Indians love controversy. Be it Modi vs the opposition, Amazon vs Flipkart or Arnab Goswami vs Ravish Kumar. But the biggest and longest running controversy has been a gastronomic one. The Biriyani. Or is it Briyani or Biryani? There you go. People can’t even agree on how to spell it.
India is a land of enormity. From the population to the ethnicities. From the languages to the dialects. From the festivals to the faiths. And all this influences the culture and tradition which changes with every 100 kilometers that you travel. And so does the food.
This diversity has lent itself to the Biriyani as well, with every region having its own variant that they reckon as the true champion. I will not attempt to make a case for a particular one here, though I have a favorite which I am going to write about here shortly. Diversity in food like most things is a great thing because you get to taste and enjoy all. The Biriyani’s flavors have transcended boundaries and its aroma has permeated the world over. So here is my homage to it.
The history
The word Biriyani originates from the Persian word “Birinj” meaning rice. It’s believed that a familiar dish, the pulao or pilaf travelled to India via the ancient trade route also known as the silk route. During the reign of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, in the 1600s, his wife Mumtaz Mahal was disappointed to see the malnourished soldiers and ordered to prepare a dish that would improve their impoverished condition. The khansamas or the royal cooks swiftly got into action, mixed rice, meat and spices to give birth to the Biriyani.
Now, mixing rice, meat and spices does not require a genius and it is quite possible that there were other dishes similar to this concoction much before the Biriyani was invented in the royal kitchens of Delhi. This is evident from the numerous varieties of biriyanis that other regions of India has to offer.
The flavors
It’s not practical to be able to talk about all the various types of Biriyani in India so I will mention the ones that I have found most interesting. But before we begin, at a very high level Biriyanis can be divided into two types based on how the meat is cooked — Kacchi and Pakki. Kacchi means raw and Pakki means cooked. In the Kacchi version, the meat is marinated with the spices and cooked along with the rice. In the Pakki, version the meat is first cooked and then the rice is added to it.
Ok, now let’s talk about the different varieties.
The Lucknowi or Avadhi Biriyani
This Biriyani is probably the closest version of what the empress Mumtaz mahal’s soldiers ate. In Lucknow, this Biriyani is actually called Pulao. This is a Pakki biriyani. This version is prepared by first making a Yakhni or a broth of various Indian spices mixed with the meat. A number of aromatics like rosewater, kewra and saffron is used. The long-grained basmati rice is flowery and the flavors are subtle. The smell is heavenly. And because it’s prepared for the Nawab’s of lucknow, the whole spices are removed from the broth so that you don’t feel it in the bite of the morsels while eating. I have enjoyed this Biriyani at multiple places but I want to taste it in Lucknow and specifically at the legendary Idrees Biriyani shop.
The Hyderabadi Biriyani
This Biriyani originates from the namesake, a princely state in erstwhile India. Like the Lucknowi Biriyani this was also made in the royal kitchens for the Nawabs but it is very different from the Lucknowi version. Firstly, this is a Kacchi Biriyani. So the meat is cooked along with the rice under dum or pressure. The use of aromatics is less. Unlike, the Lucknowi version, the flavors are distinctively spicy.
The first time I tasted an authentic Hyderabadi Biriyani was in 2010 when I travelled to Hyderabad for work with few colleagues. In our excitement to make the most of the limited time in the city we had Biriyani for breakfast, lunch and dinner sampling the Biriyanis from Paradise and Bawarchi. While I appreciated the delicacies when I had it, the next morning was not particularly enjoyable.
The Kolkata Biriyani
This was the first Biriyani I had in my life. It was 1995 and I was in the 4th grade in school. We were visiting Kolkata during our summer vacations. My Chotomamu or maternal uncle took me, my younger brother and my cousins to the Aminia restaurant to have our first Biriyani. Tasting the spoonful of the flavorful biriyani rice with a piece of the potato soaked in all the goodness of the meat and spices was love at first bite. It is one of those memories you can’t forget!
While some may scorn at the mention of the potato in the Biriyani, for the real connoisseur it is the pièce de résistance of the Kolkata Biriyani. It is arguably the best culinary rendition ever done to the humble potato. If you are still wondering, this Biriyani is also my favorite one.
How the Kolkata biriyani originated is highly disputed. The most popular version is that in the 1800s it took form in the royal kitchen of the last king of Awadh, Nawab Wajid Ali shah when he was living in exile in the outskirts of Kolkata. Because the Nawab was banished, living on a pension and less affluent than his illustrious past, the supply of meat was limited and the royal cook started supplementing the biriyani with potatoes and eggs to make up for it. Of course this is a legend and there is no strong evidence to prove or disprove this. The Nawab’s successors disagree and take offense to the suggestion that the Nawab couldn’t afford enough meat in his biriyanis. Some food historians offer an alternate theory. As per them the potato in the Kolkata biriyani travelled from the memoni biriyani which hails from a Muslim community in western India.
Whatever be the cause of the Kolkata biriyani it turned out to be a triumph for the food lovers.
The south Indian Biriyanis
A whole new post can be written about the numerous types of south Indian biriyanis. All of them share some similarities but at the same time has a very distinctive flavor. For example, the biriyani that you get in Karnataka’s military hotels are rustic and spicy served with multiple small pieces of meat. Then there is the Andhra biriyani which even though originates from the same state as the Hyderabadi Biriyani, it is very different in the flavor profile. Another popular one is the Thalassery Biriyani from Kerala that has Arabic influences and features copious amounts of nuts. Unlike the Lucknowi, Hyderabad and Kolkata Biriyanis the south Indian biriyanis are not made with the long grained basmati rice. Instead they are prepared with the short grained rice such as the Jeeraga Samba rice. It’s excellent in soaking up all the flavors of the spices that it is cooked with. It’s difficult to mention all the south Indian biriyani varieties here but few other interesting ones are Thalakapatty Biriyani, Ambur Biriyani and the Donne Biriyani.
The rest of India
The first one to mention here would be the Kashmiri biriyani which is prepared with lot of dried fruits and the flavors are very subtle. A popular biriyani from the western India is the memoni Biriyani which like the Kolkata biriyani uses potato. There is a kamrupi Biriyani from the north eastern state of Assam that features different types of vegetables along with the meat. This one is another one which is in my list to try in the future.
In Conclusion
A popular food delivery service in India revealed the most ordered dish on its platform and unsurprisingly Biriyani was the numero uno. Great food like great culture travels and gets imbibed in different cuisines. The variety of biriyanis that one can discover in India is a testament to this. In fact, as I am writing this post from a small town in the pacific northwest, a delivery associate just delivered an order of a Biriyani that hails from the city of Vijayawada in India which is at least ten thousand kilometers away from my location. It’s called the Bezawada Biriyani. The next time I post I will update on how this one tastes.
Let me know what’s your favorite Biriyani.