This is my signature biryani recipe, as my mother has dubbed it. It’s healthy and has half of the calories of a normal take-away so that’s a bonus!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 9 hrs |
| Total Time: | 10 hrs |
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 6 loaves |
Ingredients
- 12 ⅜ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
- 5 tablespoons anise seed
- ½ cup warm water
- 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm milk
- 8 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup butter, melted
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, and anise seed together in a very large bowl; create a well in the center.
- Mix warm water and yeast together in a bowl. Let stand until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 10 minutes.
- Beat warm milk, eggs, and butter together in a bowl; stir into yeast mixture. Add milk mixture to the well in the flour mixture. Knead flour-milk mixture using your hands until dough and your hands are no longer sticky. Cover dough with a clean cotton cloth and let rise, 8 hours to overnight.
- Grease and flour 6 loaf pans.
- Punch dough down and divide into 6 portions. Mold each portion into a round shape and place each in a prepared pan. Cover pans and let rise for 1 hour more.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Bake in the preheated oven until bread is cooked through, 45 to 50 minutes.
- This recipe is traditionally made in the spring with low humidity.
- My grandmother used to cover the dough with light winter coats/blankets to create extra warmth, but not heavy enough to weigh down on rising dough.
- Grease and flour 6 pans. I’ve used everything from 9-inch round pans to standard bread pans. You need 6, so you’ll need to get creative!
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 448 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 81 g |
| Cholesterol | 89 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 12 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 73 mg |
| Sugars | 22 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great recipe! My Great Aunt did everything by eye and only had a list of ingredients. This was just like hers. I made 1/2 the recipe and got 3 nice loafs.
I loved this recipe! Tasted just like my grandmothers! Since I am not a lover of Anise flavouring, I eliminated the Anise seeds, And substituted with a half teaspoon of vanilla extract and a half teaspoon of Anise extract. Also, just before baking, I gave each loaf an egg wash, (I mixed 2 egg yolks with 2 teaspoons of water, then brushed each loaf…Makes a great shine) . By the way, my favourite way to eat this is toasted with a little bit of butter.
I’m going to try it but nobody is making this with 5 tablespoons of anise seed. surely not black anise which last I purchased was $70 an ounce.
Great taste! Easy to make, even if the rising of the yeast dough takes a while! I brushed butter on top[ as soon as this bread came out of the oven. Wonderful recipe!