Thalassery biryani is the oldest surviving coastal biryani tradition in India, and the one most directly connected to the Arab spice trade that carried cloves from the Maluku Islands to the Malabar Coast two thousand years ago. It was developed by the Mappila, the Muslim community of Kerala's Malabar coast, descended from the Arab merchants who had settled there from the eighth century onwards and married into local families, producing a culture that was simultaneously Arab and Keralite, and a cuisine that was simultaneously the most Indian and the most oceanic of all biryanis.
The dish's distinctiveness begins with its rice. Where Mughal and Hyderabadi biryanis use long-grained basmati, Thalassery biryani uses khyma (also written khaima or jeerakasala), a short, thin, intensely aromatic grain grown in the Palakkad and Wayanad districts of Kerala, with a fragrance so pronounced that the pot perfumes the kitchen when the lid is lifted. Whole cloves are added directly to the ghee before anything else: the first flavour the rice encounters is clove-scented fat, which coats each grain and persists as a warm, sweet undertone through the finished dish. The Thalassery method is the opposite of the kacchi (raw) method of Hyderabad: the meat and rice are cooked entirely separately, then layered and sealed for a brief dum (steam finish) to allow the fragrances to meld. The result is lighter, more fragrant, and less intensely spiced than its Mughal descendants: a biryani that smells of the sea routes that built it.
Ingredients
Rice
500 g khyma / jeerakasala rice (or substitute with good basmati: wash and soak 30 mins, drain)
3 tbsp ghee
900 ml water (slightly salted)
Rice Spices
6 whole cloves
4 green cardamom pods, lightly cracked
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
Chicken Masala
1 kg bone-in chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks)
3 tbsp ghee or neutral oil
3 large onions: 2 thinly sliced for frying, 1 finely diced for masala
6 cloves garlic, minced to a paste
3 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated to a paste
3 green chillies, slit lengthways
2 medium ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
150 g full-fat yoghurt
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 small bunch of fresh coriander and fresh mint, roughly chopped
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Chicken Whole Spices
4 whole cloves
3 cardamom pods, cracked
½ cinnamon stick
Garnish
50 g cashew nuts, fried in ghee until golden
50 g raisins, fried briefly in ghee until plump
2 large onions, very thinly sliced and deep-fried until deeply golden and crisp (birista)
3 tbsp ghee, to finish
Method
Make the birista (crispy fried onions): heat neutral oil to about 160°C in a wide pan. Add very thinly sliced onions in batches: they should sizzle gently, not frantically. Fry for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until deep golden-brown and beginning to crisp. Remove to a paper-towel-lined tray. They will crisp further as they cool. Reserve the onion-flavoured oil for cooking.
Cook the chicken masala: heat 3 tbsp ghee in a heavy-based pot. Add the cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon and fry for 30 seconds. Add the finely diced onion and fry for 10 minutes until golden. Add the ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook until soft and oily, about 8 minutes.
Add the coriander, turmeric, and salt to the masala base and stir. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat. Add the yoghurt, stir well, and cover. Cook over medium-low heat for 25–30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the masala is thick and clinging. Add lemon juice, half the fresh coriander and mint, and half the birista. Stir and remove from heat.
Cook the rice: heat 3 tbsp ghee in a large saucepan. Add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaves and fry 30 seconds. Add the drained rice and stir to coat each grain in the clove-spiced ghee for 2 minutes. Add the salted water, bring to a boil, then reduce to the lowest heat, cover, and cook for exactly 10 minutes: the rice should be about 70% cooked (slightly underdone). Drain immediately if any water remains.
Layer the biryani: in a large heavy-based pot or Dutch oven, spread the chicken masala in an even layer. Spoon the partially cooked rice over the chicken in an even layer. Scatter the remaining fresh herbs, the fried cashews and raisins, the remaining birista, and a drizzle of ghee over the rice. Cover tightly: seal the lid with a rope of dough or foil if the pot is not tight-fitting.
Place the sealed pot over the lowest possible heat for 20–25 minutes (dum cooking). If your hob has no very low setting, place a heavy tawa or flat griddle pan under the pot to diffuse the heat. The biryani is ready when steam escapes from the edges of the lid and the kitchen smells of cloves and fried onion. Open at the table and gently fold the layers together before serving.
Notes
Khyma (jeerakasala) rice is available in Indian grocery stores, particularly those serving a South Indian clientele. It is worth seeking out, its short, intensely fragrant grain behaves very differently to basmati and produces a lighter, more delicate biryani. If substituting basmati, reduce the dum cooking time slightly as basmati finishes faster. The Thalassery biryani is traditionally made with chicken (kozhi biryani) or mutton (aattu biryani), for mutton, increase the masala cooking time to 50–60 minutes. Rose water (2 tbsp) can be sprinkled over the rice layer before sealing for a more aromatic finish, in keeping with the Mappila tradition.
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