My favourite biryani in Kolkata, where one is spoilt for choice when it comes to biryani. This restaurant has been operating for just over 20 years in Kolkata now and has around a dozen branches in the city now, and apparently one in Dubai. I’ve only had takeaway from Arsalan (Ruby EM Bypass branch). The dine-in facilities look pretty glitzy and clean from what I’ve observed. Prices are high for India but reasonable if you’re changing British pounds for rupees! I’d rather pay a bit more for the consistent quality this place provides.
We usually order biryani (mutton special - don’t know what makes it special, my mom says it’s because they give you two pieces of mutton instead of one, I think it’s because they include a hardboiled egg), chicken reshmi kebab and a couple of rolls to takeaway. Rolls are a Kolkata thing - a flaky paratha with your filling of choice (mutton, chicken, paneer, egg), neatly rolled in paper so you can eat it on the go. You can customise your roll to your liking - no/less onions, no/less chillies, no/less sauce. The service is pretty good. The only problem we had recently was ordering mutton biryani and coming home to discover they gave us chicken biryani instead - was just as good if not better.
The biryani here is less greasy than some older Kolkata stalwarts. The rice is cooked perfectly. I found the chicken biryani a bit lighter than the mutton version. Mind you, in India, mutton means the meat of a goat, not a sheep.
Because of Arsalan’s huge success, there are many pretenders trading under the same name or variations of the name, but the real deal has a distinct logo which is on the website.
Arsalan tried opening up a branch in Mumbai maybe 10 years ago.
We ordered a few times bec my dad loved Lucknowi / Calcutta style biryani, but to me it tasted like plain pulao compared to Bombay biryani (We went back to ordering from Kakori House for Lucknowi, and iirc Arsalan didn’t last long.)
Well, not only. Bombay has Frankies – same idea, different style of filling (saucier, like mangsho, not tikka or kabab).
I do love Calcutta-style kathi rolls, though. You’re in London, if I remember correctly – have you tried The Kati Roll Company? They’re my favorite version in NYC (owners are from Cal).
(Must have been crazy to be there for Pujo – I have some friends who specially went for it this year because it hard to feel festive like that in the diaspora. Hard to explain “festival season” to others: in Bombay, we went from stretching Raksha Bandhan out over 2 weeks so all sides of families could meet, to 8 days of Ganpati madness, to 9 days of Navratri insanity to another 2 weeks, give or take, coming up of Diwali lead-up and celebrations And that’s not counting the world cup as a separate festival )
The original is milder, yogurt used not tomatoes, whole garam masala for spice - no chillies. It’s also cooked under “dum” ie steam (the vessel is sealed) but that’s true of many / most proper biryanis.
Calcutta is spicier than the original Lucknowi, and also often has potatoes along with meat.
Of course over many evolutions and many places specializing in biryani, there are variations within every type so there are no absolutes!
That’s interesting to know Arsalan wasn’t a success in Mumbai but remains a roaring success in Kolkata. I suppose it might be down to regional variations in taste. Your observations about Kolkata biryani are spot on. I suppose Awadhi cuisine was derived from Mughal cuisine which descended from Central Asian traditions. A lot of Urdu words are similar or even the same as words in Farsi and Turkish. I remember eating a pilaf/plov type of rice dish in Istanbul which was very delicately spiced almost to the point of being bland and it reminded me of Kolkata biryani.
I’m in a city outside of London but travel to London regularly to meet friends so am aware of the Kati Roll Company but have never been. I’ve also never had the chance to sample the Frankie of Mumbai. Something to look forward to someday!
(We went back to ordering from Kakori House for Lucknowi, and iirc Arsalan didn’t last long.)
And that’s not counting the world cup as a separate festival 