The rice and rice of biryani

India's most-ordered delivery dish is only growing in popularity. Each region lays claim to crafting the best version. In the end, it's all about using the right grains

- VIR SANGHVI

Given how obsessed this column (and this columnist in particular) has been with biryani over the last two decades, you will imagine my delight each year when World Biryani Day comes around.

Yes, World Biryani Day. It is celebrated on the first Sunday in July. And if experience is anything to go by, then biryani sales will go through the roof on that day, as people order in biryani, go to restaurants to enjoy it or even cook it at home.

Even without the festivities, biryani is already the single most ordered dish across delivery platforms.

It is now a pan-Indian craze, as popular in Kochi as it is in Kanpur or Kolkata.

There was a time when biryani was only associated with India's Muslim minority. Nearly every Muslim community will have its own style of biryani no matter which corner of India you go to. But the most interesting development of recent times is how secular the character of biryani consumption has become. It could not have become India's most popular dish unless it was also embraced by non-Muslims. At a time of communal polarisation and attempts to push such vegetarian alternatives as khichdi, biryani has helped us rise above our differences and has united India's diverse communities. It is hard to think of a better example of the triumph of India's gastronomical pluralism.