A war of words and opinions is being waged on social media about biryani.
It didn’t begin innocuously when a journalist called it a scam comparable to 2G and then went on to praise Lucknow version calling it fragrant, delicate tasting and delicious. Food critic Vir Sanghvi took a sideswipe with his bit about eating Kerala biryani everyday and Hyderabad biryani once every two months.
It turned into a hot-button issue once Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, stepped in with his comment: “The best biryani in world is Thalassery fish biryani from Paris restaurant. It’s made using short-grained local rice with white aikora or kingfish also known as king mackerel in Thalassery (Kerala). It’s awesome & beats all other biryanis by miles (sic).”
This was provocation enough for MA&UD Minister K.T. Rama Rao to reply: “All bragging rights on best biryani in the world belong rightfully to Hyderabad Amitabh Ji. Dare I say that the rest are only poor imitations. Even UNESCO recognised our gourmet culture recently & conferred the title of ‘creative city of gastronomy’.”
The relation between Mr. Kant, Thalassery and Kerala goes to the time when he began his career in the civil services in the 80s as the sub-collector of what was then called Tellicherry, and is later credited with coining the slogan “God’s Own Country” to promote Kerala tourism. On the other hand, Mr. Rao has helped Hyderabad navigate its way to the high seat of global cuisine by making its case at Unesco Creative Cities Network.
By evening on Wednesday, Indians across the country got into a debate by calling the version cooked in their cities the best. It included good-natured ribbing like: “Call it the best fish pulav in the world but not biryani.”