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Dipti Nair
Doha
Biryani may have its origins in India but it has been adopted by many countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Iran, and also those in the Middle East. At a festival dedicated entirely to the royal dish in Doha, it hogged all the spotlight it deserves.
The four-day Biryani Festival organised by Four and One, held recently at the Hotel Park, was every spice-aficionado's dream come true. The amazing aromas of rice, meat, vegetables and spices wafted across making a walk through the different stalls, a mouth-watering experience.
Biryanis are a part of almost every culture and region in India and the biryani in each region has a unique blend and taste to it. The Biryani Festival had a wide variety of unique biryanis from India like Mughlai, Kashmiri, Lakhnavi, Hyderabadi, Bengali, Thalasseri, Malabari and many more.
And with over 45 vendors, the festival not just featured a vast selection of Indian biryanis but also a variety of biryani-style delicacies from around the world. It had over 100 types of biryani and everything from vegetarian, chicken, mutton, beef and every type of sea-food specialities.
But while biryani was king, there was other fare too. From kebab and tandoori starters and hot soup, to cookies, cakes, coffee and ice-cream, there was no shortage of variety at the fest.
Doha resident Anjaly M, who was visiting a food festival at the Hotel Park for the first time, said she was incredibly impressed with the assortment of delicacies on offer.
"I never imagined there would be so many types of biryanis in the world. There are many I have never heard of. I am sampling an Afghani biryani and the blend of flavours though very different from the Indian biryani I'm used to, has still the blend of spices that makes it truly a biryani," she said.
Ilyana, who is from Lebanon and is visiting friends here, said,"The weather is great and we wanted a good place to hang out. I'm so glad we chose to visit the Biryani Festival. We have started by trying out this amazing coffee from the Chemist Caf` but will soon be trying the biryanis. My only problem is deciding what to eat. There are just too many to choose from and everything smells delicious."
And while everyone was busy tucking in spoonfuls of rice, we spotted Adwam Ali, biting into a burger.
"This is not a regular burger," he said."This is a lamb biryani burger from Zafran restaurant and I'm enjoying this with believe-it-or-not a glass of biryani soda. And while the soda is not something I would want to try again, the burger is excellent it is a combination of two of my favourite foods ever biryani and burger. I'm going to finish off my meal with some ice cream and cookies, and I'm glad that doesn't come in biryani flavour."
