at home. I'm not sure how to describe it except that it's an "onion flavor".

We've got loads of biryani recipes and they're all more or less the same.

After a lot of pondering over the difference, I've begun to suspect that the restaurants are doing either of these things (or a combination of them):

• They're somehow adding an onion flavor. Either that or they're adding something else that has a strong pungent, sour flavor.




• They're adding an ingredient that gives a slight sweet taste. It's not tomato sauce, tomato puree, or sugar. There's something else. I've tried all of these methods.




• Perhaps it's milk in some way.

How can I give a strong "onion flavor" or something similar to it to my biryani? How are the restaurants doing it?

The restaurants may be adding asafoetida, a ground root product that adds a savory, onion-y flavor to food. It's very concentrated stuff and smells awful, but once you cook it for awhile it's absolute magic.

I make biryani frequently. The recipe I follow differs from your link in a couple of areas. Specifically, in terms of your concern about onion flavor, my recipe uses much more oil, and twice as much onion. I slowly fry two, very thinly sliced, large onions (the variety doesn't seem to matter so much), in 3/4 cup of oil. The onions are cooked until they take on a golden hue. This can take 10 to 15 minutes. The onions are then removed from the pot. I leave about 1/4 cup of oil in the pot, which is the vessel that I will use to layer the rice, chicken, onions and herbs.

This is significant for a couple of reasons. First, oil transports flavor. So, in addition to the onions themselves, there is a base of onion flavored oil. In addition, once the layers are complete, another 1/4 cup of the leftover onion flavored oil (from draining onions) is drizzled over the top. Secondly, the slowly cooked onions are layered throughout the biryani. (This also helps to create an excellent browned crust of rice and chicken when the final product is turned out of the pot).

In my version, the spices are mixed with the chicken and yogurt, as part of a marinade. They are not added to the onion. However, I am sure there is much variation in how biryani is made. I am not suggesting a correct version, just some possible insight in how to enhance your onion flavor and sweetness (which comes from the caramelized onion).

I would also add, that if you are indeed following the recipe to the letter, and using a pressure cooker, that pressure cooking tends to drastically mute onion flavor. I found this to be true when making stocks using my pressure cooker. I would try cooking this in the traditional way (not the pressure cooker) to see if that helps.

The biryani recipe which I use calls for kewra (screw pine extract). This may be the slightly sweet taste which you are missing.

I'm not sure if this gets at exactly what I'd call an "onion" flavour, but otherwise your experience sounds very similar to mine. I was pretty good at many different Indian recipes, but for the longest time, biryani eluded me. I tried all kinds of different things and ingredients and combinations, but could never seem to quite nail down a recipe that made my biryani taste "biryani-ey."

Until finally I hit on the magic ingredient: methi (fenugreek)!

Specifically, the powdered methi (I tend to prefer Shan brand, but MDH and National are good too). About 1/8 tsp methi per portion of biryani, and it completely transforms the dish, giving it a real biryani taste. (So in the recipe you posted, about 1/2 tsp methi.)

I notice you don't have any methi in that recipe, so maybe give it a try and you'll discover that's what's missing? Can't hurt!

You could try grating the onion rather than finely dicing it. Grating ruptures more of the cells and contributes a much stronger flavour throughout the dish.

They may be adding tamarind paste. It's a somewhat sweet/tangy flavor and is common in indian cuisine.