Way to a man's heart is through his stomach. True! The Indians are accepted at Kuwait, not only through their friendly foreign policies but also through that Indian delicacy called 'biriyani'.
''I loved its taste'', said a Kuwaiti man who was seen enjoying the Indian delicacy at the fullest. The man in Kuwaiti attire, with his family was at the restaurant I dined out. ''He and his family are our usual customers. We meet a lot of such visitors every day", said the manager of an Indian restaurant.
Exotic are the biriyanis, indeed! It is not just biriyani, but biriyanis of different flavours and tastes, depicting the culture and history of the Indian sub continent. Hyderabadi, awadhi, Malabar, Culcutta, Chettinad, Mughalai and many more types of biriyanis are made, according to the ethnicity. ''But the Kuwaitis don’t differentiate. They just want Indian biriyani'', says, R Laxman of Moti Mahal.
Tracing back to history, the word biriyani is originated from 'biriyan'. In Farsi, it means fried before cooking. In Persia, now known as Iran, the rice was fried in ghee, without washing. The aroma and recipe of the biriyani conquered India, with the Mughals and other invaders from Persian, Turkish and other Arabian societies. In the times past, India had trade relations with the Arabs. But in Tamil literature there is a mention about a rice dish, ''oon soru'', as early as 2 AD.
Anyway, the choice of having biriyanis is galore. Thanks to the ethos and savours in Indian sub continent. Biriyanis made out of chicken, lamb, beef, mushroom, mixed vegetables et cetera in varied styles, make the gastronomic an inseparable part of the unity in diversified culture and traditions of India.
''Basmati is the best rice for biriyani'', said a chef at an Indian restaurant in Kuwait. Being an expert in Hyderabadi biriyani he asked, ''do you know there were 49 kinds of biriyani at the Nizam of Hyderabad's kitchen? The chefs used quail, deer, fish, shrimp and hare, apart from chicken, lamb and beef''.
Right from the royal kitchen of Turkey, Iran, Afghans, Mughals and Nawabs the spices are added up to the rice food of Hindustan. The influence of the Arabian culture to the rices that was cooked in India long back and the experiments by the cooks, sung and unsung, gives the biriyani the authentic taste we relish now.
"The Kuwaitis can easily identify biriyani with their foodstuff". Didn’t you feel that the majboos, the Kuwaiti cookery, is similar to biriyani? ''Kuwaitis enter the restaurant for biriyani. They just want biriyani and they are not bothered about the multiplicity", says Jagdish Chand, the manager of Caesar's group of restaurants in Kuwait. "Unlike Indians they like biriyani that is not hot and spicy", he added.
''Lamb, shrimp and chicken'' are the fast moving biriyanis. ''Varsha's biriyani, red and green are liked'', said the manager of the Asha's restaurant in Kuwait. Varsha, the famous Indian singer Asha Bhosle's daughter, the deceased, invented the recipe and is named after her.
More than 60 percent of our customers are Kuwaitis and they all prefer Indian Biriyani'', says the manager of another restaurant.
Eating biriyani, with its enormous types and palette is an experience and there is no wonder in Kuwaitis love for the delicious food. It has the record of making food buffs!
 | Reshmi Naveen Gopal a post graduate in Communication and Journalism is a regular contributor for IndiansinKuwait.com. She is experienced in working with Indian main stream media, and as a PRO for a government organisation. She has been guest faculty in Communication and Journalism at a couple of colleges in India. |
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