Biryani

Biryani is the grand celebratory rice dish of the Indian subcontinent: long-grain basmati and marinated meat (or vegetables) cooked together so that every grain stays separate, perfumed and stained gold with saffron. In the classic dum method the par-cooked rice and spiced meat are layered in a heavy pot, sealed with a ring of dough and steamed over a low flame so the aromas have nowhere to escape — the meat finishes cooking in its own fragrant steam while the rice drinks up the spice.

Dozens of regional styles compete for loyalty: the rich, saffron-heavy Hyderabadi kacchi biryani made with raw marinated meat; the lighter, subtly spiced Lucknowi (Awadhi) version; the fiery Kolkata biryani famous for its potato and boiled egg; and the coastal Malabar and Sindhi styles. It is almost always served with a cooling raita, a tangy mirchi ka salan and a wedge of lime. Browse more iconic dishes of India for the full spread.

Biryani's roots lie in the meeting of Persian and Indian kitchens. The technique of cooking rice and meat together travelled with Persian-speaking traders and the Mughal court, and the word itself is usually traced to the Persian birian (fried before cooking) or birinj (rice). Under the Mughal emperors the dish was refined in royal kitchens, where cooks layered marinated meat with parboiled rice and slow-steamed it for noble feasts.

From the imperial court it spread and splintered across the subcontinent, each region bending it to local taste and produce. Hyderabad's Nizams gave the world the kacchi dum biryani; the Nawabs of Awadh produced the delicate Lucknowi style; Kolkata's version — carried east when the exiled Nawab Wajid Ali Shah settled there in the 19th century — stretched scarce meat with potato. Mappila Muslims along the Malabar coast developed their own short-grain rice biryani. More than a recipe, biryani is a marker of hospitality and occasion: the dish reached for at weddings, Eid and family gatherings, and the subject of endlessly partisan debate over which city's version reigns supreme.