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Hindutva groups targeting Muslims will never understand what makes biryani Indian

We knew biryani would become another casualty of Hindutva groups who love associating it with Muslims. Given Hyderabad’s obsession with biryani, this was just waiting to happen.

I have always feared that, among other things, biryani would become another casualty of Hindutva groups who love associating it with Muslims. And with Hyderabad’s obsession with it, this was just waiting to happen.

An X user posted a video saying biryani should not be sold because it is from Hyderabad, and that local shops that sell vegetarian biryani should call it pulao. In all honesty, I wish biryani had originated in Hyderabad, because then we would have the perfect city to claim it.

Anyway, this verbal diarrhoea got me actually thinking about biryani itself, because despite it not being from Hyderabad, it is an absolutely omnipresent dish. In fact, it is so good in the city that even vegetarians do not want to feel left out — and they don’t want pulao, but want the same thing with vegetables.

How biryani came to India

Let’s make a few things clear first. Biryani’s origins can be traced to Central Asian kitchens, but the dish is essentially........

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