Kitchen king

Hyderabad, May 31: Rising prices cannot wither its appeal nor centuries of familiarity stale its aroma. The Hyderabadi biryani continues to beat pizzas and burgers hands down on home turf in the age of T20 and Twitter.

Top city biryani makers have now approached the Chennai patent office for geographical indication status for their best-known product.

“A faux ‘Hyderabadi biryani’ is sold in other cities too. We want to protect biryani lovers from being cheated,” said M.A. Majeed, proprietor of leading dum ka biryani and haleem seller Pista House.

The eateries say a daily average of 8.7 lakh plates of biryani is selling in the city against 5.3 lakh last year. “We are confident of crossing the one million mark this season,” Majeed declared.

This after the prices of basmati rice, meat and other ingredients more than doubled since March. The eateries cushioned the hike, keeping it to about 40 per cent per plate, which now sells at Rs 250-350. They can afford it because of the ever-growing demand, Majeed claimed.

Veterans may wax nostalgically about the “good old days when the aroma was richer”, but fast-food outlets admit they have failed to challenge the biryani’s hegemony.

A Pizza Hut manager confessed that pizza sales still trailed the biryani’s in the Nizam’s city. A McDonald’s manager at Banjara Hills said: “We are still catching up with the aroma and variety of traditional non-veg dishes made in Hyderabad.”

Some say the Hyderabadi biryani is centuries old and emerged from the Nizam’s kitchen along with mirchi ka salan. The Caliphs of West Asia gifted the recipes and cooks for making haleem, Irani chai, biryani and dumka patthar gosht as dowry when they married their daughters to Hyderabad’s Asaf Jahi rulers, said Syed Bukharuddin, a chef who has retired from the Nizam’s household.

Bukharuddin now travels across India — from Lucknow to Chennai, Calcutta to Darjeeling — to cook biryani at weddings and family reunions. He says he served more than 10,000 plates at a Bhutan wedding.

The top eateries fly their biryani and haleem twice a week to some 20-odd countries including Malaysia, Singapore, China, America, Britain and Australia. “Our product lasts over 72 hours,” Majeed said.

In its many varieties —mutton and chicken; kacchi, pakki and dum ki — the biryani is virtually a must at festivals, weddings and weekend parties in Hyderabad. The most popular side dishes are mirchi ka salan and dahi chutney. The aroma comes from mace, ittar, kewra, saffron and cardamom.

If the twin cities’ 400 to 500 bigger biryani outlets consume 3,500 to 4,000 tonnes of basmati every month, so do the about 1,000 unorganised biryani makers, said Sheikh Gani Basha, a basmati supplier. The rice comes from Punjab, Pakistan and Malaysia.

The meat is marinated with spices overnight and soaked in yoghurt. It’s then placed between layers of fragrant, long-grained basmati rice and dum-cooked (steamed over coals) after the handi (vessel) is sealed with a layer of dough.

Meticulous attention to time and temperature is crucial to avoid overcooking or undercooking. A vegetarian version too exists, made with carrots, cashew nuts, peas, cauliflower, potato and dry fruits.