Abcos Food Plaza is serving biryani all through the month — 16 varieties of it. The three-storeyed building in IB Block is hosting a biryani festival across all its three restaurants. It will continue till May 31.

The eatery has been serving north Indian cuisine since its launch in 2001, alongside continental and Chinese. “But this is the first time we are holding a biryani festival,” says manager Samiran Mitra. 

While four varieties from the regular menu — Tarkari Biryani, Murg Handi Biryani, Gosht Handi Biryani and Jhinga Biryani — have been retained, a lot of experimentation has been carried out for the festival. “We wanted to go beyond the regular vegetable-chicken-mutton-prawn biryani options,” Mitra says. 

One such innovation is Pomfret Biryani, in which a lightly fried pomfret sits easy atop the biryani. This is a variation from the Mahi Biryani for which Bekti is cooked in the tandoor. Both cost Rs 601. There is no egg or potato in either. “I follow the Hyderabadi biryani style,” says chef Swapan Giri. But by popular demand, he has had to include an egg and a potato in Moti Biryani which has six kima balls of chicken (Rs 360) or mutton (Rs 481). His personal favourite is Murgh Tikka Biryani (Rs 360).

Another big draw is the family portion in which three varieties of biryani are offered. A family dish suffices for four and comes with a free glass of wine.