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A big and warm hello, from India’s youngest state and the land of Nizams, Dum ka biryani and Haleem. No prizes for guessing that I write this to you from Hyderabad.
The eighth Telangana Formation Day was celebrated across the state on Thursday June 2nd, so it was only apt that in my debut outing here, I should touch upon the cuisine of our country’s newest state while trying not to go bananas over its most famed dish, or rather two, as we witnessed this Ramzan, (read: Haleem season) all over again.
As I sit down to write this, I am awaiting our biryani order from a cloud kitchen called, what else, Love with Biryani, a food startup in Hyderabad, founded during the pandemic by a NRI foodpreneur from Telangana. That Biryani is to Hyderabad, what Maach is to Kolkata or Vada Paav is to Mumbai, is stating the obvious, that of representing an emotion for an entire populace.
Taking this love to the next level, Love with Biryani (LWB) introduced to Hyderabad, during the last festive season, the concept of premium gift packaging of biryani, and not just a couple of biryanis, mind you, but a mind-boggling tally of 60 plus varieties. (Though they have since whittled the list down recently to 50 on their delivery aggregator partners apps). The plan is to go pan-India, with metros Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru being on top of the launch agenda.
At the helm is founder Satya Siva Krishna Rapaka, who runs two hugely successful chains of restaurants called Charminar Indian Cuisine and The Biryaniwalla in Canada. So, while LWB’s mainstay is Hyderabadi Goat Dum Biryani, more popularly known as Hyderabadi Dum Gosht biryani, there are several uncommon variants like the Vijaywada Special Boneless/Guntur/Palnadu Chicken Biryani or the Konaseema Mutton Biryani. In fact, Rapaka is also toying with innovations like Goan-inspired flavours, so care for a Balchao Prawn Biryani or maybe a Cafreal Chicken biryani?
This just goes to show that whatever the genesis of biryani, whether it originated in Iran or elsewhere, there are few foods which are as unifying as this one-pot dish. No wonder biryani was the single most ordered dish in India for the year 2021 as a survey by food delivery aggregator Zomato showed.
Pachi Pulusu
Also mention-worthy is a dish often promoted at the annual (and now de rigeur) Telangana food promotions, Pachi Pulusu, which is an example of Pulusu, which requires no cooking, but makes for a lip-smacking side, with rice and Mudda Pappu (a thick dal preparation). Pachi Pulusu is made by crushing tamarind and green chillies and making a divine concoction by adding water, and finally garnishing it with finely chopped onion and green chillies, and a bit of roasted jeera powder. Some use a tadka or seasoning of cumin and mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Pachi Pulusu is often had as a coolant in summer and is now getting to be a staple on Telangana menus.
Clearly, Telangana outside the City of Nizams is not biryani-obsessed. Scandinavian home furnishings major Ikea, however, which opened its first Indian outlet in Hyderabad four years ago, has wisened up to the city’s unique biryani culture. While it started off with its famed meatballs curry (only that they were chicken and not its original beef meatballs) paired with rice, it has since then introduced three biryanis to the menu of its humongous café with about 1000 covers. No matter, that none of the three biryanis, vegetable/chicken tikka or the more eclectic Biryani with Salmon Fillet come anywhere close to the original template of Hyderabadi dum mutton biryani, but if its biryani, who is to complain in Hyderabad?
Swati Sucharita is a Hyderabad-based journalist, food blogger and independent content consultant. You may write in at swati.sucharita@htmedialabs.com.
