Although the origin of Biryani is not known but it is believed to have come from Persia – where they cooked the dish for their soldiers – into India through the Mughals. Whereas, some stories speak of Arab traders bringing in the flavoured rice to Calicut, Kerala, via the Arabian Sea or it was brought to South Asia by the Turkish during the Delhi Sultanate.
An interesting story traces the origins of the dish to Mumtaz Mahal (1593-1631), Shah Jahan’s queen who inspired the Taj Mahal. It is said she once visited army barracks and found the army personnel under-nourished. She asked the chef to prepare a special dish which provided balanced nutrition, and thus the Biriyani was cooked.
There is some historical evidence that shows there were other similar rice dishes prior to the Mughal invasion. There is mention about a rice dish known as “Oon Soru†in Tamil, as early as the year 2 AD. Oon Soru was composed of rice, ghee, meat, turmeric, coriander, pepper and bay leaf and was used to feed military warriors.
Biryani is derived from the Persian word ‘Birian’ meaning ‘fried before cooking’. This means the rice is fried (without washing) in ghee which gives it the nutty flavor and the burnt outside starch layer gelatinize it. Biryani soon came to be considered as a royal dish for the Nawabs and Nizams.
Mughlai Biryani is an innovation from the kitchens of the Mughal Empire. The Persian kings brought with them the unique recipe of cooking meat and rice in rich spices. In modern India, you will find the best Mughlai Biryani in Delhi and neighbouring areas. During the Mughal Empire era (1800-1900), Lucknow was known as Awadh, giving rise to Awadhi Biryani. The city of Nawabs prefers a slightly milder palate. The Lucknowi Biryani has remarkably less amount of spices as compared to Mughlai Biryani.
In 1856, British deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in Calcutta (now Kolkata), giving rise to Kolkata Biryani. The Kolkata Biryani is known for the use of Potatoes. In days of exile, meat was scarce, so the Nawab cooks added potatoes to the Biryani. The dish primarily uses nutmeg, cinnamon, mace along with cloves and cardamom in the yogurt based marinade for the meat which is cooked separately from rice. This combination of spices gives it a distinct flavour as compared to other styles of Biryani. The rice is flavoured with rose water along with saffron to give it flavour and light yellowish colour.
Aurangzeb installed Nizam-ul-mulk as the Asfa Jahi ruler of Hyderabad as well as a ‘Nawab of Arcot’ to oversee Aaru Kaadu region (six forests) in the south of Hyderabad. These moves gave rise to Hyderabadi Biryani and Arcot Biryani. The Hyderbadi Biryani is a mixture of the original Mughlai style Biryani and the Southern, particularly Andhra cuisine. It is extremely spicy and rich.
The Biryani spread to Mysore by Tipu Sultan of Carnatic. However, a few Brahmins did not eat meat. So, they hired vegetarian Hindus as cooks giving rise to Tahiri Biryani.
There are a few more where the taste differs according to the spices used in the State. But, Biryani will continue to remain as favourite dish and tickle your taste buds, always.