When Pakistan was born in 1947, biryani experienced unprecedented popularity in the port city. This dish of bright orange rice cooked in giant vats appears on the menus of restaurants in the country’s economic capital, which do not hesitate to show off the awards they have received and guarantee their quality.

Biryani war

“Our biryani is unique in the world”assured restaurateur Muhammad Saqib, who offers biryani with bone marrow and beef. “When someone tastes this dish, they are transported to a world full of flavors”promised this 36 year old man.

Across the street, one of his competitors, Muhammad Zain, didn’t want to be outdone. “We were the first to introduce biryani here.”the 27-year-old demanded, as the waiters brought out plates decorated with generous amounts of masala (a mixture of spices). “This is our personal and secret recipe”.

But both these professionals agree on one thing: nowhere in the world can you find biryani like the one prepared in Pakistan. “Whether on a special occasion or a party, it is the first dish we offer”Muhammad Zain’s observations.

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A shared heritage for India and Pakistan

During the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Karachi, previously a fishing port of about 400,000, saw an influx of hundreds of thousands of Muslim refugees, called “Mohajirs”.

Since then, India and Pakistan have been irreconcilable enemies: they have fought three wars, been mired in diplomatic disputes, while travel and trade have been largely hampered.

For Indian gastronomic historian Pushpesh Pant, biryani is a reminder of this shared heritage. “Hindus, (Sikhs) and Muslims eat differently, but their cuisine influences each other”he explained to AFP from the Indian city of Gurugram, near New Delhi.

“In some regions of Pakistan and India, culinary differences are not as great as man-made boundaries would have us believe”he added.

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“No secret ingredients”

Today, there are 20 million people in Karachi, with every neighborhood having an establishment serving biryani. The recipe has countless variations.

Beef is preferred in Muslim Pakistan, while the vegetarian version is more popular in India, where the majority of the population is Hindu. Chicken is universal. Along the coast, fish is put into dishes. And purists debate whether adding potatoes is heresy.

“There is also biryani pulao which comes exclusively from Delhi”said Muhammad Al Aaqib, a 27-year-old pharmacist, referring to the variant cooked in broth. “My roots also take me back to Delhi, so this is the best biryani for us”he added.

The origins of this dish are not agreed upon. However, the word biryani is widely believed to originate from Persian. It will be popularized in the best kitchens in the worldMughal Empirewhose peak in the 17th century dominated almost the entire Indian subcontinent.

Quratul Ain Asad, whose family arrived in Karachi in 1948 from the Indian city of Tonk, spends her Sunday mornings cooking for her husband and son. Around the table, they feast not on ancestral recipes, but on television chefs’ versions enhanced with refreshing yogurt sauce.

“You will never like biryani from anywhere else once you taste biryani from Karachi”guarantee the stove. “There’s no secret ingredient. I just cook it with passion and joy. Maybe that’s what makes it taste so good”he noted.

Cooked in large quantities, biryani is also often served when making donations to the needy. At his restaurant, Ali Nawaz, 28, prepares dozens of portions which, once packaged, will be distributed to poor neighborhoods. It took less than a minute for the package to find an taker when the motorbike delivery man arrived.

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