Ambur Biryani

Origin

Ambur biryani is the pride of the small town of Ambur in Tamil Nadu's Vellore district. The recipe goes back to the Arcot Nawabs, who ruled the region in the 1700s and 1800s; Ambur was a small trading post on the road between Madras and the Mysore Sultanate, and its Muslim cooks developed a biryani that suited the local taste for sharper heat and richer beef than the Mughal-influenced styles favored. Today Ambur is famous as one of India's biryani capitals — a town of forty thousand people with several dozen biryani houses, the most famous of which (Star Briyani, established 1890) is older than the Indian Republic itself.

What sets it apart

Ambur biryani uses seeraga samba rice — the same short-grain Dindigul uses — but the masala is lighter on pepper and heavier on red chili, and the meat (typically goat or beef) is cooked in a yogurt-onion marinade that gets very tangy. The signature dipping sauce is brinjal curry, served on the side and spooned over each bite. Color is a uniform light brown; the rice grains are visibly small and slightly sticky. Pair with onion raita and dhalcha — a lentil-and-meat curry made from the biryani's trimmings. In the US, look for it at restaurants explicitly labeled 'Ambur' biryani, particularly in Bay Area and NJ South Indian communities. A handful of food trucks in Houston and Dallas serve it as well. Less common than Hyderabadi but increasingly available at Tamil-Muslim-owned kitchens.