There’s no pain like watching your friends wolf down biriyani while you look away for fear of a sugar spike. Well, Oudh 1590 has just unveiled a solution — diabetic-friendly biriyani.

“I once visited this restaurant with a diabetic friend and saw how restricted her options were. She stuck to kebabs and only had a spoonful of biriyani. That got me thinking,” said Nidhi Prakash, dietician and founder of the NutriConscious diet clinic in Ballygunge.

Prakash approached restaurant founders Shiladitya and Debaditya Chaudhury with the idea of creating a guilt-free biriyani that diabetics could enjoy. With their green signal, she spent six to seven months experimenting with ingredients that have a low glycaemic index (GI). This is a measure of how quickly carbohydrate-containing foods raise blood sugar levels compared to pure glucose. The lower the GI, the slower the digestion and the more gradual the rise in blood sugar.

“Rice was the biggest culprit,” said Prakash. “I tried healthier alternatives, but barnyard millet turned out lumpy like dalia, and red and black rice didn’t look appetising.” She finally settled on specially cooked parboiled rice, which has a GI of around 50 — far lower than the 73 of regular white rice.

It’s blasphemous to offer Calcuttans biriyani without potato, but with a GI of 82, it’s bad news for sugar patients. So sweet potato (GI 46) has taken its place. “It’s a bonus that sweet potato is also rich in vitamin A — a nutrient essential for diabetics who are at risk of diabetic retinopathy (a condition that can lead to blindness if left untreated),” she added.

The Diabetic Murgh Biriyani costs Rs 350, while the Diabetic Subz Biriyani (with carrots, beans, and soya chunks) costs Rs 275. In comparison, a regular Kolkata Style Murgh Biriyani is Rs 375.

Connoisseurs will easily detect a difference, especially in the texture of the rice. The sweet potato, too, doesn’t melt in the mouth like regular potato, but then the new version isn’t meant to compete with the original at all. “This dish is for those who had nothing to eat when going out. It is also suitable for those battling obesity and fatty liver issues as we’re using less oil,” said Prakash.

Actor and MLA Soham Chakraborty was the first to sample the biriyani at its launch on Wednesday. “We eat biriyani for its unmatched taste, so it’s a relief that this healthy biriyani tastes good too,” smiled the actor, who has been living with diabetes since 2010. “Sugar patients have many restrictions, but temptation often gets the better of us. At least now we have a guilt-free, tasty dish.”

Soham also had a request to the culinary team. “For me, Oudh 1590 means beginning with galawati kebab, moving on to biriyani, and ending with firni. So please come up with diabetic firni next!” he smiled.

Shiladitya claimed this to be the world’s first diabetic biriyani. “Every household has a diabetic member these days, but everyone deserves good food. We’ve prepared this dish to be as close to the regular biriyani as possible, so diabetics don’t feel they’re eating something different,” he said.