Kababs, kulfis, qormas: Forgotten recipes from Shah Jahan’s kitchens get a second life in this book

‘The Mughal Feast’ by Salma Yusuf Husain recreates the Persian recipe book ‘Nuskha-e-Shahjahani’, providing a glimpse into a bygone era of pomp and show.

The silver twilight of Mughal civilization began with Shah Jahan. Delhi was now a sanctuary of an urbane, sophisticated court which had taste, even elegance. By early 1730 the city had absorbed various elements from neighbouring regions and witnessed a mingling of international as well as national strains and an interchange of ideas, customs and food.

The Portuguese relationship with the Mughals had already been established a long time back, along the trade routes. Hence the imperial kitchens, besides Indian ingredients, saw an additional ingredient brought by the Portuguese – the chilli. The chilli was very similar to the long pepper, already in use, and therefore did not look too unfamiliar to royal chefs, but had the hot taste. Other vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes also appeared on the scene and the food of the Red Fort became rich in colour, hot in taste, and varied as compared to the bland food of its ancestors. Qormas and qaliyas, pulaos and kababs, and vegetables in different garb, besides European cakes and puddings, adorned the table.

Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in his court | Google Cultural Institute/Wikimedia Commos Licensed under CC BY Public Domain Mark 1.0].

Cooking and serving food in the royal kitchens was a riot of colours, fragrances, experiments, table manners and protocols. The emperors usually ate with their queens and concubines, except on festive occasions, when they dined with nobles and courtiers. Daily meals were usually served by eunuchs, but an elaborate chain of command accompanied the food to the table. The hakim (royal physician) planned the menu, making sure to include medicinally beneficial ingredients. For instance, each grain of rice for the pulao was coated with silver warq, which aided digestion and acted as an aphrodisiac. One account records a Mughal banquet given by Asaf Khan, the emperor’s wazir, during Jahangir’s time to Shah Jahan – though no outsider had ever seen any emperor while dining except once when Friar Sebastian Manriquea, a Portuguese priest, was smuggled by an eunuch inside the harem to watch Shah Jahan eat his food with Asaf Khan.

Once the menu was decided, an elaborate kitchen staff – numbering at least a few hundred – swung into action. Since a large number of dishes were served at each meal, an assembly line of staff undertook the chopping and cleaning, the washing and grinding. Food was cooked in rainwater mixed with water brought in from the Ganges for the best possible taste. Not only the cooking but the way the food was served is interesting to note – food was served in dishes made of gold and silver studded with precious stones, and of jade, as it detected poison. The food was eaten on the floor; sheets of leather covered with white calico protected the expensive carpets. This was called dastarkhwan. It was customary for the emperor to set aside a portion of food for the poor before eating. The emperor began and ended his meal with prayers; the banquet ran for hours as Shah Jahan liked to enjoy his food, spending long hours at dastarkhwan.

With the passage of time, indigenization in the cooking style became obvious and certain Indian ingredients, like Kashmiri vadi, sandalwood powder, suhaga, betel leaves, white gourd, and batasha, and fruits like mango, phalsa, banana, etc., were used to give different flavours to dishes.

The arrival of every dish was a ceremony and history will never forget the pomp of those times, along with the flavours which remain only in the pages of handwritten manuscripts of those days, such as Nuskha-e-Shahjahani. Not only the imperial kitchens of the emperor, but also the bazaars of the city were charged with the smoke of different kababs, and the environment was filled with the fragrance of nahari, haleem, qormas and qaliyas. The array of breads was dazzling. Festive occasions were never complete without baqarkhani, kulchas and sheermals. Sharbat ke katore and kulfi ke matke added colour to the scenario. The city of Shah Jahan was a paradise of food with the creations of local and foreign chefs.

This luxurious way of serving and preparing food continued only till the time Shah Jahan ruled, as his son Aurangzeb did not believe in luxury, pomp and show. Unfortunately, the last years of this great emperor were unhappy. Deposed by his son Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan was imprisoned in Agra Fort and remained there for eight years until his death in 1666. Legend has it that Aurangzeb ordered that his father be allowed only one ingredient of his choice, and Shah Jahan chose chickpeas. He chose them because they can be cooked in many different ways. Even today, one of the signature dishes of North Indian cuisine is Shahjahani dal, chickpeas cooked in a rich gravy of cream.

QALIYA KHASA DO-PIYAZAH

LAMB COOKED WITH ONIONS, GREEN GRAM AND VEGETABLE | Serves: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

Lamb, cut into medium-sized pieces 1 kg 

Green gram (moong dal), washed, soaked for ½ hour ¼ cup / 60 gm 

Ghee 1 cup / 250 gm 

Onions, sliced 1 cup / 250 gm

Salt to taste 

Coriander (dhaniya) seeds, pounded 4 tsp / 20 gm 

Ginger (adrak), grated 4 tsp / 20 gm 

Beetroots (chuqander), peeled, cut into medium-sized pieces 3 cups / 750 gm 

Turnips (shalgam), peeled, cut into medium-sized pieces 3 cups / 750 gm 

Carrots (gajar), scraped, cut into cubes 3 cups / 750 gm 

Rice paste 4 tsp / 20 gm 

Saffron (kesar) 2 gm 

Freshly ground to a fine powder:
Cinnamon (dalchini) ½ tsp / 3 gm 

Cloves (laung) ½ tsp / 3 gm 

Green cardamoms (choti elaichi) ½ tsp / 3 gm 

Black peppercorns (kali mirch), ground 1 tsp / 5 gm

METHOD

1. Heat 100 gm ghee in a pan; sauté the onions and lamb with 2 tbsp water. Add the salt, pounded coriander seeds and grated ginger; cook, on medium heat, until the lamb is tender. 

2. Add the beetroots, turnips, carrots and green gram with enough water to cover; cook the vegetables on low heat. 

3. When the vegetables and lamb are fully cooked and at least 1 cup water remains in the pan, remove the pan from the heat and separate the lamb pieces and vegetables from the stock. 

4. Temper the stock with the remaining ghee. Return the vegetables and lamb to the stock and bring to a boil. Add the rice paste and mix well. 

5. Add the freshly ground spices and mix. 

6. Transfer into a serving dish and serve garnished with saffron.

NARANJ PULAO

ORANGE-FLAVOURED LAMB CURRY COOKED WITH RICE | Serves: 6-8

INGREDIENTS

Oranges 4 big / 6 small 

Rice 4 cups / 1 kg

Yoghurt (dahi), whisked 1 cup / 250 gm 

Lemons (nimbu) 2 

Sugar 2 cups / 500 gm 

Saffron (kesar) ¼ tsp 

Ghee 1 cup / 250 gm 

Salt to taste 

Dry fruits as needed 

Green coriander (hara dhaniya), chopped as needed 

For the yakhni: 

Lamb, cut into pieces 1 kg 

Ghee 1 cup / 1250 gm 

Onions, sliced 1 cup / 250 gm 

Ginger (adrak) 4 tsp / 20 gm 

Salt to taste 

Cinnamon (dalchini), 2 sticks 1˝ 

Green cardamoms (choti elaichi) ½ tsp / 3 gm 

Coriander (dhaniya) seeds, crushed 4 tsp / 20 gm 

Cloves (laung) ½ tsp / 3 gm

METHOD 

1. Peel the oranges carefully so that the case remains intact. Remove the segments and keep aside. Sprinkle salt inside the case and float them in whisked yoghurt for an hour. Remove the cases from the yoghurt and wash with cold water. Boil the orange cases for a minute. Remove and keep aside. 

2. In another pan filled with water, squeeze the juice of one lemon and boil the orange cases again. In case lemon is not available, boil in thin yoghurt liquid, simmer to make them tender. 

3. Make yakhni with the lamb pieces and all the ingredients mentioned. Temper the stock with cloves. 

4. Parboil the rice and keep aside. 

5. Prepare a sugar syrup of one-string consistency; keep aside.

6. Remove the seeds and the skin of each segment and coarsely chop and mix with the yakhni. Take 1 tbsp cooked rice and mix it with saffron. Cook on low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove and keep aside. 

7. In a separate pan, spread the yakhni, evenly pour 3 tbsp syrup and simmer, when the syrup is absorbed, spread the rice and pour some ghee. Cover the pan and put on dum. While serving, transfer the pulao into a serving dish and place the orange cases over it. Fill one case with almond halwa, another with pistachio halwa, another with saffron and orange rice and another with salted minced lamb*. Garnish all with dry fruits and chopped coriander.

*You can buy almond halwa, pistachio halwa and salted minced lamb at a grocery store, or make them separately. You can also choose your fillings as per your liking.

GURAK KABAB

CHICKEN STUFFED WITH MEAT AND SLOW-COOKED ON CINNAMON BED | Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

Chicken, cleaned, washed, skinned 2 (700-800 gm each) 

Onion juice ½ cup / 125 ml 

Ginger (adrak) juice ¼ cup / 60 ml 

Salt to taste 

Vegetable oil 3 tbsp / 45 ml 

Lamb, minced 400 gm 

Onion, medium-sized, sliced 1 

Coriander (dhaniya) seeds, crushed 1 tbsp / 15 gm 

Ginger (adrak), chopped 1 tbsp / 15 gm 

Saffron (kesar), dissolved in milk 1.5 gm 

Yoghurt (dahi), whisked ¼ cup / 60 gm

Cinnamon (dalchini) sticks to cover the bottom of the pan 8-10 

Ghee ½ cup / 125 gm 

Black gram (urad dal) flour ½ cup / 125 gm 

Freshly ground to a fine powder:
Cloves (laung) 1 tsp / 5 gm 

Cardamom (elaichi) 1 tsp / 5 gm 

Black peppercorns (sabut kali mirch) 1 tsp / 5 gm

METHOD

1. Prick the chicken all over with a fork. 

2. Marinate the chicken with onion juice, ginger juice and salt; rub well inside and outside the chicken and keep aside for 30 minutes. 

3. Heat the oil in a pan; add the minced meat, onion, crushed coriander seeds, chopped ginger and salt. Stir and cook until the meat is tender. 

4. Smoke the cooked mixture. 

5. Fill the chicken with the minced lamb and tie both legs with twine to keep the shape of the chicken intact. 

6. Mix the saffron and ground spices with the yoghurt.

7. Apply the yoghurt and saffron mixture all over the chickens evenly. 

8. Spread the cinnamon sticks on the bottom of the pan. Place the chicken on the cinnamon bed and pour the ghee around.

9. Make a semi-hard dough of black gram flour. Cover the pan and seal with this dough. 

10. Place the pan on low charcoal heat and cook on dum for 4 hours. 

11. Remove the cover, take the chicken out, cut into four pieces and serve over the mince.

BAQLAWA

LAYERED SQUARES GARNISHED WITH PISTACHIOS | Yield: 10

INGREDIENTS

Egyptian lentil 1 cup / 250 gm 

Ghee 1 cup / 250 gm 

Ginger (adrak) 4 tsp / 20 gm 

Salt 8 tsp / 40 gm 

Wholewheat flour (atta) 4 cups / 1 kg 

Kid fat 4 tsp / 20 gm 

Sugar 2 cups / 500 gm 

Pistachios (pista), pounded 8 tsp / 40 gm

Freshly ground to a fine powder: 

Cinnamon (dalchini) ½ tsp / 3 gm 

Cloves (laung) ½ tsp / 3 gm 

Green cardamoms (choti elaichi) ½ tsp / 3 gm

METHOD

1. Boil the lentil until soft. Remove from heat and drain. Fry the lentil in little ghee with ginger and salt. Then add enough water to cook the lentil, ensuring that it is not mashed and each grain looks separate. Sprinkle the ground spices and smoke the mixture. 

2. Knead the flour into a hard dough (in summer one part ghee and two parts kid fat is used while in winter the proportions should be equal). 

3. Divide the dough equally into small portions. Roll each portion out into a thin poori, apply ghee and dust with dry flour, sprinkle the lentil mixture lightly and cover with another poori. Repeat the process with 5-7 pooris. 

4. Shape them into squares and secure the edges with water. 

5. Heat the ghee in a pan; deep-fry the squares. Remove and keep aside to cool. 

6. Make a sugar syrup and soak the fried squares in it. When the syrup is absorbed, sprinkle pounded pistachios.

(Source: Scroll)

Tamil Nadu's biryani love: Meet Ambur, Thalapakatti and all the other stars

When you are on the Chennai- Bengaluru Highway, you might miss the only turn in Krishnagiri that you need to take in the entire stretch but you cannot miss the giant signboards that tell you that you are X km from authentic Ambur Briyani or Dindugal Thalappakattu Briyani. Even if you do miss the turn and land in the Dharmapuri-Krishnagiri Road, don’t worry; you can sniff your way back to the Biryani highway.

Ambur is a significant pin on the Biryani map of Tamil Nadu. In 1890, a descendent from Mughal and Nawabi kitchens decided to set shop in Ambur. Hasin Baig wanted the common man to have a taste of royal biryanis. Rahmaniya and Khursheed, the predecessors of Star Briyani were thus born.

The oldest Ambur biryani shop still functions in the Bazaar Road of this tiny town. It is not uncommon to find people who have biryani for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Ambur. Over the years, Star realised that they were strategically placed between Bengaluru and Chennai and moved to the highway to cater to the crowd that drives between the two cities.

Today, Star has evolved as a biryani chain and has outlets all over south India.

What is so special about Ambur biryani? The masala is handmade, says Rajesh, Manager of one of Ambur’s Star outlets.

Ambur biryani

Ginger, garlic and chilli are still pounded by hand and not bought pre-packaged. Using motorised grinders and mixers ruins masalas, he says. On Eid day, Rajesh manned the busy biryani place and says he sold over 250 kg of biryani well before dinner time!

Amidst the bustle of customers, Rajesh takes time to tell us that the specialty of their biryani lies in the rice. While other biryani varieties use the aromatic and slender long grain Basmati, Ambur biryani makes use of seeraga samba.

Seeraga samba is a short and round grain that used to be grown and sourced within Tamil Nadu. But now, to keep up with our biryani consumption, it’s sourced from West Bengal. Vaniyambadi, the next town on the biryani highway offers its own variety of biryani. For the undiscerning palate, the biryani from these two towns taste similar but patrons know the origin of their rice, meat and masala.

Dindugal Thalappakatti is a widespread biryani brand from Tamil Nadu. Contrary to the common belief that Muslims are the only ones to nail the perfect biryani, Nagasami Naidu and his wife started selling sumptuous biryani at Dindugal Anandha Vilas, way back in 1957.

His clientele called him Thalapakatti Naidu because he always wore a turban. And thus the Thalappakatti Biryani was born. This variety of biryani also uses the seeraga samba grain. They are finicky about the meat that goes into their briyanis. Only the meat from the best grass fed Kannivadi goat is used to make authentic Dindugal Thalapakatti biryani.

The success of this brand of biryani led to the mindless copying of the brand name by others. In 2013, Dindugal Thalapakatti won a trademark case with a Chennai based ‘Thalapakattu’ brand of briyanis.

Dindugal biryani

While biryanis outside Tamil Nadu use green chillies for spice, most Tamil biryani recipes swear by dried red chillies. Several Tamil Muslim homes serve semiya biryani where vermicelli is used instead of rice.

The vegetarians have their options, too. There’s vegetable biryani, paneer biryani, mushroom biryani and soya biryani cooked in these styles. Such is the south Indian’s love for rice and spice! It’s no wonder the common notion is that attendance in political rallies can be bought with a packet of biryani.

Saravanan Mohanakrishnan, a biryani patron from Bengaluru, prefers Anjappar’s biryani any day.

"I like Basmati biryani that is mixed well and when flavours have seeped into the rice and meat. I don’t like it when I have to dig into layers and see three different layers, cooked in isolation from one another. The masalas in Anjappar biryani have a distinct south indian – Chettinadu taste. Biryani should be fiery and spicy. Ambur and Thalappakatti briyanis are for spice intolerant palates," he says.

Vijay Muthu, a data analyst from Chennai believes that Ponnusamy’s Mutton Biryani is a cut above the rest while Ramya Sathish, a content writer who has spent time in Chennai and Bengaluru, says she’s impartial to biryani varieties. She likes Sindhi Briyani, Memoni Briyani or the Thalassery Biryani as much as she likes the simple and flavourful biryani sold from carts in and around Chennai.

An order of biryani generally means a side of onion raitha for those looking to mitigate spice levels while others opt for an eggplant gravy.

(Source: TNM)

The story of biryani: How this exotic dish came, saw and conquered India!

Biryani is an evergreen classic that really needs no introduction. India offers so much on its culinary platter but the one dish Indians unanimously love indulging in is the mouth-watering biryani. With local and hyperlocal variations having evolved into distinctive styles of biryanis, one is spoilt for options when it comes to experiencing this melting pot of flavours. I often prepare this yummy dish, whenever we have guests. Each time I prepare a different type and everyone loves it. I personally love the biryani my mom prepares. Here's a mouthwatering article on The Better India: 

The deliciously complex blend of flavours, spices, and aromas in biryani have come to epitomise the zenith of Indian cuisine.

So if you are a die-hard fan of this delicious dish, take things up a notch and tease your taste buds a little more with the story of what makes biryani so extraordinary.

Though it may appear to be a dish indigenous to  India, in reality the dish originated quite far away. Biryani is derived from the Persian word Birian, which means ‘fried before cooking’ and  Birinj, the Persian word for rice. While there are multiple theories about how biryani made its way to India, it is generally accepted that it originated in West Asia.

One legend has it that the Turk-Mongol conqueror, Timur, brought the precursor to the biryani with him when he arrived at the frontiers of India in 1398. Believed to be the war campaign diet of Timur’s army, an earthen pot full of rice, spices and whatever meats were available would be buried in a hot pit, before being eventually dug up and served to the warriors.

Another legend has it that the dish was brought to the southern Malabar coast of India by Arab traders who were frequent visitors there. There are records of a rice dish known as Oon Soru in Tamil literature as early as the year 2 A.D. Oon Soru was said to be made of rice, ghee, meat, turmeric, coriander, pepper, and bay leaf, and was used to feed military warriors.

However, the most popular story traces the origins of the dish to Mumtaz Mahal, Shah Jahan’s beautiful queen who inspired the Taj Mahal.

It is said that Mumtaz once visited the army barracks and found the Mughal soldiers looking weak and undernourished. She asked the chef to prepare a special dish that combined meat and rice to provide balanced nutrition to the soldiers – and the result was biryani of course! At the time, rice was fried in ghee, without washing, to give it a nutty flavour and prevent it from clumping. Meat, aromatic spices, and saffron were added to it before cooking the mix over a wood fire.

The Nizams of Hyderabad and Nawabs of Lucknow were also famous for their appreciation of the subtle nuances of biryani. Their chefs were renowned the world over for their signature dishes. These rulers too were responsible for popularising their versions of the biryani – and mouth watering accompaniments like mirchi ka salan, dhanshak and baghare baingan – in different parts of the country.

The perfect biryani calls for meticulously measured ingredients and a practised technique. Traditionally , the dum pukht method (slow breathing oven in Persian) was used to make biryani. In this method, the ingredients are loaded in a pot and slow cooked over charcoal, sometimes from the top also, to allow the dum or steam to works its magic. The pot, sealed around the edges with dough, allows the steaming meat to tenderise in its own juices while flavouring the rice.

Other than the technique, spices also play a critical role in dishing out a good biryani – some recipes call for a very limited use of spices while others use more than 15 different spices. Meat or chicken is often the main ingredient, though in some coastal varieties, fish, prawns, and crabs are also used. Use of rose water, sweet edible ittar and kewra water in biryani is also common, a practice prevalent since the medieval era.

In the north, long grain brown rice was traditionally used to make biryani. It has today been replaced by the fragrant basmati rice. On the other hand, in the south,  biryanis were and are still made using local varieties of rice, like the zeera samba, kaima, jeerakashala and kala bhaat, that lend their distinct taste, texture and aroma to the dish.

In general, there are two types of Biryani – the Kutchi (raw) biryani and the Pukki (cooked) biryani.

In Kutchi biryani, the meat is layered with raw rice in a handi (a thick bottomed pot) and cooked, while in Pukki biryani cooked meat and rice are layered in the handi, where they come together in a marriage of flavours.

The evolution of biryani spans many centuries, many cultures, many ingredients and many cooking styles. From an army dish to a dish fit for royalty, the biryani today is a pan-India culinary favourite. Its many varieties reflect the local tastes, traditions and gastronomic histories of their regions of evolution. Here are some lip-smacking regional variants that every biryani lover should know about.

1. Mughlai Biriyani

The Mughal Emperors were very fond of lavish dining experiences and looked upon cooking as an art. The regal Mughlai biryani fit the bill perfectly. Succulent chunks of perfectly spiced meat, enveloped in kewra scented rice, emanate an irresistible aroma that makes one hungry instantly. This biryani definitely smells and tastes royal !

2. Hyderabadi Biriyani

The world-famous Hyderabadi Biryani came into being after Emperor Aurangzeb appointed Niza-Ul-Mulk as the new ruler of Hyderabad. His chefs reportedly created almost 50 different versions that used fish, shrimp, quail, deer, and even hare meat. While most other biryanis are dominated by their flavoured meat, in the layered Hyderabadi biryani, the aromatic saffron  flavoured rice is the star of the dish. Hyderabad was also the place where the Kacchi Akhni Biryani was fine tuned and perfected.

3. Calcutta Biryani

Banished by the British, the legendary gourmet Nawab Wajid Ali Shah tried to recreate his beloved dish in the city of Calcutta. Unable to afford meat due to budget constraints, the local cooks gave the recipe a tweak, replacing meat with perfectly cooked golden brown potatoes – the signature of the Calcutta biryani. Much lighter on spices, this biryani primarily uses a yoghurt based marinade for the meat, which is cooked separately from the light yellow rice. Also, just like most Bengali dishes, the Calcutta biryani has a hint of sweetness hidden in it.

4. Dindigul biryani

A much-loved local favourite, Chennai has many outlets dedicated to serving just the Dindigul biryani. The jeera samba rice used in making this biryani is distinctive and gives it an entirely different flavour. Also, instead of large chunks of meat, Dindigul biryani uses tiny cube-sized meat pieces. Curd and lemon lend the biryani its tangy taste, while the liberal use of pepper leaves its fiery mark on the palate.

5. Lucknowi biryani

Cooked in the royal Awadhi style, the textures of Lucknowi biryani are softer and the spices milder. The first step involves making a yakhni stock from meat that is slow boiled in water infused with spices for about two hours or more. This is the reason why this biryani is more moist, tender and delicately flavoured than other biryanis.

6. Arcot Biryani

Introduced by the Nawabs of Arcot, this biryani originated in the towns of Ambur and Vaniyambadi in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. The biryani is generally accompanied by dalcha (a sour brinjal curry) and pachadi (a type of raita). The best known sub-variety of the Arcot biryani is the Ambur biryani that uses the squat seeraga samba rice, a traditional Tamil Nadu variety.

7. Memoni Biryani

Similar to the Sindhi biryani, this extremely spicy variety is made by the Memons of the Gujarat-Sindh region. Usually made with lamb, yoghurt, browned onions and potatoes, Memoni biryani uses less food colouring compared to other biryanis. This allows the natural colours and flavours of the various components- meat, rice and vegetables – to emerge and shine  in this traditional dish.

8. Thalassery biryani

The Thalassery biryani, one of India’s most loved biryanis, is both sweet and savoury. The main ingredients are soft chicken wings, mild Malabar spices and a type of rice known as kaima. Lots of sauteed cashew nuts, sultana raisins and fennel seeds are used generously in preparing this biryani. The rice is cooked separately from the gravy and mixed only at the time of serving.

9. Kampuri Biryani

The Kampuri biryani originated from the town of Kampur in Assam. In this simple yet delicious dish, the chicken is first cooked with peas, carrots, beans, potatoes, and yellow bell peppers. This concoction is then mildly spiced with cardamom and nutmeg before being mixed with the rice. This little-known biryani, which fuses the fresh flavours of local vegetables into meat, is an ode to the Assamese flair for creating distinctive dishes.

10. Tahari biryani

Tahari biryani is cooked without meat. Typically, rice is cooked along with different kind of vegetables in a handi with potatoes and carrots being the most used vegetables in this dish. Legend has it that this biryani was created in Mysore when Tipu Sultan hired vegetarian Hindus as his bookkeepers. Thus, a vegetarian version of a cult dish was born. Tahari is also a popular street food in Kashmir.

11. Beary Biryani

A cousin of the spicier Mangalore biryani, the Beary Biryani belongs to the Muslim community of the Dakshin Kannada region in Karnataka. The predominant flavour is of the rice, which is kept in a mixture of ghee and spices overnight. This process allows all the potent flavours to seep into the rice. The light dish is also highly versatile and uses all kinds of locally available meat and seafood.

12. Sindhi Biryani

Unlike any other biryani, the Sindhi Biryani is loaded with finely slit green chillies, fragrant spices, and roasted nuts.A distinctive characteristic is the addition of aloo bukhara (plums) in the spices, which gives the biryani a beautiful aroma; lots of khatta (sour yoghurt) in the layering gives a tangy note to the spice mix.

13. Bhatkali Biryani

The Bhatkali biryani is an integral part of the Navayath cuisine and a speciality of Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka, where it is a must-have at wedding feasts. The meat is cooked in an onion and green chilli based masala and layered with fragrant rice. The Bhatkali biryani has a unique spicy and heady flavour that sets it apart from the other biryanis of coastal Karnataka.

14. Bombay Biryani

Just like the city it was created in, the Bombay biryani is a melting pot of flavours – spicy, hearty and zesty. Bombay biryani, whether it’s made with chicken, mutton or vegetables, always has fried spiced potatoes too.  It also has a slight sweetness to it, which comes from dried plums and kewra water. It may not be as famous as the other varieties, but this biryani still finds a place in the hearts of all who taste it.

15. Doodh Ki Biryani

An absolutely unique Hyderabadi speciality, Doodh ki Biryani is known for its light flavours. The blending of creamy milk with roasted nuts and aromatic spices results in a dish that is subtle, refined, and delicately flavoured. Definitely a gem among the regal biryanis of the Hyderabadi Nizams!

A complete meal in itself, biryani has enough varieties to please one and all. This is also a dish that suits all occasions – whether it is a lazy Sunday lunch, a boisterous college get-together or a formal dinner with the in-laws. Eaten with love and gusto by the rich as well as poor, biryani is indeed a marvel of India’s culinary heritage.