Good biriyani in London?

[medgirl]

I am yet to find authentic biriyani in London. Most places serve something quite puzzling with a sort of curry sauce on the side, nothing like the true versions you find in Muslim eateries in India.
Where can I find great biriyani in London?

[pinklilyxxx]

incidentally, the best biryani ever is made in dhaka, bangladesh. i have tried all kinds and it is the best by far.

[JFores]

Gram Bangla has very good biryani when they have it, but you don't know 100% when they will so call ahead. They're on Brick Ln so it's easily accessible to anything central.

[medgirl]

Hi JFores, I was planning to check out Gram Bangla for their Bengali specialties, but as far as my experience goes, Bangladeshis are not great at cooking biriyani in the traditional style. They do a nice ilish machh pulao and yakhni pulao but not the north indian/hyderabadi biriyani which is the real deal.

[feddie207]

I like Sizzling Bombay in Drummond St for a hole in the wall kind of place.

I think a biryani needs the veg curry on the side or it is too dry; it's my favorite thing about the dish.

[howler]

well made biryani is a feast unto itself: the meat below isn't bone dry and when you mix the different rice layers with your hand its a revelation in moist wonderful goodness.

[medgirl]

i agree with howler. biriyani is a meal in itself, should be moist with ghee and meat should be succulent and tender. in india they sometimes serve it with raita, never with the insipid bog-standard curry slop they dish up alongside biriyani in the UK.

[limster]

A related question -- is there a good Hyderabadii place out there? Have had better than I expected biryani at Lahore Karahri in Tooting, but my expectations weren't high, and it certainly wasn't the elaborate layered affair of rice and meat.

[medgirl]

Don't know of any Hyderabadi restaurants in London. I have tried the biriyani at Lahore Karahi several times, it's a bit hit and miss, sometimes alright but pretty stale and dry at other times. I've only been to Tayyab's once and stuffed myself silly with their grilled meats, so had no room left for biriyani, but I think it might do a good biriyani as it is a Pakistani restaurant.
I have a wonderful Hyderabadi cookbook but have never been able to replicate the recipes to perfection. According to that book, the test of a good biriyani is to throw a handful of it in a spray fashion and if each grain of rice lands separately without sticking to each other, then it is a properly cooked biriyani !