For the love of biriyani 

A beautiful, fragrant dish, biriyani is perhaps one of the most loved dishes in our country. 

Any celebration seems dull without a plateful of steaming hot kachchi biriyani with lots of meat and potatoes. There are not many people who will say that they do not love this dish. 

Our love for biriyani sometimes leads to different experiments, such as egg biriyani, vegetable biriyani, even fish biriyani. But those who love biriyani know that the best and the tastiest version has to have only soft, juicy and well spiced red meat. 

This delectable rice dish may have originated from Persia and was later brought to India by the Mughals along with other food items like kebabs.

One interesting story about biriyani involves Mumtaz Mahal, the famous wife of Emperor Shah Jahan. 

Apparently Mumtaz Mahal once visited the barracks and saw that the soldiers were malnourished. 

She then ordered the chef to prepare a nourishing dish full of rice, meat, ghee, spices etc for the soldiers and that is how the biriyani came to life. 

Every city has its own famous biriyani joints, so the recipe and flavours of biriyani varies across areas. The Dhakaiya Biriyani does not taste the same as the Kolkata Biryani or the Bombay Biryani. 

The Kolkata Biryani perhaps focuses a bit more on the quality of rice grains whereas the kachchi biriyani we eat in Dhaka tends to focus more on the taste and preparation of the meat. The use of spices also vary quite a lot. 

There are other variations like the Mutanjan Biryani in Kashmir which uses ingredients like cream, sugar and rose water.

The different versions may spark a lot of debates, but one thing is for sure, no one will ever say no to a plateful of biriyani.