If you could have one word in the world that could make you happy just by listening to the sound of it – for Karachiites, it would be “biryani”. Nothing beats the feeling of coming home from work or school and finding that there’s biryani at the table or waking up in the middle of the night, walking to the fridge and finding out that someone has left their biryani. That feeling is what happiness is all about.
Here are three places that we really like to have biryani from:
Biryani Center
There was once a time when “Student Biryani” reigned supreme. To be honest, it still does. But then came Biryani Center and soon enough, there was a Biryani Center branch at every corner of the city. We are not complaining. More biryani for all of us! Now you can argue about which one is better all you want, or you can order from both places and enjoy the best of both the worlds! We opted for the latter.
The biryani at Biryani Center is cooked well and is served with a big piece of chicken and a boiled potato. The presence or absence of boiled potato is enough to make or break the biryani. It’s serious business. The taste of the biryani from Biryani Center relies a lot more on spice than flavor. It is served hot and combined with a dollop of raita, it makes for heavenly lunch!
Special Observations:
Some other variations that you can try at Biryani Center include Tikka Biryani and Batair Biryani.
Hot N Pepper
We discovered the biryani at Hot N Pepper accidentally. While ordering we weren’t meeting the minimum delivery amount so we decided to order the biryani too. Little did we know that was going to be delivered would blow us away! First, we were expecting it to be a single serving of biryani delivered in a regular plastic box. Nope. This was biryani cooked and delivered in an entire handi. Yes, biryani in a handi!
The number of chicken botis were enough to land in every scoop and the chicken was boneless so you could just pick a rhythm and keep on eating. This was both high on spice and flavour, so it was amazing.
Special Observations:
The only missing piece – potatoes. But we are sure this could be fixed if you specify while ordering.
White Biryani
There has been a lot of talk about how White Biryani is pulao and not actually biryani because biryani is not white. We get it. However, having tried white biryani we can safely say that it is NOT pulao and well, it is kind of different from the regular biryani.
So well, if you consider yourself a biryani connoisseur of sorts, you have to try it! While the biryanis from Hot N Pepper and Biryani Center are a little heavy on the spice, this one relies more on flavour. You bite into it a bit apprehensively, but the taste of this biryani gradually grows on you.
Special Observations:
Order this with some rabri kheer for a neat finish!
What is the BEST place you have had Biryani from? Tell us!
Riffat Rashid is an independent content and social media strategist who believes in the power of Sherlock Holmes, a cup of Doodhpatti and Burns Road’s Nihari. Interested in pop culture, good food and everything Karachi