national treasure one may call it, and no other word will do justice to describe the Biryani. There is no one standard way to cook biryani, other than a few initial standard steps. In India, there are variations in the ingredients, how it is cooked and even how and in what it is served. Every region in India has its own form of biryani that they take a lot of pride in. These recipes consist of local ingredients and the type of meat found there. Some of these have been passed down from one generation to another and are kept a secret to preserve it within the family and prevent it from being commercialized.

One has no doubt that biryani originated from Iran, but it was in India that it began to flourish. The journey from ‘pilaf’ to biryani has been quite an extravagant one. When one hears the word biryani, they usually think of it as a dish from the north. Though there may a large number of variations of Biryani in the North of India, the South of India Is not far behind. Down South, meat is often substituted with fish or prawns, and the spices used are much stronger.

When we talk about Biryanis from the South of India, how can one not talk about Hyderabadi Biryani? One of the most famous variants in India, with succulent meat marinated in a mixture of green chilies, minced ginger-garlic, and red chili powder. People are often seen traveling to Hyderabad to taste this spectacle. Malabar biryani is yet another popular dish from Kerala in South India. It is cooked with tender chicken wings, steamed rice, turmeric, mild spices. It is relatively ‘sweeter’ as it is garnished with dry fruits like cashew and raisins.

Bhatkali biryani evolved from the Bombay biryani and is quite popular in the Konkan belt and in coastal Karnataka. The unique component of this dish is that it uses a lot of onions for preparation. Beary biryani evolves from the Muslim community of the Dakshin Kannada region, of Karnataka. This dish can either be made with chicken, mutton, or prawns. Here the basmati rice is cooked separately with spices and ghee, with raw meat layered on top for the final traditional dum method.