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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
6 Min
09/03/2026
Biryani needs no introduction, and neither does any of the biryani recipe that exists out there. Loved across the country in its different forms and the cause of heated debates, biryani exudes main character energy like no other. It comes in many flavours, and even a slight adjustment to its recipe, be it the cooking method, ingredients used or the spices involved, causes a big change.
The Mughals brought Persian pilau techniques to India in the 16th century, and those techniques hit the subcontinent like a grenade loaded with flavours. Rice, meat, whole spices, slow heat: the basic formula was set. But what happened next is where it gets interesting. As Mughal power dispersed and regional courts rose, each Nawab's kitchen became a creative laboratory. Arab traders brought their own rice-cooking traditions to the Malabar coast. Exiled rulers carried their recipes across borders. The result is not one dish but a family of biryani recipes, each carrying its specific geography, politics, and culinary logic in every grain.
If any one biryani recipe has a claim to national fame, it is this one. Hyderabadi biryani took shape in the late 1600s in the Nizam's kitchens, blending Mughlai and Deccani traditions in a way no other regional biryani quite replicates. It comes in two forms. Kacchi-style layers raw marinated meat with partially cooked basmati and slow-cooks everything in a dough-sealed handi – the fat and spice from the meat absorb into every grain. Pakki-style cooks them separately before the final dum, giving more distinct layers but equal intensity. Saffron, birista (crispy fried onions), mint, and ghee go in. It is served with mirchi ka salan and raita, and neither is optional.
Where Hyderabadi biryani is flamboyant, Awadhi or Lucknowi biryani is restrained and mild in its flavour. The Lucknowi kitchen ran under a philosophy called ‘nazaakat’, or delicacy. Meat (usually mutton) is always pre-cooked (this is a pakki-only biryani wherein raw meat never meets raw rice), then layered with partially cooked basmati infused with kewra water, rose essence, and whole spices like saffron, mace, cinnamon, and star anise before a slow, sealed dum. The result is lighter and more aromatic than Hyderabadi; not less ambitious, just differently so.
Sindhi biryani piles on the spiciness and tanginess with three distinct ingredients – yoghurt, potatoes, and dried plums (aloo bukhara). Originating in the Sindh region (now Pakistan), it uses tomatoes in the meat base, which is uncommon in most other biryani recipes. Dried plums, fried potatoes, chopped green chillies, roasted spices, mint, coriander, and sour yoghurt all go in. The combination creates a piquant, tangy profile immediately distinguishable from North Indian biryanis. It is a Pakistani staple at weddings and large gatherings, and has spread across the subcontinent through diaspora communities.
The rice used tells you exactly where certain biryani comes from. And down south, basmati rice is done away with, and Thalassery biryani is preferred. Arab traders arriving on the Malabar coast between the 9th and 16th centuries brought their rice-cooking methods with them, and Kerala made it its own. The dish uses Khyma or Jeerakasala rice (a short-grain indigenous variety), with Malabar spices, fennel seeds, fried onions, cashews, and raisins. Chicken or mutton is cooked separately, then layered with the rice for dum. The flavour sits somewhere between sweet and spicy, closer to Middle Eastern pilaf traditions than anything in the Mughal lineage.
Every Kolkata biryani is an Awadhi biryani that went through a significant life event. When Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh was exiled to Kolkata by the British in 1856, he brought his kitchen with him. Potatoes were a luxury ingredient back in the day, and the royal cooks added them when resources were scarce and the biryani volume needed to be increased. Over time, the aloo stayed even as meat got expensive, and became the dish's identity. Kolkata biryani is the mildest and most fragrant on this list: yoghurt-marinated meat, soft-boiled eggs, potato, saffron, nutmeg, kewra, and rose water, which is an Awadhi inheritance softened by Bengali sensibility.
Like Thalassery, Ambur biryani recipe skips basmati entirely and uses seeraga samba, a short-grain Tamil Nadu rice with its own distinct aroma. Introduced by the Nawabs of Arcot, who ruled the region from 1710 to 1768, Ambur biryani is cooked in the northeastern pocket of Tamil Nadu, where Ambur and Vaniyambadi sit. Meat is marinated in curd, coriander, and mint, and is layered with whole spices for dum. The meat-to-rice ratio is notably higher than most other biryanis. It is always served with dhalcha, which is a sour brinjal curry, and pachadi.
These handful of varieties barely scratch the surface. India has over 30 documented regional biryanis – Bhatkali, Dindigul, Bombay, Chettinad, Beary, Tehri, and more, each with its own rice choice, choice of spices, and local identity. The dish has also crossed borders: Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Maldives all have their own biryani traditions, shaped by South Asian diaspora and centuries of trade. The biryani recipe, is thus, not just a list of ingredients and steps but rather, proof of how food, culture, and history are intertwined.