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Biryani
is
one
of
the
most
popular
dishes
in
South
Asia,
as
well
as
among
the
diaspora
from
the
region.
Similar
dishes
are
also
prepared
in
other
parts
of
the
world
such
as
in
Iraq,
Thailand,
Singapore
and
Malaysia.[3]
Biryani
is
the
single
most-ordered
dish
on
Indian
online
food
ordering
and
delivery
services.
The
exact
origin
of
the
dish
is
uncertain.
In
North
India,
different
varieties
of
biryani
developed
in
the
Muslim
centres
of
Delhi
(Mughlai
cuisine),
Rampur,
Lucknow
(Awadhi
cuisine)
and
other
small
principalities.
In
South
India,
where
rice
is
more
widely
used
as
a
staple
food,
several
distinct
varieties
of
biryani
emerged
from
Hyderabad
Deccan
(where
some
believe
the
dish
originated[12])
as
well
as
Tamil
Nadu
(Ambur,
Thanjavur,
Chettinad,
Salem,
Dindigal),
Kerala
(Malabar),
Telangana,
and
Karnataka
(Bhatkal)
where
Muslim
communities
were
present.
According
to
historian
Lizzie
Collingham,
the
modern
biryani
developed
in
the
royal
kitchens
of
the
Mughal
Empire
(1526–1857)
and
is
a
mix
of
the
native
spicy
rice
dishes
of
India
and
the
Persian
pilaf.[14]
Indian
restaurateur
Kris
Dhillon
believes
that
the
dish
originated
in
Persia,
and
was
brought
to
India
by
the
Mughals.
Another
theory
claims
that
the
dish
was
prepared
in
India
before
the
first
Mughal
emperor
Babur
conquered
India.[16]
The
16th-century
Mughal
text
Ain-i-Akbari
makes
no
distinction
between
biryanis
and
pilaf
(or
pulao):
it
states
that
the
word
"biryani"
is
of
older
usage
in
India.[17]
A
similar
theory,
that
biryani
came
to
India
with
Timur's
invasion,
appears
to
be
incorrect,
because
there
is
no
record
of
biryani
having
existed
in
his
native
land
during
that
period.
According
to
Pratibha
Karan,
who
wrote
the
book
Biryani,
biryani
is
of
South
Indian
origin,
derived
from
pilaf
varieties
brought
to
the
Indian
subcontinent
by
Arab
traders.
She
speculates
that
the
pulao
was
an
army
dish
in
medieval
India.
Armies
would
prepare
a
one-pot
dish
of
rice
with
whichever
meat
was
available.
Over
time,
the
dish
became
biryani
due
to
different
methods
of
cooking,
with
the
distinction
between
"pulao"
and
"biryani"
being
arbitrary.
According
to
Vishwanath
Shenoy,
the
owner
of
a
biryani
restaurant
chain
in
India,
one
branch
of
biryani
comes
from
the
Mughals,
while
another
was
brought
by
the
Arab
traders
to
Malabar
in
South
India.
There
are
various
apocryphal
stories
dating
the
invention
to
Shah
Jahan's
time
but
Rana
Safvi,
the
distinguished
historian,
says
she
could
only
find
a
recipe
from
the
later
Mughal
period,
from
Bahadur
Shah
Zafar's
time.
It
is
not
her
claim
that
there
was
no
biryani
before
that;
just
that
she
has
not
found
a
recipe.
Other
historians
who
have
gone
through
texts
say
that
the
first
references
to
biryani
only
appear
around
the
18th
century.
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