There are over 26 varieties of biryani in India. Biryani comes from the Persian 'birian' which means 'fried before cooking'. It was a royal dish of the Muslim Nizams and Nawabs. Biryani is believed to have been brought to India by Taimur Lang.
One branch of biryani comes from the Mughals (Muslim rulers of India), who got it from Persia and during their reign biryani entrenched itself in India.
The other branch of biryani is supposed to have been brought by Arab traders. The Mughals left their imprint with biryani on the entire India.
The Moghuls looked to Persia for their culture. Mughal is Persian for Mongol and Moghul is the Indianised version of it. Persian and Indian culinary styles united to set Moghul cooking apart from other Indian cuisines. Today when people speak of the classical style of Indian cooking, they are referring to the legacy left by the Moghul (Muslim) dynasty – the Moghul or Moghlai style.
Muslims invented this dish which is eaten by Indian and Malay Muslims in South Africa and others in various parts of the world and regarded as the King of Foods by many.
Biryani: King’s Food
