Travancore Biryani

Travancore style layered rice and meat — unlike the Malabar/Thalassery biryani which uses Kaima rice and is closer to the Moplah Muslim tradition, the Travancore biryani uses long-grain rice cooked in coconut milk and meat stock, layered with a mutton or chicken masala prepared in coconut oil with fried onion, ginger-garlic, green chilli, whole spices, and tomato. The rice is par-cooked in thin coconut milk (giving it a subtle coconut flavour) then layered with the meat, sealed, and dum-cooked. Less fragrant with rose water or saffron than Malabar biryani; the coconut milk and coconut oil give it a distinctly Keralan sweetness and aroma. Made for weddings and major feasts in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam; considered a more contemporary Travancore preparation influenced by royal Kerala court cooking.