Biryani without borders

Even emperors are prone to stomach rumblings. Whenever Babur, the first of the Mughals to invade India in 1526 AD, found a few idle hours between masterminding blood-soaked battles and overseeing a shaky administration in the Delhi sultanate, he ached for the taste of the fruits of Kabul, the land he loved so much and left behind — sweet melons, plump pomegranates, honeyed grapes, and the finest dried fruit. And when the bouts of longing turned severe, he had caravans of fruit trundle towards him in Delhi.




While this brand of food nostalgia didn't strike his grandson Akbar (1556-1605), the refinement and richness inherent in Babur's lineage — Turkish roots and Mongol blood with the gloss of Persian influence — led to the acme of culinary explorations during Akbar's rule. The royal kitchens of Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar cooked up a staggering array of dishes that endure in their incomparable appeal today. Sherbet, falooda, halwa, naan, kebabs, qaliya, shorba — foods that weigh down festive tables across the subcontinent today — were all born in this era.



What was not born at this time, however, was the biryani. This classic dish, says New Delhi-based food historian Salma Hussain, was about 200 years away from its glorious beginnings. "The biryani as we know it today is believed to have made its appearance during the reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar (1775-1862), the last Mughal ruler."



Though there is no definite text available to authenticate this, historians following the aromatic trail of the biryani travel back to the royal kitchens of Qila Mualla in Dilli, says Hussain.