Zanzibar Biryani

Biryani in Zanzibar combines rice with a spiced meat preparation and is part of the Swahili cooking of coastal East Africa. Chicken or other meat can be used, with tomato, yoghurt, ginger and garlic in the sauce. Fried onions and potatoes are characteristic additions in a local chicken version, seasoned with cumin, cinnamon and cloves.^[1]

The meat and potatoes can be cooked into a sauce, then combined with basmati rice and steamed. At some restaurants the rice and sauce are kept separate for serving. A simplified home preparation adds the rice to the chicken mixture in one pot, along with fried potatoes, onions and grated carrot, and finishes it with coriander. Biryani can be prepared for special guests during Ramadan.^[1]