Biryani is a dish that you cannot hurry.
Neither in its making. Nor while relishing it.
It takes patience, perfection and above all, love to create the perfect biryani.
If it gives you joy. Makes you feel snug as a bug. Makes your face light up… well congrats, you have found the biryani that is perfect for you.
Perfection is very fluid when it comes to biryanis.
It is a dish that takes so many shapes across our country. And then there are the pulaos!
The differences between the two are often nebulous.
‘Shobi maya,’ as we say in Kolkata, the city where you get the best biryani. It is all an illusion!
Did I get your shackles up by the Kolkata claim? Make your nostrils flare? That’s the idea. For, a plate of biryani should provoke thought.
Lead to discourse, discussion and debate.What is the point of it all otherwise?
Well, that is what I did when the folks at ITC Maratha, Mumbai, most kindly sent across samples from their new #BiryaniAndPulao collection for us to taste at home. I switched on the camera and pontificated on biryani!
Well, not entirely. Credit where credit is due.K shot me on my phone while I talked. She had the Shahi Nihari from Dum Pukht later as she does not eat rice. We had called our friend Shas over and we had a biryani party at home with the Serai ke biryani of Delhi, the Gosht Bohri biryani of Mumbai and the Metiabruz one from Kolkata. I chose these as there are the ones I dig into at these hotels. Apart from the big daddy of them all, that is. The Dum Pukht Awadhi Gosht biryani. you could say that these biryanis belong to the same gharana.
The ITC Hotels #biryaniandpulaocollection , a delivery only lockdown baby so to speak is currently available through their hotels in 6 cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. The delivery route is a major departure for the ITC Hotels group. The prices are competitive. The packaging puts a premium on practicality and not pomp. This is the first time that they have made a variety of the regional biryanis and pulaos, in mutton, chicken and veg, available to diners across a larger expanse of the country compared to the banquets or the individual hotel #locallove menus where they featured so far.
I found this entire journey intriguing.Which is why I connected on ZOOM the next day with Manisha Bhasin, corporate chef ITC Hotels, to get to hear from her the story behind this innovative foray. For I felt that there was a lot for us to learn, both professionally and personally, from this live example of how a corporate behemoth decided to step out of its comfort zone and completely rebooted itself post the pandemic.You will get to hear her speak in the second half of this video and let me assure you that you do not want to miss that. Even if you are not as biryani obsessed as I am!
PS: Hope you enjoy the video and do leave a comment on any other examples of post lockdown innovations from large food & beverage giants that you have come across and the lessons that we can learn from them.
Neither in its making. Nor while relishing it.
It takes patience, perfection and above all, love to create the perfect biryani.
If it gives you joy. Makes you feel snug as a bug. Makes your face light up… well congrats, you have found the biryani that is perfect for you.
Perfection is very fluid when it comes to biryanis.
It is a dish that takes so many shapes across our country. And then there are the pulaos!
The differences between the two are often nebulous.
‘Shobi maya,’ as we say in Kolkata, the city where you get the best biryani. It is all an illusion!
Did I get your shackles up by the Kolkata claim? Make your nostrils flare? That’s the idea. For, a plate of biryani should provoke thought.
Lead to discourse, discussion and debate.What is the point of it all otherwise?
Well, that is what I did when the folks at ITC Maratha, Mumbai, most kindly sent across samples from their new #BiryaniAndPulao collection for us to taste at home. I switched on the camera and pontificated on biryani!
Well, not entirely. Credit where credit is due.K shot me on my phone while I talked. She had the Shahi Nihari from Dum Pukht later as she does not eat rice. We had called our friend Shas over and we had a biryani party at home with the Serai ke biryani of Delhi, the Gosht Bohri biryani of Mumbai and the Metiabruz one from Kolkata. I chose these as there are the ones I dig into at these hotels. Apart from the big daddy of them all, that is. The Dum Pukht Awadhi Gosht biryani. you could say that these biryanis belong to the same gharana.
The ITC Hotels #biryaniandpulaocollection , a delivery only lockdown baby so to speak is currently available through their hotels in 6 cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. The delivery route is a major departure for the ITC Hotels group. The prices are competitive. The packaging puts a premium on practicality and not pomp. This is the first time that they have made a variety of the regional biryanis and pulaos, in mutton, chicken and veg, available to diners across a larger expanse of the country compared to the banquets or the individual hotel #locallove menus where they featured so far.
I found this entire journey intriguing.Which is why I connected on ZOOM the next day with Manisha Bhasin, corporate chef ITC Hotels, to get to hear from her the story behind this innovative foray. For I felt that there was a lot for us to learn, both professionally and personally, from this live example of how a corporate behemoth decided to step out of its comfort zone and completely rebooted itself post the pandemic.You will get to hear her speak in the second half of this video and let me assure you that you do not want to miss that. Even if you are not as biryani obsessed as I am!
PS: Hope you enjoy the video and do leave a comment on any other examples of post lockdown innovations from large food & beverage giants that you have come across and the lessons that we can learn from them.