Every cuisine has its own mark on history. India is a witness of several invaders and every invader brought a different culture along with a new cuisine. Muslim invaders, such as Arabs, Persians, Turks, and Afghans presented the feasts culture to India.
The Mughlai cuisine reserves a special place in the hearts of foodies. India is very famous for the Mughlai cuisine that developed during the rule of the Mughals (15th century to about the 19th century). The Mughals introduced cooking like an art form and some of the very famous Mughlai recipes that Mughals had introduced to India are biryani, kebabs, and pilaf.
Although biryani is popularly linked with the Mughals, however, some historical evidence is there displaying other similar rice preparations were there before the invasion of the Mughal. A specification is that a rice dish, called “Oon Soru” in Tamil, was there as early as the year 2 A.D. That preparation was prepared with rice, meat, ghee, coriander, turmeric, bay leaf, and pepper. This preparation used to feed military warriors.
The well-known historian and traveller Al-Biruni has accurate explanations of meals at the courts of Sultans reigned some parts of India before the Mughals. These contain declarations of rice dishes almost identical to the Mughal biryani. Undoubtedly, Islamic Persians encouraged and popularized the dish.
The term “biryani” has come from “birian” – a Persian word that means, “fried before cooking.” One could make a conclusion that the biryani sourced in Iran (present-day Persia). Another interesting story suggests that Mumtaz Mahal (queen of Shah Jahan) once visited army barracks and then she found the army personnel as under-nourished. Therefore, she asked the chef to make such a dish that can provide balanced nutrition and in this way, biryani was invented.
Calcutta biryani was invented while Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was deposed by the British to Kolkata (then Calcutta). In Northern India, Nizams ruling small territories inspired various regional variants including the Arcot Nawab biryani and the Hyderabadi biryani. Once biryani was known for the royalty and today it reflects traditions and local sensibilities, it has become a common and popular dish.
Veg biryani is a ‘one pot’ preparation and superbly delicious and aromatic dish. You can learn to make the spice powder required for the preparation from the internet resources.
Hyderabadi Kachi Chicken Biryani is another simple preparation that can be made in an authentic way through marination of chicken with curd, spices, and herbs. It is then Dum cooked to perfection for yielding delicious and fragrant with soft and tender chicken.
Ambur Chicken Biryani is a Tamil Nadu style and very famous rice dish from Ambur. It is made with short grain rice, known seerga samba rice or Jeera rice. It makes a great accompaniment with raita and Ennai kathrikai. This biryani is mostly prepared with mutton but chicken may also be used.
Biryani is a must-have dish in every celebration and get-together and if you make it in your home, then your friends and family will surely like it. To find out chicken biryani recipe, you can search the internet.
