What Is Dum Biryani? How to Spot the Real Thing in Denver

Ask ten people in Denver where to get good biryani and you'll get ten answers. Part of the problem is that a lot of restaurant biryani isn't really biryani. It's rice cooked in one pot, curry cooked in another, and the two stirred together before serving. That's rice and curry. Fine, but not the same dish.

We make ours dum-style. Our biryani page has prices and options.

What dum means

Dum is a slow, sealed-pot method. Marinated meat goes into a heavy pot, partly cooked basmati with saffron and fried onion is layered on top, and the pot is sealed so no steam escapes. It cooks gently, and the trapped steam pushes the meat's juices and the whole spices, like cardamom, cloves, and bay leaf, up through every layer of rice.

When it's done right, the grains stay separate and never sticky. The meat is tender. And you can pick out the flavors individually, the saffron, the onion, the spices, instead of one blended taste.

Five ways to tell it's real

1. Rice texture. Separate grains mean it was steamed in the pot. Clumpy rice means it was boiled and mixed.
2. Layers. The meat should be inside the rice, not spooned on top.
3. Uneven color. Saffron leaves streaks of yellow and orange. An even color all the way through usually means food coloring.
4. Whole spices. You'll find the occasional cardamom pod or clove. Don't eat those.
5. The smell when it lands. A sealed pot traps aroma. If there's nothing when the plate arrives, it wasn't sealed.

Our biryani

We make biryani with chicken, lamb, shrimp, or vegetables, or a combination of chicken and lamb. It carries some heat, but the rice keeps it balanced. It's gluten-free, and it's a full meal on its own, though nobody's stopping you from adding garlic naan.