Sometimes it’s greasy and sometimes it’s dry. But it’s always spicy. It is a plate full of long grain rice that is not sticky and contains a succulent piece of meat inside. It is pleasantly aromatic, but not too strong. The delicious aroma of spices and the delicious sight of the dish make your mouth water. And when you taste it, the subtle flavor and flavor of spices is perceived softly and pleasantly. It is well cooked, flavorful, succulent and delicious. And once you start eating, you’ll end up cleaning your plate down to the last grain of rice.

That is a plate of delicious Biryani placed in front of you. Biryani is perhaps the most popular rice based dish in the world which is available in many forms. Although this dish is known as a world famous traditional Indian cuisine, Dhaka Biryani means something very special for food lovers. Traditional Indian Biryani has a number of variants like Hyderabadi Biryani, Afghani Biryani, Sindhi Biryani, Lucknowi Biryani etc. which clearly represents the different preparation for the different states of India. But Dhaka Biryani mainly has two variations, Kachhi Biryani and Chicken Biryani. Kachhi Biryani is cooked with lamb (and rarely beef) while Chicken Biryani has chicken as its meat ingredient. In the Indian preparation, long grain Bashmati rice is used for Biryani. But most Dhaka Biryani recipes use Bangladeshi ‘Kali-Jira’ rice, a very fine polao rice that is produced only in northern districts like Dinajpur.

Biryani is derived from a Persian word ‘beryan’ which means ‘fried’ or ‘roasted’. Biryani is believed to have been brought to the Indian subcontinent by Muslim travelers and Arab traders. However, there is also another saying about the origin of Biryani. In times of war during the Mughal period, soldiers were provided with a one item meal. Rice and meat were cooked together and served. Later, such a recipe was more formally introduced into the royal dinner and eventually became immensely popular throughout the rice-eating community on the Indian subcontinent.

There are numerous fast food restaurants all over the city of Dhaka these days and the number is growing. Even international fast food chains like KFC and Pizza Hut have several outlets in different parts of the city. Despite the dominance of fast food, particularly among the young generation, Biryani still holds a very special place in the hearts of the citizens. “Almost every Friday morning we have a special cricket match with our college mates and the losing team has to treat the winners with a special meal with Biryani. We visit different restaurants every week to try different Biryani. But we never have any! enough!” Said by Sabbir Iqbal, a 29-year-old executive who works with Banglalink.

Biryani is so popular in this part of the world that a wedding or any other ceremony is almost certain to have Biryani on its menu. “I was married almost 34 years ago. At that time, Dhaka was not the Dhaka of today. Things have changed a lot since then. But few things remain the same as decades before. My wedding receptions menu had Biryani then and still has today.My youngest daughter is about to get married next January and surely Biryani is going to be served as main course.We ‘Dhakaiya’ (residents of old Dhaka living there for many years) people can’t think of our celebrations without plates full of delicious Biryani,” said Fazley Noman, a 60-year-old retiree who has lived in Rankin Street, Wari since birth, proudly.

Although Biryani is counted as the heritage food of old Dhaka, there are also a number of food outlets around the new city that serve excellent quality biryani. “We like fast food menus like pizza, pasta or burgers while hanging out with friends, but whenever there is some special occasion to celebrate like birthday or something like that, Malancha Biryani or Khushbu restaurant is our first preference,” is the Nusrat statement. Khandker, a 21-year-old student at Dhaka University. Dhaka Biryani is not only available in Dhaka. It has spread through hundreds of subcontinental restaurants in many large cities around the world. Nishat Afza, a 34-year-old NRB who lives in London and is currently visiting her homeland, mentioned, “From time to time, we go out to eat and often end up visiting the famous Dhaka Biryani House located on Mile End Road for taste of Bangladesh”.

Whenever Dhaka Biryani is mentioned, the first name that comes up is Fakhruddin Biryani. The dish is named after the late celebrity chef Mohammad Farkhruddin, better known as ‘Fakhruddin Baburchi’ (Baburchi is the Bengali synonym for chef). He started serving snacks to the students of Viqarunnisa Noon School (a renowned girls’ school in Dhaka) in the mid-1980s and eventually became famous for his excellent biryani recipes. Soon his recipes became a pinnacle and today he has become a symbol of high society to entertain the guests of any function with Fakhruddin’s Biryani. The famous chef died in 1997, but his sons still serve his recipe at 3 exclusive outlets in the city of Dhaka, respectively located at Dhanmondi, Gulshan and Uttara. Although Fakhruddin restaurants are famous for their Kachhi Biryani, they also serve top-class Chicken Biryani and Borhani (a kind of yogurt drink).

Haji Biryani is another name that shines when you think of Dhaka Biryani. It was established by Haji Ahmed Ali (Haji is not part of his family title, it is used to show that he has performed Hajj) back in 1939 at Monir Hossain Lane in Narinda, Wari. Today, the main restaurant is located on Kazi Alauddin Road, Nazira Bazar. Haji’s biryani is unique in that it is served dry (most biryani is cooked with a lot of oil). Another interesting fact about this restaurant is that it starts serving after Asr prayer and is mostly sold out by Isha prayer. “The restaurant stays so crowded during business hours that most people have to wait at least 15-20 minutes before getting an empty seat,” said Haji Md. Sahed Hossain, the current owner of Haji’s Biryani and second son of the late Haji Ahmed Ali. He also added, “Due to huge demand from the public, we recently opened our first branch in Progoti Sharani.”

Another prominent name in the Dhaka Biryani world is “Nanna Miah” Biryani. Situated on Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka (next to Dhaka Central Prison), “Nanna Miah” Biryani is famous for the unique preparation of ‘Chicken Kachhi’. Here only chicken is used for Biryani. They have two recipes: ‘Kachhi Chicken’ and ‘Pakki Chicken’. “I come to old Dhaka at least once a month for two things: Nanna’s Biryani and Beauty’s Sharbat (a kind of drink). I will miss them more than anything once I settle abroad,” said Porag, a 24-year-old. . man who is migrating to canada soon.

Star Restaurant is another benchmark for serving delicious Biryani. The main branch of the restaurant is located at BCRoy Road in Alu Bajar, Sutrapur, which was established almost 45 years ago. But he gained enormous fame when they opened their own five-story restaurant in Dhanmondi, the heart of the city. “This is the country’s largest restaurant serving deshi food and we sell around 8,000 Biryani dishes every day,” said Sheikh Mizan, Star Restaurant’s floor manager.

Apart from those mentioned above, there are several other restaurants that also serve various Biryani dishes with their own special flavor. Dolma House of Motijheel is famous for its ‘Dolma Biryani’, prepared with meat and vegetables. Karai Gosto, a restaurant in Dhanmondi serves their signature ‘Motor Biryani’ which uses beans along with their go-to menu called ‘Karai Gosto’. Also, there are few restaurants in Dhaka that serve Indian Biryani with local flavor. Dhaaba, an Indian food outlet, serves ‘Hyderabadi Dum Biryani’ which is cooked in ‘Kachhi’ style. Voot, another fancy restaurant in Dhaka, has their special ‘Maharani Biryani’ which is cooked with the taste of South India and uses a lot of spices. There is also a small restaurant in Lalmatia of the city called ‘Swaad Tehari Ghar’ which is very famous for its Tehari, a variant of Biryani. Tehari is cooked with less oil and is therefore drier than biryani and uses mostly beef for the meat. Interestingly, in India, Tehari refers to the vegetarian version of Biryani.

There is a huge selection of foods in Dhaka that are tasty, delicious and made with local flavor. But not many of them are famous all over the world. Dhaka Biryani is one of those few that have earned the love of foodies across the globe. According to Google Insight (Google’s keyword tracking service), Biryani is the most searched recipe when it comes to Bangladeshi food. If anyone visits Dhaka, they should be prepared to have at least one hearty meal of Biryani with its sweet and spicy aroma.