SLOW & STEADY

MICHELIN STAR CHEF ROHIT GHAI TELLS LAUREN TAYLOR WHY PATIENCE IS THE KEY TO INDIAN COOKERY

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CAREFULLY cutting around a pastry top, it’s lifted off the bowl to reveal a lamb shank leg inside - the tender meat effortlessly falling off the bone as it’s removed and mixed into the rice.

This is a traditional Kolkatastyle biryani, made in a clay pot, with saffron, baby potatoes and fresh plums. Sealing with dough helps keep the steam in and the rice moist while the lamb slow cooks.

“There are about 18 to 20 variations of biryani in India. This is a different style to what we normally cook on the north side of India,” says chef Rohit Ghai on the version at newly-opened restaurant Vatavaran in London.

“I think a lot of people’s only experience [of biryanis] is Indian takeaways or most people make biryani the North Indian-style - there are two versions that are very common. But if you dig into it, you come to know that every single region has their own kind of biryani.”

On the island of Goa, the local biryani is made with prawns, for example.

“In Kerala, south India, there's a small Muslim community and they make their own biryanis, while the brahmin people [a Hindu group] also make their own,” explains Rohit, 42, who has worked with Atul Kochhar - the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star in the UK in 2001.

“Hyderabadi is the most popular biryani [from the state of Telangana]. They make it in layers - some is started with raw rice and raw meat, that's the most special, unique thing for hyderabadi biryani. They call it Kachay Gosht - meaning raw mutton and raw rice.”