With greater variety and availability, biryani is the new delivery staple

Godavari chicken biryani, Bohri biryani, jackfruit biryani and even diet biryani - available in many avatars, the wholesome rice dish has become a staple choice

Among the many stories that capture its historical magnificence, there is one that is centred around how royal households were afraid of serving biryani to visiting representatives of other principalities. The royal host feared that the touring party would like the dish, and he, out of gentlemanly magnanimity, wouldn’t be able to say no if the impressed visitors asked for the treasured family recipe.

For hundreds of years, that is how biryani was: an exclusive, delicacy whose formula was almost always a closely guarded secret.

And when the kingdoms were stormed and all royalty ceased to exist, it was sold in a handful of stealthy corners in major cities, prepared with mesmeric perfection by masters who had spent their lifetime cooking the dish for their noble bosses. That was then.

Behrouz’s Zaikedaar Paneer Biryani

Today, the biryani has become more embracing and accessible, cooked in homes — on special occasions only — and served in popular restaurants. But in its alluring existence of over 500 years, it has perhaps never seen anything like what it is witnessing now. With biryani-only outlets more ubiquitous than ever, the wholesome rice dish is quickly metamorphosing into an essential delivery staple — remodelled into a “cool”, urban offering, all without diluting any of its historic significance.

The master kitchen at Biryani By Kilo (BBK) in Gurugram is a picture of frenetic activity even on a weekday. We are handed bouffant caps to put on as the kitchen staff stuffs handi's with rice and other ingredients and packs them off into a giant oven. “You should come here over the weekend. You won’t find a place to stand,” smiles Kaushik Roy, BBK founder and CEO.

Hyderabadi Mutton Biryani at the Biryani Project

At the time of its inception in 2015, Roy’s delivery-only venture was among the first restaurants to cash in on this trend by producing quality, easily available biryani for the masses. “People order pizzas or sandwiches because they’re convenient to eat, but you can’t have them every day,” says Roy. “Biryani is not messy and you can have it more regularly. Plus, it’s a healthy, complete meal.” 

Moreover, as Chaitanya Sabharwal, co-founder at Gurugram’s Biryani Queen, says, “Biryani isn’t just a plate of food, it is an emotion.”

BBK, with 12 outlets (two more are on their way) spread across Delhi-NCR, sells about 50,000 kg of biryani a month, a fair indication of the popularity of the dish. And while prices vary from one restaurant to another, a bowl of biryani that suffices for three-four people costs no more than Rs 900-Rs 1,200.

BBK regular Zeenat Khan routinely orders the Murg Lucknowi variant. “I love the subtle flavours and the balance. And, it is filling,” says the 22-year-old Delhi-based photographer.

When Roy and co-founder Vishal Jindal coax us into trying their biryani, Khan is proven right. Immaculately layered, the version from Awadh is a delightful blend of redolent rice, tender chicken and delicate spices. The Vegetarian Hyderabadi Biryani lives up to the promise, too.

In addition to BBK, other familiar biryani places include Biryani Blues, Behrouz Biryani, Bikkgane Biryani and Biryani Art, all churning out their own authentic variety of the delicacy. In a city like Delhi, which has grown up on Mughlai biryani (popularised by Babu Shahi Bawarchi of Matka Peer near Pragati Maidan) and is now seeing the preposterous spread of the “Muradabadi” biryani, authenticity is the key to cracking the cluttered biryani space.

Adit Madan is discernibly passionate about this subject. Seated in his airy flat in Delhi’s Greater Kailash, with a stunning mural of Kurt Cobain in the background, he explains how he spent years researching and studying biryani. Being in the travel industry, he knew that authentic gourmet biryani was missing in Delhi. “I often wondered why we couldn’t come up with good Lucknowi biryani despite the city being so close to us.”

In January, Madan launched The Biryani Project after spending six months cooking the dish in his kitchen every day, determined to perfect it.

At The Biryani Project, apart from the more common Hyderabadi and Lucknowi versions, Madan also serves up a Godavari fry-piece chicken biryani and a Mumbai-inspired Bohri biryani — two unique varieties that account for 

BBK founder and CEO Kaushik Roy (middle) with co-founder Vishal Jindal

30 per cent of the business. Meanwhile, at Biryani Queen, the bestseller is the kathal (jackfruit) biryani. It also has on its menu “diet” biryanis.

Almost all these eateries have own unique stories about the inspiration behind their biryani, deliberate historical references that lend themselves to effective marketing. Behrouz, for instance, delivers its biryani in an elaborate box with its history inscribed on the inside. The story is almost as important as the dish itself.

And while Sabharwal hopes to take his venture down the quick-service restaurant route, others are convinced that something that requires as painful a preparation as the biryani cannot be doled out in a jiffy. Back at BBK’s kitchen, standardisation is key. A board on the wall has the list of ingredients and the precise amount that needs to go into each handi. “I would be fooling my customers if I tell them that I can make this in 20 minutes. This is a complex dish,” says Jindal.

The modern purveyors of an iconic dish may have commercialised it greatly, but they at least hope to retain its essence. And while getting a recipe out of the royals proved to be impossible, what they perhaps can give is their approval to the attempts being made to further their culinary legacy.

Adit Madan

‘During my travels I  realised authentic gourmet biryani was missing in Delhi’
Adit Madan
Founder, The Biryani Project