Rice, rice, baby
The best rice dish is at Bay Leaf, which consistently serves the best Indian food in the parish.
In India, Hindus and Muslims are too often at odds, and often for no good reason. But few things can bring quarreling neighbors together like a Muslim cook carrying a dish of homemade biryani to the Hindu family next door.
The best biryani I’ve ever eaten came from just such an encounter. A Muslim neighbor brought over the family’s version of the rice dish to celebrate a holiday in Delhi, in an area called Civil Lines—appropriately named, at least for that one meal, when everyone simply got along.
That biryani ranks easily among the 10 best dishes I’ve eaten in a lifetime spent searching out good food.
Louisiana has jambalaya, and that’s a wonderful thing. Biryani is better. Anyone who has tried both will not argue the point.
Biryani combines fluffy, fragrant rice with tender meat, seafood, eggs or vegetables, along with warm spices such as saffron, cardamom and cinnamon. Every region makes it differently, but it is always colorful, deeply flavorful and seriously hard to resist.
The best biryani in Baton Rouge is at Bay Leaf, a restaurant approaching its 20th anniversary. Every Indian restaurant in town has certain dishes it does better than others. What sets Bay Leaf apart is its consistent excellence across most of its sprawling menu.
The lamb biryani brings together tender chunks of meat, delicate rice and a blend of masalas that delivers layers of Indian flavor with a deep umami punch. Raita, the cooling yogurt dish served on the side, softens both the heat and intensity of the spices. Portions are generous enough that you can enjoy another couple of servings at home.
Bay Leaf has a few other things going for it. The restaurant recently began offering a weekend buffet—about 30 dishes for $25—giving diners a chance to try a little of almost everything. Coming soon is Thursday Thali Night, featuring oversized, school-cafeteria-style trays with separate compartments filled with your choice of vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes.
Both are good ways to explore the menu. But if all those choices leave you wondering where to begin, there is no quarrel from me: Go with the biryani. You’ll understand quickly why it is better than every other rice dish in the world.
