Potli Biriyani - Biriyani in a bag

 A potli is a drawstring bag used by a lot of Indians to carry their cash /spices / medicines since ancient times.  The cash is placed in the bag, the strings pulled tight and the bag tucked into the pleats of the sari or the dhoti. There are lots of different types of potlis.  They are made to match the colour of your sari and usually they are well decorated too.  As kids, we used to have little potlis to carry our spending money and we used to carry them to the fairs in our street and but lollies, icy poles, toys and dolls.  The potlis have  kept evolving with the times and the current day potlis come equipped with pockets for mobile phones - which has become the most important accessory for most people.  These days potlis have become more of a fashion statement and you can expect to pay a lot for them if you happen to pick one up from a boutique. They are also heavily embellished - with pearls, crystals, mirrors or exquisite hand embroidery.

Today we are going to check out how to make a potli for carrying food - in this case, biriyani!  This was trending on instagram and so this post is more about making the actual potli rather than the biriyani itself.

You can make the potli to hold pulao rice or vegetable biriyani too. The best part is you can eat the potli later with your favourite curry once you have eaten the rice.

 Ingredients:

To make Potli 

1 cup plain flour

1 cup wholemeal wheat flour (atta)

1 sachet yeast

About 200 ml lukewarm water

100 ml lukewarm milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons oil 

Extra flour for dusting and rolling out dough

1 23 cm cake tin or pyrex bowl, greased and lined with baking paper.

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

For filling:

Pre cooked Biriyani or pulao rice

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. 

Dissolve sugar and yeast in the lukewarm water and set aside for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

In a wide plate, add the flours and salt and mix well.  Make a well in the centre and add the activated yeast and mix into the flour.

Next, add the milk little by little and keep kneading till you get a springy, pliable dough.

Take a bowl and grease the inside of it with some oil and place the dough inside the bowl.

Keep it in a warm place and let the dough rise to double its size.

This step takes at least an hour. while you are waiting, you can prepare the biriyani or pulao rice.

After an hour or so, the dough would have doubled in size.  Knead it some more and roll it out.

Place the rolled out dough carefully over your greased and lined pan so that there is plenty of over hang.

Start filling your bowl with the rice of your choice and gravy of your choice.  Today I have made biriyani with the rice and the chicken cooked separate so that I can layer it in my potli.

Start with the first layer of rice, then the chicken or vegetable gravy, some mint, fried cashew nuts, sultanas, onions and some kewra essence (pandan essence). Continue to the top in this manner and finish with a layer of fried onions, sultanas, mint cashew nuts and kewra essence.

The next step is to gather the overhang, gently bring it to the top and pleat it and make a knot at the top.

Brush the top with the beaten egg and sprinkle the poppy and sesame seeds all over. I used a star anise for the knot - it is just for decoration.

Bake for 20 minutes till the top goes golden brown.

Gently lift the potli out of the baking dish and place in a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve with raita, kurma or any gravy of your choice.

Note: 

I made the mistake of using whole chicken pieces with bones. I would use boneless pieces or vegetables next time to cut the wedges easily.

The bread also soaks up the gravy, so may be the next time I might use slightly more gravy inside the potli.