A restaurant in the Indian city of Pune has triggered a biryani battle on Twitter. The eatery’s banner stated that only Hyderabadi Biryani is actual biryani, anything else is just ‘pulao’. A photo of the banner has gone viral in India.
The banner on the restaurant’s biryani policy read: “All types of biryanis other than Hyderabadi Biryani will be referred to as pulao (rice flavoured with spices, and cooked in stock).”
In fact, it went on to say that to call anything with potatoes in it as biryani was “illegal". The banner said: “Any rice potato mix will henceforth be called ‘batata wada rice (potato fritter rice)’.”
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The banner also said: "Bombay and Pakistani Biryani, henceforth, will be strictly called as mutton masala rice."
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While the post had many tweeps in splits. It soon escalated to become a battle of the regions as people started defending the biryani of their regions and liking.
Tweep @promzzz posted: “Hyderabadi biryani = spicy masala rice. Lucknow and calcutta biryani = real deals.”
And @j_gunjan tweeted: “There's definitely Awadhi/Lucknawi biryani. We can agree that others are not biryani per se.”
Tweep @brahmchaari_ replied: “Hyderabadi biryani is overrated , Lucknow biryani is a lot better.”
Meanwhile, Twitter user @muralidg recommended the Thalassery Biriyani.
Biryani may have been the food of the royals in India, yet, strangely it did not originate in the Indian subcontinent. According to an earlier Gulf News report, Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia explained that when the Mughals came to India they brought the recipe with them. The flavours came in because they travelled through Afghanistan and north India. Once in India, it was adapted with local spices and herbs.
The jury is still out on which biryani is the best, but, what do you think? Have a picture to share? Tag us on Instagram @gulfnews.
