Biryani is a dish that is extremely close to the heart of every Indian. The dish is capable of giving rise to a collective conscience and admiration for the dish by biryani lovers. Some people swear by the flavour and texture of Hyderabadi biryani, while others prefer its distant cousin from Kerala. Lucknowi biryani is known to be a favourite among foodies, but some people prefer Kolkata biryani instead. A passionate discussion ensued on Twitter about which state's biryani is the best, and the word 'biryani' began to trend on the social media platform. It all began with journalist Rohini Singh's Twitter reply to a user, who likened Kolkata biryani to a 2G scam.
Rohini Singh agreed with the user, adding that Hyderabadi biryani was over-spiced for her taste. She shared her preference for the Lucknowi version of the dish, which was 'fragrant' and 'delicate-tasting' in her opinion. Food critic and columnist Vir Sanghvi joined in the friendly banter revealing his preferences in terms of how frequently he could eat each kind of biryani. Take a look:
In the hierarchy of frequency of eating biryani that Vir Sanghvi shared, he put Hyderabadi biryani at the very last, followed by the Avadhi or Lucknowi version. Kolkata's was at the second position, and the best biryani according to Vir Sanghvi was the Kerala biryani! The conversation took a new turn as the CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant tweeted about his favourite version of the biryani. According to Kant, the best biryani was the Thalassery fish biryani from Paris restaurant in Kerala and it beats the other version by miles.
This tweet did not go down well with people who adore Hyderabadi biryani in equal measure. KTR, who is a minister from the state of Telangana, said that bragging rights for biryani belonged to Hyderabad alone. The rest of the biryanis, in his opinion, were just poor imitations. He further talked about how UNESCO recognised the city as a 'creative city of gastronomy'. Shailesh Reddy, who is a journalist working with the Telangana government, said, "Any biryani other than #Muttonbiryani is an oxymoron."
Here are their tweets:
What began as a friendly discussion soon ended up becoming a raging debate. Passionate responses thronged the Twitter trail from various parts of the country. Some people also advised against discussing this at a time when the country is reeling from the political turmoil of the CAA-NRC protests.
Which is your favourite biryani? Tell us in the comments below!