Chef's Blog

Over two decades ago, when we started the biryani business, we put up a sign in the Dunlop Street outlet, still there on the wall, that spoke of our philosophy at Bismillah. It is even more true today than it was at the time. It influenced our choice of the things that go into the cooking of biryani and everything else that affects your health and well being. It led us to offer three portion sizes, small, regular and large, for you to choose from. It is the amount of food you

A recipe is a set of ingredients and instructions for preparing food. Biryani falls outside of that. I have cooked biryani for decades. I consider it an art form. Gastronomic creativity that appeals to your sense of smell, taste, and fulfilment on so many levels. The broad brush strokes of what makes a biryani a biryani: Rice and meat are prepped separately but eventually cooked together. In the final analysis, the meat may fall off the bone, but aged rice keeps its majestic

Robots and the soft power of AI, deployed together, have brought us one step closer to going full AI. We have achieved ‘almost’ autonomous cooking from our Central Processing kitchens right down to our individual outlets. We call it AI-assisted for now, part machines, part AI. How? We remain in charge of workflows, processes, and tools or equipment. Artificial intelligence chips in on demand and acts as supportive, augmenting thought through vetted input, rather than as a fu

I see people branding biryani to countries or large tracts of geographical locations: Pakistani biryani, Indian biryani, Hyderabadi biryani, etc. Bismillah is often mentioned as Pakistani biryani by our competitors. I’d like to think that a rose is a rose by any other name. Biryani was not born in the Indian subcontinent, nor did it migrate later, after the creation of these two countries, to yet another region. Different locales have had their influences on this centuries-ol

“Haleem is a rich, savory, slow-cooked stew widely consumed across South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia. It is made by blending meat, grains, and lentils into a thick, porridge-like consistency through hours of constant stirring and mashing.” That was how ChatGPT described haleem. I find it more clinical and less soulful. Mostly made with mutton or chicken, my own concoction of late is pure veg. Yes, three kinds of soul food. Lentils, barley, and spices in my kitchen

It is my go-to kebab – Shami. It comes baked in an oven, but if you buy it and bring it back home, you are set for a superb meal. Every time I prepare Shami, I cook it in one simple way but serve it in a few different ways. Advisory: Use a non-stick pan. Always. Prep: Pan-fry with a drizzle of ghee (not butter) and serve it with biryani. You can’t go wrong. It is one perfect match. No curry whatsoever, so it doesn’t disturb the flavourful taste of the biryani itself. On the c

I am merely trying to bring back the art of making proper biryani into the 21st century like it so richly deserves. It needed someone’s commitment to stay the course and bring modern manufacturing equipment and techniques to enable it to be scaled up without depth of flavour being lost or compromised. Hence, we had to invest in space, cutting edge technology and equipment and now AI to bring about constant quality improvements so we can give you your money’s worth. The journe

I thought I'd take this opportunity here to answer some questions that you may have about Bismillah and why biryani means so much to us. I want you to know that Biryani as a dish is the top rice dish in the world. There isn’t a dish that delivers the depth of flavours that biryani does. Nothing in any part of the world comes close to it. Why? It is cooked or prepared in a way that flavours are layered and the end result when you taste and process it, upon being served, will