Hyderabadi, Lucknowi Or Thalassery? Foodies At Loggerheads Over Which Biryani Is Best

Biryani is a dish that is popular throughout India but each region has its own unique method of preparing it. The variation might be because North India was introduced to the dish by the Mughals and South India by the Arabs, reports NDTV.

The most popular versions are the layered Hyderabadi biryani with saffron and coconut, Lucknowi ‘dum pukth’ biryani, Coorgi Mutton Biryani, Bhatkali Biryani, Mangalorean Fish Biryani, Memoni Biryani, Assamese Kampuri Biryani, Awadhi Mutton Biryani, Thaleserry Biryani, Sindhi biryani, and Kolkata biryani.

And a tweet by @Benarasiyaa about potatoes in the Kolkata version of the delicacy has triggered a massive food fight online.

Kolkata Biryani with aloo is the biggest scam after 2G scam.

— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) February 3, 2020

Some defended the inclusion of potatoes while others took shots at vegetable biryani.

The best example of two positives make a negative is biryani with aloo in it. Just…no.

— Hannah (@hann_abby) February 4, 2020

Wrong!! I vetto ! Aloo is like a Navratna company in that plate. Don't try to sale the Navratna company is a Bad debt.

— Mayukh Ranjan Ghosh (@mayukhrghosh) February 3, 2020

Go take a walk! And let me eat my biryani with alu.

— Paromita Kar (@Paromita2005) February 4, 2020

https://twitter.com/Shushh16/status/1224548556154888192

Pretty soon, the debate turned into an all-out war over which Indian biryani is the best (read: tastiest).

Fun debate on Indian biryani here (a topic only slightly less divisive than Indian mangoes). Glad to see there's a Bloomberg connection (however tangential) to the world's best biryani. Must try and procure some… https://t.co/bcLw2OpeSb

— Iain Marlow (@iainmarlow) February 5, 2020

The first contender was Lakhnawi biryani.

Agree. Worse than 2G scam. And dare I say the over spiced Hyderabadi biryani too. No one makes biryani the way it is made in homes in Lucknow- fragrant, delicate tasting and just pure deliciousness. https://t.co/YGmVneWY1z

— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) February 3, 2020

Lucknow Biryani is the real Biryani. Period

— Farhan Khan (@Farhan222) February 3, 2020

Then Thalassery, Donne and Dindigul biryanis entered the game.

I can eat a Hyderabadi Biryani once every two months. An Avadhi Biryani once a month. A Calcutta Biryani once a week.
A Kerala Biryani every day! https://t.co/8xjQqchYGF

— vir sanghvi (@virsanghvi) February 4, 2020

Karnataka's Donne biriyani deserves a place on the list.

— Rajaneesh (@vilakudy) February 4, 2020

Please try Dindigul biriyani (Tamil Nadu) made with seeraga samba rice (small grain). Very flavorful, meat is in smaller pieces. Very different. In Dindugal Thalappakatti if in Chennai. Though TN also has Ambur style which is ok but I feel it's not special.

— Sriganesh Raman (@sriganeshr) February 5, 2020

The best biryani in world is Thalassery fish biryani from Paris restaurant. It’s made using short-grained local rice with white aikora or kingfish also known as king mackerel in Thalassery ( Kerala). Its awesome & beats all other biryanis by miles. https://t.co/MjCmNAD3aA

— Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) February 4, 2020

And finally, foodies from Hyderabad, the creative city for gastronomy, put forth the contender which boasts of 40 distinct variations of the dish.

All bragging rights on best biryani in the world belong rightfully to Hyderabad Amitabh Ji. Dare I say that the rest are only poor imitations

Even UNESCO recognised our gourmet culture recently & conferred the title of ‘creative city of gastronomy’; https://t.co/wAN6J8ZbJO https://t.co/DDP8iU7wNo

— KTR (@KTRTRS) February 5, 2020

A Biryani which is not Hyderabadi is not Biryani.

— obaid ahmed (@obaid42) February 5, 2020

💯% nothing can come close to Hyderabad biryani. Period. Game over.

— Bhakt Of None (@BhaktOfNone) February 5, 2020

And, thus began World War III

— Chatterbot (@nandiniriyer) February 4, 2020

There was no consensus but Twitter user @harinath_rao summed it up perfectly by reminding us how lucky we are to get a chance to savour so many types of the same dish.

What's this fight (or tweets)? Every Biryani has its own flavour. Ours is best, yours is not! Isn't this a kind of supremacy? Isn't food part of culture? If we appreciate cultural diversity, then why not food? Why not Biryani? We all have our own, distinct, taste buds! #diversity https://t.co/wNRmqS4fEh

— hari (@harinath_rao) February 5, 2020

Time to make a bucket list of every type of biryani made in India and check it off in 2020, don’t you agree?

Cover Image Source – left, right