THE BIRYANI KADHAI
Life is a biryani…. It tastes vera level only if it has got the aroma of happiness! — said by one of the foodie after a dum-dum delight in Hyderabad. We all love the taste of the hyderabadi special, the biryani to the core. Every single dum-dum addict would accept the fact that biryani adds spice to their life. It’s time to add some spice to our story!
Today in most of the famous hotels and halal stalls the tastiest biryani are prepared by men. Does this have an interesting back-story? Also, do you know that this south Indian special shares a unique relationship with the Chinese noodles?
Yes both of them were initially prepared or invented for the soldiers crossing borders and oceans as it was the easiest item to be prepared from rice, vegetables, meat and other spices easily available. The traces of this go back to the 15th century. “Biryani “is actually derived from a Persian word “birian” which means fried before cooking. It was first introduced in the Persian army (modern day Iran). But this is not the original spicy biryani; maybe we can call it as the predecessor of the modern day biryani. It was grayish is colour without any spices and was only half cooked.
Evidences show that our very own special biryani was first introduced by the mighty Mughal in the 16th century. The great Shahjahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal used to accompany her husband during the wars to cook for the king and take care of the wounded soldiers. The soldiers could carry only rice with them. With bags and bags of rice, meat available after hunting and vegetables collected from the nearby plantations, Mumtaz used to prepare this beautiful dish to help the brutally hurt soldiers to recover their lost energy and heal fast.
Later special cooks were given the famous recipe of Mumtaz biryani and these people travelled with the Mughal army to various parts of the world as the magic of biryani was very much visible. It is believed that Mumtaz herself wrote it down after testing with various spices available in different parts of the country. Even though the tastiest biryani was and is prepared by men, but the root was Mumtaz’s recipe ( Kamal Hassan’s voice: aana vedha avanga potadhu!)
As Hyderabad was the hub of various transactions in India through the sea route, it was the most important spices market place in the whole country those days. The tradition of biryani from the Arabs and the Mughals flowed down to the Nawabs too. With the tastiest spices and herbs available in this part, the biryani made here is known to be the tastiest biryani ever made in any part of the world.
I know I made you very hungry with this interesting bit of our own food history, now it’s time for you to grab a plate of biryani to add spice to your day. But remember,
As the individual ingredients in a biryani taste different, but when it mixes in a proper proportion then it becomes a super biryani. Same should be with life; everything should be done with limitations to unveil individuals’ true nature!
