Hyderabadi Biryani Holds the Fort

Though Biryani has put the Hyderabadi cuisine on the world map, the changing times have taken a toll on the quality of this culinary tradition.

If any one dish has come to be known as the representative of Hyderabadi or Deccani cuisine, it is the lip-smacking Biryani, the famous meat-and-rice dish known for its unique taste and aroma world over. But it would be gross injustice to say Biryani is one, and all of this royal cuisine was born in the palace kitchens and spread gradually from the dining tables of the nawabs to the streets.

Though closely identified with the Nizams of Hyderabad, whose rule from the early 18th to the mid-20th century was spread over present-day Hyderabad, Telangana, Marathwada and parts of Karnataka, the Hyderabadi cuisine took a much longer period to evolve into one of the most celebrated cuisines in the world.

The Hyderabadi cuisine, as it is known today, is the result of the influences and interactions of several cultures over many centuries, starting with Qutub Shahi dynasty of Golkonda. You can feel the influence of Persian, Arab, Afghan and Mughlai cuisines on the rich and colourful Hyderabadi dastar khwan (dining place). Then, the local traditions of the use of spices, especially chilly and khatta (tamarind) from Telangana and Marathwada, have also made no minor contribution.

If Biryani, with as many as 26 different varieties from Nizam’s kitchens, was evolved from Turkish food, Haleem, a syrup-like dish made of gyahoon (wheat), ghee and gosht (mutton) was a gift from Iran. Harees was another version of the same dish brought by Arabs to Deccan. Kababs in various forms, tastes and aromas were the result of interaction with the Afghani and Mughlai kitchens.

But it was neither Biryani nor the famous dessert Double Ka Meetha (bread pudding) which marks my childhood memory of this famous cuisine. I distinctly remember my maternal grandfather, in sherwani and the red rumi cap, using his famous culinary skills at home to make Muzbih and Murgh-e-Musallam with aroma travelling far and wide and taste lingering in the mouth for a long time. Muzbih was a dish of a big piece of mutton cooked on wood fire slowly in the syrup of spices and herbs and dry fruits. Murgh-e-Musallam (full chicken) was an unforgettable image in its colour and richness as my maternal grandfather deftly cut open the breast of the bird, cleaned its guts and thoroughly filled it with spices and dry fruits; he then sewed it and cooked in a pot sealed with wheat flour.

As I grew up eating the regular feasts of Hyderabadi dishes like Baghara Khana, Dalcha, (rice, daal and mutton) and Nihari Paaya, it was the Biryani which became the symbol of the growing name and fame of Hyderabadi cuisines across the seas as migrating Hyderabadi gourmets and connoisseurs took its aroma and tastes wherever they went from Americas and Europe to West Asia.

But the most memorable image was seeing the Englishmen and women standing in a long queue, shielding themselves from the light snow outside the Khan’s Restaurant in central London awaiting their turn to have a taste of the Biryani. But to my dismay it turned out to be a fake one — Bangladeshi cooks trying to pass it on as the real one.

Today even in Hyderabad one gets to see and eat Biryanis in varied forms and tastes, some good, some passable and some awful (no disrespect to food meant). As one sees beef Biryani, chicken Biryani and even vegetable Biryani, the old-timers smirk, “Beta yeh bhi koi Biryani hai. Biryani to sirf mutton Biryani hoti hai, baaqi sab bakwas (Son, this is no Biryani; only mutton Biryani is real, all others are fake).”

The list of the dishes on Hyderabadi cuisines is indeed long and is as varied as the nawabi households. Like in traditional music where every gharana had its distinct identity and touch with its own strains and ragas, the nawabi gharana of Hyderabad had come up with as many varieties of food as it had a number of cooks, now calling themselves chefs, each trying to outwit and out-taste the other. So, from Dum Ki Biryani and Kachche Gosht ki Biryani to Zafrani Biryani (rich in saffron), we had a list of 26 varieties with which the last Nizam of Hyderabad used to treat his guests. The story of Biryani, however, cannot be complete without Baghare Baingan (brinjal stuffed with spices and cooked in thick gravy) and Dahi ki Chutney (known as Burhani).

The rhyming words like Biryani, Burhani and Qubani, all part of the cuisine along with the Sherwani, the dress of the royal, used to sound so musical that they used to bring a myriad of images in one’s mind. “With the passage of time, everything has changed. It is difficult to find the original tastes and aromas. But still there are lovers of good Hyderabadi food. But in general, people are ready to compromise on the quality and standard for the sake of cost-cutting”, says Mohammed Siddique, one of the famous caterers of Hyderabadi food.

Siddique, who personally cooks the food, says, “Some of the famous dishes like Luqmi-Kabab have vanished from our dining tables. They were integral part of the nawabi kitchen. Earlier, Hyderbadi cuisine used to be simple with fewer dishes but of higher quality. Today, the emphasis is on larger number of dishes, even if they are not tasty.” One major change I have felt is that mutton has slowly given way to chicken. A normal Hyderabadi

dining table, especially in weddings and big parties, today will be loaded with three to four different dishes and kababs of chicken and hardly any mutton. “This change has come about because of the economics of the food. As mutton turned costly, and production of chicken increased over the last two decades, this trend became more pronounced.” At the same time, with the onslaught of pizzas and burgers, pastas and pepperonis, and Chinese noodles and tofu, Hyderabadi cuisine is facing the competition on the home turf.

Haleem is another example of this change. Cooked over slow wood fire for eight to 12 hours, this mix of wheat-mutton, spices and herbs is no more what it used to be. Today this seasonal dish, available only in the month of Ramadan, is available in varied forms and improvisations. Some special Haleem will be laden with Chicken-65, a contribution of growing Chinese influence, and some will be garnished with chicken and egg pieces.

Nihari with Paayas and Zubaan (soup of goat or sheep’s feet and tongue) is also fighting a losing battle against the much simpler and less costly Idli Vada, the invasion from coastal Andhra. Nihari-Kulche, along with Khichdi-Keema, papad, achar and khatta used to be integral part of a Hyderabadi breakfast. But not anymore. The number of hotels serving them is falling and very few families and households have time and energy to spend hours in preparing them.

But, given the weakness of Hyderabadis for the sweets, all the good old deserts have not only survived but also flourishing. Qubani Ka Meetha (apricot pudding) is still the king in various forms. Double Ka Meetha, matching Shahi Tukda’s of Mughlai cuisine is still around. Badam ki Jaali, Gajar Ka Halwa, Faludas and Firni, and Gil-e-Firdaus or Kaddu ki Kheer — you name it and you have it. No wonder, Hyderabad has become the world capital of diabetes. But never dare to say this to Hyderabadi food lovers.