This past Super Bowl Sunday, instead of enjoying piled-high nachos and steaming bowls of chili, I decided it was the perfect day for my first attempt at cooking Indian.

I don’t know too much about Indian cuisine. In fact, I had only had it once before meeting A – my family is more the Italian-every-night kinda crew. So without knowing the differences in regional cooking, I say “Durban-style” because I was given this recipe and shown how to make Breyani by a friend’s mother while we were visiting her in Durban. She is an amazing cook and even with the 100 degree, ridiculously humid weather while visiting, no one could resist her home cooked Indian delights.

Actually this post should be more appropriately titled “Kristen-style Biryani” or “Throw-it-all-in-and-see-what-happens Breyani” because that’s sort of what ended up happening.

I wish I could have a pot of this spice mix simmering constantly because it made my home smell DELICIOUS – both spicy and comfy with cinnamon, clove, star anise, bay leaf, mint, curry and more powdered spices than I can remember right now.

The most difficult part was deciphering the instructions I had written down months ago in Durban. I scribbled the instructions quickly as my friend’s Mom actually made the Breyani. Since the spices went in faster than I could write, I may have missed a step or two. Also I used a can of chopped tomatoes instead of one chopped tomato since I didn’t have one. And I skipped the chili peppers since I couldn’t find any at the market. But I think it still came out pretty good – really fragrant and bursting with flavor, but not too spicy.

We ate it bit by bit all week for lunch, dinner and a nibble here and there for a snack… mmm mmmm!