Biryani is food. Biryani is business. Biryani is part of Hyderabad’s brand identity. Every day a minimum of three lakh dinner plates of biryani are cooked and consumed in Hyderabad in vessels that can hold about 40 kilograms of the rice-meat-spice one-dish meal. Its flavour and aroma are a combination of the quality of ingredients, the cooking method, and as in all things creative, the experienced hand of the khansama.
At Alpha Restaurant and Cafe near the Secunderabad station, which sees lakhs of footfalls as hundreds of trains stop and go, biryani packets are available day and night for train passengers on the go. At the Hyderabad Airport, where baggage check-in now takes just 45-60 seconds, Paradise Cafe has an outlet for air travellers to pick up parcels for their family and friends. Food delivery app Swiggy says it delivered 3.5 lakh biryanis on New Year’s Eve in 2022-23 across the country, with 75.4% of consumers choosing Hyderabadi Biryani.
