For Hyderabadis, biryani is not just food — it is part of our culture, pride and celebration. While many come from around the world to experience authentic Hyderabadi biryani from restaurants, we will often tell you the best biryani you can have is not at a hotel, but at a wedding!

Why does wedding biryani taste better than biryani served in hotels? There are a few simple things, but effective reasons.

The dum cooking method
Wedding biryani is generally cooked slowly through a method called dum. In this method, you begin by layering marinated meat with half-cooked rice inside a large copper vessel called a degh. We then seal the vessel with dough and continue to cook it for 4 or 5 hours over a wood fire, without opening it. By doing this, we create an atmosphere of steam and pressure that allows all of the spices, juices of the meat and aromas to combine in a singularly perfect experience. This is one of the reasons why the wedding biryani has such a deep, rich flavor as well as a lovely charred smoky flavor.

For one, most hotels make biryani in smaller portions on gas burners. This makes it easier and faster for a busy kitchen, but you aren’t going to get the truly deep rustic flavor you will get from slowly cooking over woodfire in a traditional pot.

Another difference is about simply fresh. At weddings, biryani is served freshly cooked in the same pot after a resting period. The resting period allows the flavors to settle even more. In hotel kitchens, biryani will almost always be sitting in warmers, or even reheated, therefore missing the freshness of taste and aroma.

The Bawarchis (The traditional cooks)

Most wedding biryani is cooked by traditional cooks called bawarchis. These cooks often have years of experience and apprenticeship. Bawarchis don’t work from any written recipe (API), they cook exclusively from their experience, their eyes, and from their hands. the bawarchis know just by looking exactly how much spice goes into what they are cooking. They also know when the rice is ‘just’ cooked. This process adds a layer of taste and balance that you will never get anywhere else.

Hotel chefs, however, are generally confined to standard recipes that can often make the same food taste identical each time. This consistency is nice, but it can sometimes take away from the essence of wedding biryani.

The Excitement of the Day

And biryani at a wedding is a feast that is much more than just food – it’s a festive occasion. People sit together with their families, music is playing, people are laughing, and some even yelling with joy! The ambience certainly makes a significant contribution to the taste of the food. The lively surroundings and the flavors of the biryani culminate in a delirium of positive emotion that makes it perfect!

So who has the best biryani in Hyderabad? Many would say: a wedding. Not because of some magical cooking style or special ingredient – but because of the love, care, tradition, and occasion!

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