Nobody can cook lamb or mutton like the Middle Easterners and Indians. Seriously. Lamb loins and racks, herbal mutton broth, soto kambing and roast leg of lamb. I have internally processed those many times and often it’s, what the Peranakans would say, “tak sepekah” (not earth shattering). Then the Middle Easterners and the Indians banded together and fine-tuned Nasi Briyani and the rest, is one wonderful aspect of our makan culture- throw in cheap and good too.

Allauddin's Nasi Bryani

The Muslim-Indians are a bunch of great foodies. They have never believed that good food must come expensive. Otherwise they’ll be the first to boycott any establishment that touts teh tarek above one dollar or and fancy nasi briyani for six dollars.

Strange, for it’s a complicated dish. They artfully marinate the meat with yoghurt and spices like cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cook it and then layer loose basmati grains over it before the “dum” it, which is a iconic Indian method of steaming nasi briyani with air tight lids so no flavour escapes. Some line the lip of the pot with dough, a cotton cloth or seal it with foil. Less imaginative methods include pressure cooking it. But all these methods can mean nothing, especially if the grains are wrong, the meat is tough and when bad timing leads to rice that’s soft and mushy, like a really bad Cantonese porridge.

I took a walk at Indian Muslim Nasi Briyani central, the Tekka Market food Centre. Easily at least five stalls tout this dish exclusively. Huge bucket sized pots of light amber coloured fragrant rice with mutton cuts sitting next to pots of masala chicken and fish beckon attention (btw, where I come, Nasi Briyani means mutton with rice. Chicken and fish versions are for folks who believe this is a healthy dish. Very staunch.). Three stalls possessed me and two was a calling. The queues at the stalls meant nothing as I have tried them all before and lived to tell more stories. So I re-visited two and this time, I shall not influence your decision with pictures and background stories that paint hardship, dedication, decades of family heritage, secret recipes and battled hardened weathered hawkers. What you see is what you’ll eat.

And to that equation, it leaves you with one pleasant headache- the decision to choose.

Allauddin’s Briyani

Address Blk 665, Buffalo Road #01-297, Tekka Market and Food Centre

Opening Hours 10am-6pm (Closed on Monday)

This is the most famous nasi briyani stall in Tekka Market. The grains are quite dry but not as loose (stirring and pre-fluffing in the pot helps). The nasi has a tad more flavour, (some may call it saltier) and the mutton is grainy and quite soft but little dry and gamey.
The queue at peak hours is at least twenty thick but it moves fast as the server is precise and methodic- slaps some nasi on a Styrofoam plate, lowers a piece of mutton in and covers it with more nasi. He pushes you a bowl of thick but not too spicy dulcha curry (as how most of his Chinese customers like it) and you’re down by $3.50. No points for presentation and not a piece of achar (spicy pickled salad) was in sight. Overall, tastier and a little rougher to the bite.

Yakader Muslim Food

Address #01-324, Tekka Market Food Centre (just behind Allauddin’s)

Opening Hours 10am-7pm daily

The nasi here is looser and fluffier and it feels so. They slap it on a tray lined with banana leaf and it spreads. Full points for presentation. The mutton, is unworldly soft. I have never had mutton that soft before and it is juicy and not uncomfortably gamey. They tear at the lightest pressure of the fork. Overall the spiciness and saltiness is lighter. Their dulcha curry is suspiciously similar to Allauddin’s but they offer you a few slices of achar cucumbers, albeit a sad version. But at $3, you can’t expect more.

Yakader's Nasi Briyani