Hyderabadi Biryani

Biryani exists across India in many versions, but Hyderabad's is the one people argue about. The classic method here is kacchi: raw marinated meat and partly cooked rice layered in a heavy pot, sealed with a rope of dough and cooked slowly so the meat and the rice finish at the same moment, flavoured with saffron, fried onion, yoghurt and whole spice. The pakki version cooks the meat first and is more forgiving. Either way it arrives with mirchi ka salan, a peanut and chilli gravy, and a thin yoghurt raita, and is eaten by hand. Portions are large. During Ramzan the same kitchens sell haleem, a slow-pounded wheat and meat paste.

What you actually see

• Kacchi biryani - raw marinated meat and rice sealed under dough and cooked together in one pot.
• The accompaniments - mirchi ka salan and thin raita, served as a matter of course rather than on request.
• Layering - saffron rice, fried onion and mint distributed unevenly on purpose, so no two plates match.
• Ramzan haleem - the pounded wheat and meat dish sold from the same kitchens for one month a year.

When to go

Biryani is a lunch dish by tradition and the best pots sell out by early afternoon, so eat early rather than late. October to March is the comfortable season in the city. Ramzan, whose dates shift each year, is when the old city is liveliest after dark and haleem appears on every second counter.

Honest expectations

Quality varies enormously and the famous names are often the most crowded and the least consistent. Portions defeat most people, oil pools at the bottom of the pot, and the chilli level is serious. Vegetarian biryani is widely sold but is a different dish built on a different method. Waits of an hour are normal at peak times.

Nearby

Charminar and the Laad Bazaar lanes sit in the middle of the old city's eating district.