Biryani is a dish like no other, and the beauty of this one-pot meal is that every region has its own version based on local ingredients and tastes. Celebrating biryani as a symbol of the country’s composite culture, students of the Institute of Hotel Management cooked up a storm on Tuesday, rustling up 75 varieties of the dish to mark the institute’s golden jubilee as well as 75 years of Indian Independence.
The campus buzzed with activity as the students added their final touches to the 75 biryanis in various stages of preparation. The air was redolent with the fragrance of spices.
In one room, Sam Nirmal, a faculty member of the institute, pulled out a large flat vessel from inside an oven for a bharvan biryani. “The word bharvan comes from filling. We have stuffed a lamb with a chicken, which is again stuffed with an egg, and the whole thing has been cooked in an oven. It will be topped with biryani rice and cooked in dum (slow-cooked),” informed Mr. Nirmal about one of the biryanis.
The gargantuan task of planning for 75 biryanis took about six months. “We were planning something big to mark the anniversary of the institution and we thought of 75 biryanis, and it matched India’s Independence celebrations. The research and selection took time,” said Suresh, another faculty member at the facility.
The quantity cooked for each variety ranged between 800 grams of rice, and 250 grams rice with twice the quantity of vegetables or meat. The range of biryanis included duck, lobster, crab, shrimp, mushroom, arbi or taro, and jackfruit among others. Some biryanis were distinguished by the cooking style matched with names of places such as Saoji from central India, Kolhapuri, Aurangabad, Malvani, Malabari, Kongu, Ambur, Kozhikode, Thalasssery and Bhatkal, showcasing the popularity of the dish across India.
