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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
6 Min
12/01/2026
For all those who dismiss veg biryani as ‘just pulao’, you are in for a rude shock. Biryani, the original version with meat and spices, might have also been just that – a pulao. These are not just some Chinese rumours. It’s what history says! Before biryani was born, Persians cooked a rice dish called pulao, or pilaf, with meat. And it might just be the predecessor to biryani. So, here’s diving in to understand the pulao-to-biryani journey.
It all goes back to ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia (current-day Iraq) and Persia (current-day Iran), where crops like rice, although scarce, were cultivated. The precursor to pilaf, or what we know as pulao today, used to be a simple fare of cooking rice with meat and vegetables as a one-pot dish. Rice, meat and dairy became central to the region as well, cementing the dish as a local favourite. As the years rolled by and cooking was refined, pilaf started gaining prominence, and local chefs made tweaks to make it more aromatic with spices like saffron and cardamom and dry fruits and nuts like raisins and cashews. Thus began the slow, flavourful journey of biryani’s birth.
What was once eaten at campfires of shepherds and nomads was picked up by royal chefs, and with time, turned into the sophisticated pilaf. The technique of soaking rice in salted water until it gleamed, then cooking it in a rich meat stock with each rice grain standing apart, was perfected by Persian chefs, who served it at royal banquets and on special occasions. Addition of the spices, fruits and nuts elevated the dish into ‘polo’ or ‘pilāf’, the name tracing its origins back to Persia.
Pilaf’s journey from Persia to the wider world unfolded along the Silk Road. Persian traders, scholars, and explorers carried not only silks and spices but also their food, and pilaf quickly became a favourite wherever it went. As it passed through Central Asia, the Middle East, and India, local cultures infused the dish with regional ingredients and adopted it as their own.
Another version suggests that pilaf crossed borders when Persians started invading and plundering neighbouring areas to propagate Islam around the 7th century. India adopted pilaf as its own during the Mughal era. When Persian cooking techniques merged with local spices and ingredients, biryani was born.
The term ‘biryani’ is derived from the Persian word ‘birian’, which means fried before cooking, pointing to the rice being cooked in ghee or oil, before cooking it with other ingredients. Some historians suggest biryani could've been derived from the Persian ‘berya’, which means to fry or roast. Thus, while biryani’s exact origin might still be disputed, the etymology denotes a strong connection to the Western Asian country. This etymology and layered cooking method were eventually adopted by India.
After their invading spree, the Mughals settled in their vast empire encompassing parts of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and brought their Nawabi tastes with them. It seems almost fated, then, that biryani was bound to take birth alongside dishes like malai kofta, kebabs, korma, naan, nihari and shahi tukda.
The Mughals loved the finer things in life and often held elaborate feasts. The local chefs in the royal kitchens experimented with a lot and came up with iconic dishes to please the rulers. Suffice to say, while no single person is credited with inventing biryani, history and multiple ingenious and brilliant hands were behind its creation.
While biryani’s exact origins are conflicted, historical records also point to the royal court of Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty in 1526. Biryani’s mention can be found in his memoirs: while not explicitly mentioning the dish's name, they do mention a feast that featured a dish made with rice, spices and meat; the closest companion to the modern-day biryani.
Talking about historical edicts, there’s the Ain-i-Akbari, a 16th-century document which details Emperor Akbar's administration, that also mentions dishes combining meat and rice, such as palao and biryani, served at royal banquets during his era.
The biryani also travelled locally, with the first known biryani to take birth in Hyderabad – the famed Hyderabad dum biryani. It travelled to the coastal regions of the south and adopted seafood into it, like the famous fish and prawn biryanis of Kerala. Talking about the South, there are more spicier variants like the Tamilian Chettinad biryani and Dindigul biryani, yet differing in their spices and rice used.
Then there’s the rival of Hyderabadi biryani, which is the milder, more floral, and known for its slow-cooking ‘dum-pukht’ method – Lucknowi biryani. Move a little eastwards, and you get an adoption of the Lucknowi biryani – the Kolkata or Calcutta biryani, known for the trademark potato (famine origin story) through the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah.
Biryani has travelled far and wide, picking up flavours, stories, and traditions along the way. From nomads cooking a mishmash of rice, meat and vegetables to royal kitchens and regional specialities in India, biryani is a testament that some dishes aren’t just cooked – they’re crafted.