We loved the nasi biryani that my missus cooked that day when she tried using the ingredients, all in a packet, from Maggi…
As a matter of fact, she bought it sometime ago but it was sitting there all this while. I guess she was not sure whether it would be nice or not and was hesitant to use it.
Yes, it was so very nice…
…that I decided to hop over to the neighbourhood shops and grab a few more packets to keep in our pantry to cook whenever we feel like it.
I particularly loved the fragrance of the spices which was quite unlike most of the nasi biryani at the Malay shops and stalls here. Most of the time, their rice would not be much different from their nasi kuning or nasi kunyit or nasi minyak, whatever they call it – nice too, yellow in colour but not that strong on the spices…usually.
I checked the packet and yes, it does say there are ketumbar (coriander), jintan putih (cumin) and other spices…
…in it and looking at the recipe at the back…
…I could see kayu manis (cinnamon sticks), buah pelaga (cardamom) and bunga cengkir (cloves) in the list of ingredients suggested. No wonder the rice we cooked was bursting with the lovely fragrance of all these spices.
Unfortunately, when I got to the shops that first time around, I could not find any – it was out of stock. Of course, I was delighted when I saw their newly-arrived box when I went again the other day and I wasted no time at all in grabbing a few packets to take home. You can bet your bottom dollar that we shall be cooking it again soon!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Nowadays everything is so easy to cook with all the ready premix ingredients in a packet. No hassle whatsoever.
Yes, I can imagine how difficult it is to cook biryani rice from scratch…unless you take shortcuts like those at the Malay shopa and stalls but usually, theirs do not make the grade.
Nice?? Never try cooking briyani rice myself. But nowadays everything is so convenient. No need from scratch. All ready pack for convenient cooking.
Yes, but not all are nice. Just like the shops we go to, we must know where to go…so when it comes to these things, we must know what to buy.
I have never tried cooking nasi briyani at home. Good that you recommended this since you have tasted it. If I want to cook I will go for this brand especially when I need to cook for more people. Hubby and I usually share 1 packet of nasi briyani and we usually get it from the stall that is near my house.
We do not have really good ones outside except at one place that we frequent, chef from North India…but they open at 2. If I go and order, by the time it is ready, it will be at least 12.30 already and I will get home by 1. I would be dying of starvation already by then. If only they would open at 11.
Maggi makes other pastes here, such as, buttered chicken, casserole, Mexican, sweet chilli, etc.
But I have not come across nasi briyani yet.
I loved their crab and tang hun soup – dunno why they stopped producing it. Tasted like shark’s fins soup minus the offensive stuff…plus so easy to cook, just add water and boil!
It has been far too long since my last biryani.
We haven’t had the ones at our favourite place in town for a while now too. Thank goodness we can now cook something quite decent ourselves at home.