Unique recipes of the same dish: Karachi's biryani vendors compete in delicious rivalry

Every Karachi neighbourhood has its own canteens with biryani vendors selling their dishes

Last updated: September 28, 2023 | 11:32

AFP and Compiled by Dona Cherian, Assistant Online Editor

2 MIN READ

1/13

Eying each other across a stream of traffic, rival Pakistani biryani joints in Karachi vie for customers, serving a fiery medley of meat, rice and spice that unites and divides biryani lovers.

2/13

Rivals sell a niche version of the dish, steeped in the same vats, with matching prices and trophies commending their quality.

3/13

"Our biryani is not only different from theirs but unique in the world," says restaurateur Muhammad Saqib, who layers his "bone marrow biryani" with herbs. "When a person bites into it he drowns in a world of flavours," the 36-year-old says.

4/13

"We were the ones who started the biryani business here first," the 27-year-old claims, as staff scoop out sharing platters with a gut-punch of masala. "It's our own personal and secret recipe."

5/13

Every Karachi neighbourhood has its own canteens fronted by vendors clanking a spatula against the inside of biryani pots. The recipe has endless variations.

6/13

Both agree on one thing. "You can't find biryani like Pakistan's anywhere in the world," says Saqib. "Whether it's a celebration or any other occasion, biryani always comes first," according to Zain.

7/13

Beef, chicken, vegetables and seafood - biryani recipes change but love for the dish is universal.

8/13

The origins of biryani are hotly contested. However, it is generally accepted the word has Persian roots and it is argued the dish was popularised in the elite kitchens of the Mughal Empire, which spanned South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries.

9/13

In spite of that pedigree, its defining quality is permutation. Quratul Ain Asad, 40, spends Sunday morning cooking for her husband and son, descendants of a family that arrived in Karachi from the Indian town of Tonk in 1948.

10/13

But at the dinner table, they feast not on an heirloom recipe but a TV chef's version with a cooling yoghurt sauce and a simple shredded salad. Asad insists on Karachi's biryani supremacy.

11/13

"You will not like biryani from anywhere else once you've tasted Karachi's biryani," Asad added.

12/13

Cooked in bulk, biryani is also a staple of charity donations. At Ghazi Foods, 28-year-old Ali Nawaz paddles out dozens of portions of biryani into plastic pouches, which are delivered to poor neighbourhoods on motorbikes.

13/13

A minute after one of those bikes stops, the biryani is gone, seized by kids and young adults. "People pray for us when they eat it," says Nawaz. "It feels good that our biryani reaches the people."

Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox