What's the difference between pilaf and biryani?

First: Biryani is 100% Indian!

The name biryani means "fried" or "roasted". Biryani is a family of primarily North Indian dishes made from a mixture of spices, rice (usually basmati), meat/vegetables and yogurt. There are many kinds of biryanis and each kind has a uniqueness about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/biryani...

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PILAF also spelled pilau, perloo, perlau, plaw, pilaw, and pilaff is a Middle Eastern and Central and South Asian dish in which a grain, such as rice or cracked wheat, is generally first browned in oil, and then cooked in a seasoned broth. Depending on the local cuisine it may also contain a variety of meat and vegetables.

The Mughals introduced many Persian dishes to the subcontinent including rice dishes. Pulao (sometimes spelt 'pulav') is a South Asian dish made of rice. It is made with peas, potatoes, mutton, beef or chicken. Usually served on special occasions and weddings; very high in food energy and fat. Biryani is an Indian and Pakistani dish very similar to pilav. It is made from basmati or similar aromatic rice. This is an original Mughal dish introduced to India during the Mughal period.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pilaf...

Before biryanis became Mughlai food, they were part of Persian culture in the royal courts of Delhi during the medieval period. The word biryani comes from the Persian "birian", which means "fried" or "roasted". The Persians had a major rice dish in their pulao.

There is a subtle difference between the biryani and the pulao.

In a biryani, the parboiled rice is layered twice or more between the spices and the meat, and they are all cooked together. In a pulao, the stock of meat forms the base and the rice is cooked with the spices so that it absorbs the flavor of the spices. A pulao is like an assembly of cooked rice and meat.

Some of the other differences would be:

Pulao is made by the absorption method of cooking rice. Biryani is made by the draining method of cooking rice.In pulao the base ingredient is mixed with the rice, while in biryani the main ingredient is at the base of the vessel. In biryani lot of aromatic masala is used. Pulaos are also relatively less spiced.

"Historically, Biryani and Pulao were 'rice and meat' dish. In Pulao, the 'meat and rice are stirred' before cooking. For Biryani, meat and rice are clustered (layered) during cooking"

There are various recipes for Pulao and Biryani in the world. It is acknowledged widely that these recipes were perfected during the era of the Mughal emperors of the subcontinent, in their royal kitchens which were staffed by famous Persian and Indian chefs of the day.

Pulao or pilaf uses a one pot cooking method where the meat is partially cooked first with the special seasoning and then the rice is added on top and the cooking is completed on a low flame in a large pot with a tight fitting lid.

For Biryani the meat and rice are each separately fried with seasonings and each is gently cooked to the half done point. Then they are assembled together in layers and the cooking is completed to full done, on a low flame in a tightly covered pot.

Refer to the links below for all the mouth watering details:

Well the first fellow has some of it correct, the term Pilaf, Pilaw or Pilou can be rice, grains like bulgar, barley or quinoa, it is made with a blend of veg and stock and cooked either on the stovetop or in the oven.

Biryani is not a Mid-East or S Asian dish it is an Indian one dish meal with rice, veg and a meat or seafood of some sort, cooked with coconut milk and finished with butter and corinader, it can also have fruit/nuts or be all vegetarian, it is like a cassarole and it often done out doors on a charcoal fire, I have had chicken, lamb, mutton, shrimp there is very little pork used in India and beef would be to tough, in some way they start out the smae, but are 2 very different dishes in the end.

Pilaf-rice or other grain coked with sauteed onions,cardommam.cloves.cinnamon.bay leaves and black cumin.The recipe can vary from family to family.Some people add meat and some dont.If it is added it is cooked together with the grain.

Biryani is most definitely of Indian/Pakistani origin.Basmati rice is parboiled and then drained.

The meat goat/chicken is cooked separately in a yogurt sauce with an assortment of Indian spices.

Then the rice and the meat are piled on top of each other in layers and cooked together until the rice is fully cooked.Again some people add nuts like almonds or saffron among other ingredients.

What Is A Pilaf

Pilaf is a Middle Eastern and Central and South Asian dish in which a grain, such as rice or cracked wheat, is generally first browned in oil, and then cooked in a seasoned broth.

Biryani is a family of Middle Eastern, South Asian dishes made from a mixture of spices, rice (usually basmati), meat/vegetables and yogurt.