Biryani - The Origin of the Name



Story 1 - Origin of Biryani

Biryani is not a Mughal dish. Its earlier name was “Hindavi Laziz” or "Indian delicacy". Hindavi Laziz was not a word used by Hindus. Hindus called it Mans-Odan (मांसौदन). 

Mughals called Biryani, Hindavi Laziz. This is their straight admission that Biryani is of Indian origin. 

The word Biryani is not Arabic, Persian, or Turkic. It originally comes from a Sanskrit word borrowed from Persian. 

Early Biryani with meat, rice & spices was known as मांसोदन in Ancient India. Biryani is made from rice and spices. In those days, Rice did not grow in the original Mughal homeland. 

In fact, the first Mughal emperor Babur did not mention rice when he was in Central Asia. He mentions other crops and cereals but rice is completely absent. 

The Persian word ‘Biryani’ comes from the Persian ‘Birinj’ for rice. Now, this word is not found in Old Persian. 

It suddenly occurs in Middle Persian. According to Mayrhofer’s “Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo Aryan”, the word Birinj comes from the Sanskrit word vrīhí (व्रीहि).

Story 2 - Origin of Biryani

The word “biryani” comes from the Persian word “birian” which means “fried before cooking.” One could conclude that the biryani originated in Iran (previously known as Persia). 

Many historians believe that biryani originated from Persia and was brought to India by the Mughals. Biryani was further developed in the Mughal royal kitchen.

Another interesting story traces the origins of the dish to Mumtaz Mahal (1593-1631), Shah Jahan’s queen who inspired the Taj Mahal. It is said that she once visited army barracks and found the army personnel under-nourished. 

She asked the chef to prepare a special dish that provided balanced nutrition, and thus the biryani was created. 

When the British deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), the Calcutta biryani was created. 

Nizams governing small territories in Northern India encouraged regional variants like the Hyderabadi biryani and the Arcot Nawab biryani. 

Biryani recipes of the Mughals can still be found in places where their empire had a foothold.

Story 3 - Origin of Biryani

While biryani is popularly associated with the Mughals, there is some historical evidence showing that there were other, similar rice dishes before the Mughal invasion. 

There is mention of a rice dish known as “Oon Soru” in Tamil as early as the year 2 A.D. Oon Soru was composed of rice, ghee, meat, turmeric, coriander, pepper, and bay leaf, and was used to feed military warriors.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eggs Kejriwal - How did Eggs Kejriwal originate?

Image
Eggs Kejriwal - How did Eggs Kejriwal originate? Arvind Kejriwal is a prominent Kejriwal from Delhi and was pelted with eggs early in his political career. But he is not the egg Kejriwal we are talking about here. The meal was held at the Willingdon Sports Club in Tardeo, Mumbai.  A certain Mr Devi Prasad Kejriwal was a very regular visitor to the Willingdon Sports Club at one point in time.  Agarwal and other Kejriwals are strictly vegetarian communities and are disdainful of all kinds of non-vegetarian food including eggs. Devi Prasad Kejriwal and his love for Eeggs Kejriwal Devi Prasad Kejriwal loved scrambled eggs and inspired the Willingdon Sports Club chef to make his favourite dish. Scrambled eggs on toast with cheese thrown in between and sprinkled with quality sliced ​​green beans. It is believed that he had this dish every day. The food was very popular among her friends and then later other members of the group found out about it.  At one point, the dish was ad...
Read more

Kebabs - The Origin of Kebabs

Image
Ottoman Empire soldiers were given meat & spices by their wives before they stepped out to fight battles. Soldiers used to cut this meat into very small pieces, put spices on them, tie them and use them to eat during the war—this is how Kabab came into existence.   Ibn e Batuta has written that Delhi Sultanat brought Kabab to India. We all should thank Qutub Al Din Aibak for the delicious Kababs. It’s a folklore that when the Nawab of Lucknow failed to chew traditional Kabab because of old age, his ‘Khansaama’ minced the meat very fine and added papaya to it so that it got soft & melted easily. Now we know those Kabab’s as Galavti Kabab or Galawat Ke Kebab. A prominent Landlord in Kakori invited British officers for a gala dinner & had many Awadhi cuisines but somehow they all failed to impress the British officers. The landlord called his ‘Raqabdaar’ to come up with some unique Kabab. Cook tried various spices Kabab which gave it a distinct aroma & softness along w...
Read more

The Physics of Crispy Dosas

Image
What if the secret to a perfect dosa was hidden in a tiny drop of water? Anyone who has dared to make the South Indian classic, dosa, knows that it takes a rare kind of precision to make the perfect one. Right from the soaking of rice and dal, to maintaining the correct temperature for the batter to ferment, to getting the pan’s temperature perfect — this dish calls for instinct and skill at every step. Even when using store-bought batter, a perfectly crisp and evenly browned dosa is something many struggle with. Because the process is so delicate, every household has its own tried-and-tested method, passed down from great-grandmothers and grandmothers who refined their technique through sheer practice. However, for years, our elders of the Indian kitchens have trusted instinct — a sprinkle, a sizzle, and that moment you know the tawa is “just right”. Now, an IIT Madras professor has revealed that this age-old intuition is actually pure physics at play. What most people don’t realise i...
Read more