This article is about the rice vegetable with quail egg. For the 2020 film, see Biriyaani. Not to be confused with Isfahan beryani.

This article contains Urdu, Arabic, and Persian text. Biryani is one of the most popular dishes in South Asia, as well as among the diaspora from the region. Similar dishes are also prepared in other parts of the world such as in Iraq, Thailand, and Malaysia. Persian was used as an official language in different parts of medieval India by various Islamic dynasties. The exact origin of the dish is uncertain. Another theory claims that the dish was prepared in India before the first Mughal emperor Babur conquered India. According to Pratibha Karan, who wrote the book Biryani, biryani is of Mughal origin, derived from pilaf varieties brought to the Indian subcontinent by Arab traders.

She speculates that the pulao was an army dish in medieval India. Armies would prepare a one-pot dish of rice with whichever meat was available. According to Vishwanath Shenoy, the owner of a biryani restaurant chain in India, one branch of biryani comes from the Mughals, while another was brought by the Arab traders to Malabar in South India. There are various apocryphal stories dating the invention to Shah Jahan’s time but Rana Safvi, the distinguished historian, says she could only find a recipe from the later Mughal period, from Bahadur Shah Zafar’s time. Other historians who have gone through texts say that the first references to biryani only appear around the 18th century. Pilaf or pulao, as it is known in the Indian subcontinent, is another mixed rice dish popular in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, and Middle Eastern cuisine.

According to Delhi-based historian Sohail Hashmi, pulao tends to be plainer than biryani, and consists of meat or vegetables cooked with rice with the bottom layered with potatoes or onions. Biryani is the primary dish in a meal, while the pulao is usually a secondary accompaniment to a larger meal. Biryanis have more complex and stronger spices compared to pulao. The British-era author Abdul Halim Sharar mentions the following as their primary difference: biryani has a stronger taste of curried rice due to a greater amount of spices. Ingredients for biryani vary according to the region and the type of meat and vegetables used. As is common in dishes of the Indian subcontinent, vegetables are sometimes also used when preparing biryani. The contents are then baked to complete the cooking and allow the flavours to combine.

Alternatively, the components may be fully cooked, and then simply combined by layering before serving. A yoghurt-based marinade at the bottom of the cooking pot provides additional flavour and moisture. The lid is not opened until the dish is ready to serve. If direct heat is used, there is a risk that the food layer in contact with the vessel bottom may get burned while the interior’s contents are still raw. This risk is minimized by sustained baking with moderate heat, or very slow cooking on low direct heat.