Biriyani

Biriyani is heaven. Biriyani is amazing....

Before I start any controversy, I will already say that a lot of people might have a different opinion compared to mine, but that doesn't mean that you have to undermine my opinion. Biriyani is a very touchy subject amongst Bengalis. Because people from any other part of India wouldn't understand or appreciate the uniqueness of the Biriyani we experience in Kolkata. Let me start with how I first got to taste Biriyani. 

Unlike my other blog where I talk a lot about travelling and gaining experience, any sort of movement was never what I liked to do. Since my childhood, I have been a couch potato. So if you ask me in other blogs, why I haven't been to such and such place or restaurant and had that so famous dish, it's because I probably haven't been there my entire life, although I have lived in this city for close to two decades. 

The first Biriyani I had come across was from this restaurant called Rahmania in Laketown. It's no longer in existence as far as my knowledge goes, but this had been my first tasting experience as far as memories go. It was probably mutton Biriyani because my dad loves mutton and Biriyani. Any biriyani which isn't mutton biriyani doesn't deserve to be called Biriyani. Those are his words. But whatever meat it may be Bengalis having a nice Biriyani is equivalent to Bengalis experiencing the highest degree of satisfaction. The aroma of Biriyani is intoxicating. There are a lot of mysterious spices that are used which I know nothing of (since I am not a cook as I have already previously declared) that makes this rice dish feel like a gift from the heavens. So yes Rahmania Laketown was my first ever Biriyani.

Then came Shiraz, Aminia and Arsalan. Those were even closer to my house, and feasting on Biriyani became a norm. Birthdays, any guests in the house, any achievements, festivals- be it Durga Puja Navami, or Eid, or Christmas or New Year, or some days here and there when we just wanted to have it. There's no season or reason really to gorge on this dish. 

I am usually a person who doesn't enjoy eating food which is dry, I prefer food which usually has gravy, or an accessory item to make the food less dry, but Biriyani is something that doesn't require anything. My father says mutton Biriyani and Chicken Chaap. Truthfully, I don't understand the logic of that combination but there are definitely friends who are reading this right now drooling right over the thought of it. Sure I am not complaining if there's chicken bharta or chicken chaap to accompany it, but I don't care as long as there's the Biriyani. 

In my five years away from home there have been moments I have missed Biriyani dearly. I have tried Biriyani in Punjab but it's just spicy oily rice with lots of gravy and chunks of chicken. Biriyani in Bengal is oddly not spicy. It's something we have taken from Lucknow or Hyderabad and have strangely made it our own. Talking about Biriyani from Kolkata in Punjab feels like a hushed secret from a distant lover (West Bengal). I have been laughed at, outside my home state when I have declared my love for a big potato in Biriyani. The esoteric feeling amongst Bengalis when there's a soft potato in the Biriyani that melts in your mouth....It is an out of the world feeling. A day can go terribly wrong if there's a hard half boiled potato in the Biriyani, it's a mood spoiler. Eggs are optional although I don't mind one. 

In the end anyone who ever wants to taste what Biriyani in Bengal tastes like, I would suggest the restaurants mentioned above. The way I like it is as follows: Chicken Biriyani, there has to be a leg or a wing piece, the beautiful aroma of the Biriyani that will make me go insane, a piece of potato that will melt in my mouth, a hard boiled egg (half piece) and a proper appetite to eat the entire plate myself. I prefer to keep an almost empty stomach before I ever sit down for a biriyani. This can be followed by a delicious dessert of Firni. 

So.. Bon Appétit!