Dindigul biryani: How the dish from Tamil Nadu gained popularity in India and abroad

On a quest to find the oldest biryani outlet in Dindigul

It is 10.30am on a Sunday morning and 29-year-old S Santhosh is polishing off a plate of mutton biryani at Bangaru, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Dindigul, popularly known as the ‘10am biryani place’. Located on the busy Big Bazaar Street, it is among the oldest biryani outlets in the city. Set in the owner’s home, the modest space has just a handful of tables, and opens at 6am, selling out before 11am.

Biryani for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In Dindigul, there are people who eat this dish every day of their lives. How did this small town in Tamil Nadu, become synonymous with the decadent rice-based dish? We biryani-hop on a hot summer day, looking for answers.

“Dindigul biryani is defined by the fine, short-grained seeraga samba rice. The water we use — from Athoor Kamarajar dam — is sweet owing to it originating from the surrounding hills,” says 36-year-old R Nagendran, the third-generation owner from the Ponram family. “This lends the biryani a unique flavour.”

The chain has five branches in the city and was started in 1973 by V Ponram and his wife P Muthammal, who hand-pound the spices. 

When we try it, we notice that like other Dindigul biryanis, Ponram’s is dark brown and mild. The fragrance of seeraga samba rice hits us first. What follows is the flavour of cinnamon; the mutton melts in the mouth and there are no annoying pieces of stray cardamom or cloves to interrupt the experience. Even the green chillies we encounter are cooked such that they almost dissolve.

Nagendran and 24-year-old S Maniram, the great grandson of Ponram, show us the gigantic cauldrons in which the biryani is made in their kitchen. “This is called a ‘vatta’ locally and we use aluminium for uniform heat distribution,” he explains. 

The biryani at Thalappakatti’s, a branch of which is located right opposite Ponram Food Square on the highway (NH7), tastes a bit different. With 100 branches in India and abroad, Thalappakatti was started in 1957 by Nagasamy Naidu in a 2 X 2 room that could seat eight people. It serves the same kind of biryani. However, connoisseurs who swear by their biryani can easily tell the difference. Apart from the water, R Ravi, the CEO at Thalappakatti says that the meat they use lends a special touch to their signature dish. “We source our meat from free-range goats that graze the surrounding hills,” he explains.