HYDERABAD: In a webinar titled ‘Biryani Ki Kahaani’ held by USA Poultry and Egg Export Council India office, food historian, researcher, and cuisine anthropologist Pritha Sen and gourmet chef Osama Jalali came together to discuss the history of biryani which has become so popular that every minute 95 biryanis are ordered via food apps. The most popular being Chicken Biryani. And Hyderabad is no exception.
“It’s to become a four billion dollar industry in the next few years,” says Pritha. The term biryani comes from birinj biryan which means ‘rice’ and ‘to fry’ respectively in the Persian language. Rice was imported from India and cooked with meat. “However, what we call biryani in India doesn’t exist in modern-day Iran; on the contrary, it’s cooked-meat served on a flatbread. Biryani is always considered a delight of the elite and for the elite. The research traces its origin to the pulao widely relished even centuries ago. It’s a melange of various pulaos with different spices that India is known for which brought biryani to the table in its current form, taste, touch, and smell.
Back in earlier times, food in India was looked at as preparation for medicinal and therapeutic purposes, but after the Mughals brought their cuisine which was more sophisticated and finer and less accessible to the commoners, the biryani, according to the anecdotes, began to find favour with the commoners. The legend has it that Mumtaz Mahal, the Queen of Shahjahan, on visiting the army barracks found that the soldiers were under-nourished. She suggested that a dish of rice, meat, and spices be cooked and served to them. That was biryani.
All the spices of India came together slowly and biryani was cooked and enjoyed in different parts of the country. Purani Dilli was the centre then Lucknow; biryani in Hyderabad was brought by the emperor Aurangzeb when he attacked Deccan. “It’s said that his entourage of cooks prepared at least 50 kinds of biryanis combining the fine rice, rich spices, and tender chunks of meat. Arabs also brought biryani with them through their ships when they landed on the coastal regions for trade,” Pritha shares. The spices are richer in taste down south hence the aroma and flavour is richer here.
Master Chef Osmam Jalali demonstrated the Purani Dilli ki Biryani. In the old times, biryani in Delhi used to be called ‘Sona Chandi’ because half of the rice was white and the rest was yellow because of the use of saffron whose hue is close to that of gold and hence the name. Shares Chef Osama, “Back then during the times of the Mughals, there used to be master chefs, who were experts in the art of cooking and were trustworthy enough to cook for the ruling royal.”
Even today, terms like muthhi, tola, masha, chutki are used much like in the good old days. “That’s how the chefs in old days guarded their recipes,” says Osama, who was born in Old Delhi. His mother, Begum Nazish Jalali, hails from the princely estate of Rampur. She loved cooking back home in Rampur where biryani was called Yakhni Pulao as the Nawabs always preferred pulaos with red meat especially lamb. He cooks along with his mother and wife Naziya Khan. Osama’s father was a practising doctor in the Jama Masjid area and several chefs who came to seek his treatment would either sent food baskets or come and cook at his home.
The texture of biryani in Dilli and the texture in Rampur are totally different. He cooked Purani Dilli ki Chicken Biryani Jalali-family style. Dilli is known for its chatkhara and to add a zing of spiciness he used a lot of green chillies in the preparation. It’s a home-style common man’s biryani. He didn’t add any red chilli powder to it only yellow chilli powder. He summed up, “if cooked moderately biryani is a balanced and healthy meal.” Now that’s an alibi for many in Hyderabad not to feel guilty after a plateful.
— Saima Afreen
saima@newindianexpress
@Sfreen