This is the second article of our collection, “Biryani Stories,” which focuses on a common culinary subculture in South Asian countries. In this installment, we explore the various types of Biryani that exist in India. While a debate rages over whether or not Biryani, the king of South Asian delicacies, originated in Persia (gift-day Iran), records show that this mixed rice dish has its origins in the various Muslims of the Indian subcontinent, part of the Mughlai cuisine for which India is famous.
This does not cut the price of the robust common sense in the back of the claim that Biryani originated in Persia. The phrase comes from the Persian phrase “brain,” which means that “fried earlier than cooking” — but Iranian Biryani street food no longer includes rice; as a substitute, it has developed into chunks of meat cooked in an envelope of paper-thin bread. Of course, it is also viable that the meals may have traveled with pilgrims from primary Asia to the Deccan region in south India.
The present-day Indian subcontinent versions of Biryani evolved from the 15th century to about the 19th century, throughout the reign of the Mughal Empire. India is a diverse United States of America in terms of culture and culinary flavors. Northern Indian food types, for example, had been influenced using the Mughlai cooking techniques like Dum Pukht (slow cooking in a sealed pot) and butter-based total curries, while Southern Indian people are fond of the use of extra veggies, rice, and seafood.
North and Central Indian Biryanis
One of the most well-known Biryanis in India is Lucknowi Biryani, named after Lucknow, the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It’s far considered one of the first-rate Biryanis in both taste and aroma: the textures are softer and the spices milder.
Hyderabadi Dum Biryani originated as a mix of Mughal and Iranian delicacies throughout the Mughal viceroy Asif Jah, who became known as the Nizam of Hyderabad, in the 18th century. His royal chefs would marinate meat with spices overnight and soak it in yogurt before layering it with long-grain, aromatic Basmati rice and putting it in a sealed handi (cooking pot), in which it would be cooked to perfection in Dum Pukht fashion.
Hyderabad additionally has a few offbeat flavors of Biryani, especially Doodh Ki Biryani, which is the polar opposite of the highly spiced Hyderabadi Dum Biryani: because it’s miles flavored with creamy milk, roasted nuts, and minimal spices, it tastes alternatively mild.
Biriyani in South India
Towards India’s south, the Biryani recipes start to range widely, incorporating components like vegetables and seafood. Take the instance of Bhatkali Biryani from Bhatkal, a tiny coastal metropolis in Karnataka. For this dish, the meat, the spices, and the rice are all cooked one by one without using oil and ghee, and mixed just seconds earlier than serving.
Further south in Mangalore, a coastal town in Karnataka, there are seafood forms of biryani. In this Pukki Biryani, wherein half-cooked fish is layered with rice in a sealed handi and slow-cooked, spices like fennel and coriander are commonly used with rice types aside from the traditional long-grained Basmati. The Ambur Biryani from the Arcot region of Tamil Nadu is essentially Pukki Biriyani (rice cooked one by one) with a distinct characteristic: it uses a short-grained Seeraga Samba rice.
