HYDERABAD: In Hyderabad, the word ‘biryani’ is an emotion and Hyderabadis don’t like anyone who messes up with their emotions. Now, what is possibly the biggest debate of the century has sparked a wedge between friends and families, wives and husbands, children and parents. CE delves into the concerns to find out if it’s elaichi or clove, quantity or price, or just a secret alchemy of cook, but will there ever be a compromise in this fight?
Since 2020, one of the biggest debates in Hyderabad is biryani-related. Everyone agrees that our gastronomical hallmark, Hyderabadi biryani is appetising. But this morsel of saffron-smoked, masala-infused goodness of rice has sparked a debate that rages on with no end in sight. And so, the age-old question remains: Is elaichi necessary? Food Blogger Zubair Ali, says, “Yes!”, “I don’t know what people think. All I know is what biryani makes me feel, and I have tasted perhaps all the biryanis in the city over the last few years, some places even removed elaichi, but it killed the flavour and it is messing up with the emotion.”
He notes that Hyderabadis are very particular about price, quantity and taste. They want their biryani to be balanced. “If they order a biryani, it is expected to serve at least two people, it won’t work if the quantity is less. If it is a chicken biryani one big piece is expected, and if it’s mutton at least 4-5 pieces of mutton must be there,” he said, adding, “The experiments with south Indian flavours and some different approaches (biryani by weight and cooked and served in a pot) to Hyderabadi biryani have proven right. It has intensified the competition in the market and competition is good for diners.”
“'If someone says true love doesn’t exist, make them taste biryani', this is the WhatsApp status and Instagram caption I saw at least 10 times in the last few years. I don’t even have friends who are absolutely in love with biryani,” says Indian Institute of Hotel Management, graduate, Amith, the man who is behind most of the memes we see on biryani. He said, “While doing my research for making memes I have come across a quote that says, ‘Don’t be an elaichi in someone’s biryani,’ a variant of ‘Playing Gooseberry’ or ‘Kebab me Haddi’, same goes with aloo in veg biryani.”
Amith has also made many memes on veg biryani vs non-veg biryani, and he is a soldier of war on social media platforms like Reddit, which is floating with memes and serious threads with 100 comments at least.
This apart, on Sunday alone from 100% of biryani orders in India, 76% were for Hyderabadi Biryani on Swiggy, it said in a report.
According to the restauranter, Hameed Ali, who is managing Sarvi Cafes in the city, the competitive nature of biryani is pushing Hyderabad restaurants to the limits to come up with the best. He said, “It’s not Paradise, or Pista House anymore, Bawarchi and its variants, Mehfil and many small places like Imperial at Tolichowki and Prince in Mehdipatnam is making better biryanis.”