Sindhi Biryani

Sour-note layered biryani — the Sindhi biryani is distinguished by the deliberate addition of sour elements: thick yogurt in the meat marinade, dried plums (alu bukhara), and sometimes raw papaya as tenderiser. The meat (mutton or chicken) is marinated in yogurt, fried onion, fried potato, and a complex masala of whole spices, layered with partially cooked basmati rice and sealed for dum cooking. The dried plums soften into the rice during dum and create occasional pockets of intense sweet-sour contrast. Less aromatic with rose water and saffron than Hyderabadi biryani; the Sindhi biryani's defining quality is its bold spicing and the yogurt-sour character rather than fragrant delicacy.