If Mauritius was a dish, wouldn’t it be the #briani #biryani #briyani? Bringing so many spices, vegetables, rice and condiments together to create an outburst of flavours that pleases the eyes, the nose, the mouth and somehow the mind – it provides comfort, warmth and an unmatched beautiful feeling of satisfaction. It is so much diversity into one dish, creating a splendid medley. As an ode to this dish we all love, here are some pictures from today’s Sunday preparation.
Cooking the Briani is as fulfilling as eating it. The Briani has been a Sunday family lunch, at least once a month, since I can remember. I have vivid images of my grandmother carefully preparing her ingredients, mixing the spices, frying the potatoes to the right point and..ah the layering of rice, and herbs and fried onions -a feeling I am sure a lot of you relate to. My Mum too had her own way of making the Briani, but they all learnt from grandmother, she was the Briani expert. She never failed to boast of how our very close muslim family friend, Bhai Amid had taught her some well guarded techniques of their own family. Even though the Briani is a traditional dish of Muslim celebratory tables (and no one would miss an invitation from a Muslim family 🙂 ), it has paved its way to the hearts of all Mauritians.
That is why I say it is so much like Mauritius. All the spices when blended and cooked together with the other ingredients, on a slow fire, produces the unique and irresistible briani aroma, likewise a Mauritius with so many diverse components (also uniquely beautiful on their own), blended together and simmered with the warmth of unity, sharing and solidarity creates this wonderful national fabric we so much love.
Mauritius cannot have a single National dish, it certainly has several, but we could outright crown the Briani as the king of them all, because it brings the Mauritian people together, in taste and in celebration, but above all in sharing.
Copyright: Devaraj Moothoosamy. Please share this article in a respectful and ethical manner, by mentioning the source. Usage of photos from this article is strictly prohibited without prior authorisation. Kindly feel free to contact me at any time.
Deva's Kitchen 
Nice post ! Made me hungry.
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Thank you. Briani always gets one hungry, doesn’t it? 🙂
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Hey, your posts are great Bro! Reminds me the time I was living in Mauritius. Amazing work, keep up doing
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