Night before last, I made my first attempt to produce Mughlai Murg Dum Biryani in my own little kitchen. This is a logical next step, as I am getting better and better at roasting spices and powdering them in my grinder to make curries.

I don't so much "use" recipes, in the sense of following one, as "read" recipes to get a sense of how several cooks put something together .. and then pretty much do it myself. When one seeks recipes which are as authentic as possible to consult (read, not use), one must often work with those which are written in English by people who are obviously ESL speakers.

One version of this particular recipe, which I found on-line, suggested that whole cumin seeds be reserved. Part way through the recipe, the following instruction appears: "Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan till hot and splutter the cumin seeds."

Splutter?