Donne Biryani: a dish served in dried leaf bowls

HYDERABAD: Usually, names of biryani varieties are prefixed by the places of their origin, like Hyderabadi, Awadhi, Kolkata and Ambur. An exception is the most popular biryani of Bangalore, which gets its name from the dried leaf cup or bowl known locally as donne in which it is served. 
Donne Biryani is in high demand all over Bengaluru and neighbouring districts of Karnataka; the dish has been made famous by local military hotels which were small eateries set up for Maratha soldiers in the seventeenth century. Over time, these places catered to the soldiers of Tipu Sultan as well as the British army. 

This biryani is actually more of a pulav where rice and marinated meat are cooked with a green masala and basic spices on firewood or coal.  The rice used is short-grained and aromatic jeera samba, which is common in many biryani variants of South India, and known as chitti mutyalu in the Telugu states. The dish is available in variants of mutton and chicken, though I have not come across a version with beef so far. The basic spices used are coriander, cumin, whole garam masalas as well as ginger and garlic paste.

The green masala has quite a bit of mint leaves, green chillies and sometimes a little coriander leaves too. The flavourful rice adds to the taste of the dish which is often served with a spicy gravy and onions spiked with curd.  Even the aroma from the donne in which it is served has a role in its flavours. 

In Hyderabad, Maa Ooru Biryani at Kukatpally is perhaps the only place that offers Donne Biryani.  Rachin and Priya Katti set up this restaurant in 2015, and this biryani is their fastest moving item on the menu. Says Rachin, who is from Bangalore, “It’s the meat stock and the mint tempered masala that provide a distinctive taste to the dish.”  

The restaurant offers the chicken and mutton variants of the biryani, and even a vegetarian version with carrots and beans. Their customers range from IT professionals to local traders, and many regulars drop in quite a few times in a week. Pricing is pocket-friendly starting from ` 170.Sabyasachi is a food enthusiast and blogs at www.foodaholix.in