Aromatic, delicious and versatile, biryani is a dish steeped in history and local traditions. From dividing the Internet and uniting neighbours to being the most-ordered dish online, our love for biryani is no casual affair.
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You may already be familiar with variants like the Hyderabadi biryani famously prepared in the Dum method or the Awadhi or Lucknawi biryani from the royal state of Lucknow.
Interestingly, the word biryani is derived from the Persian words Biriyan and Birinj, meaning ‘fried before cooking’ and ‘rice’ respectively. There are many origin stories of this rice and meat-based dish and people often argue how exactly it came to be so popular in India.
Some believe that Timur, a Turk Mongol ruler, brought the precursor to this dish when he came to India in 1398. Another story says that biryani took the Maritime route and entered India from the Malabar coast as some Tamil literature references a popular rice-based dish called Oon Soru in 2 AD. And the most popular legend credits Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s begum Mumtaz Mahal, for coming up with a rice and meat dish in the 1600s to feed the starving and malnourished army.
Whether you believe in one story or all of them, the numerous origins means that there are plenty of hyperlocal biryanis relished all over the country, each with their own technique, ingredients and spices.
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Let’s look at some of these local biryanis that every biryani lover should try!
Believed to be the brainchild of a famous gourmet who was banished by the British, the Calcutta Biryani is prepared with much milder spices and has a tinge of sweetness. The biryani centrally features potatoes, signifying the erstwhile budget constraints of the banished chef.
A biryani cooked without meat? Yes, the Tehari or Tahari biryani is made with lots of vegetables. According to fables, this historic biryani was devised to adapt and suit to the local palettes of vegetarian bookkeepers in Mysore’s Mughal court.
Possibly developed after Arab seafarers introduced biryani to the Malabar coast, the Thalassery Biryani is made with chicken wings, mild Malabar spices and a type of rice called kaima. Fried cashew nuts, sultana raisins and fennel seeds are used to finish off this biryani.
Prepared with a South Indian twist, the Ambur biryani traces its history to the Nawabs of Arcot in the Ambur town of Tamil Nadu. The Ambur and Arcot biryani are closely related and are served with a brinjal curry and a pachadi raita on the side.
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This is by no means an exhaustive list. The list of local biryanis boasts of Bombay, Bangalore, Kalyani, Sindhi, Menoni, Bhatkali, Kashmiri and Dindigul among many, many more!