{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "title": "Biryani reference library",
  "checkedOn": "2026-10-09",
  "purpose": "Editable research for an educational biryani reference library; not tested recipes, restaurant reviews or a complete survey of every tradition.",
  "license": {
    "name": "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/",
    "attribution": "Adapted from Biryani, Varieties of biryani and Thalassery cuisine by Wikipedia contributors, with additional independently attributed source notes. Fuelled by Biryani condensed, rewrote and reorganized the reference material on 9 October 2026.",
    "changes": "Condensed and rewritten into structured summaries, comparison fields, uncertainty notes and an ingredient/technique glossary. Unsupported universal claims and detailed recipe quantities were omitted.",
    "scope": "This research dataset and adapted reference prose. Website software, unrelated original guides and independently created artwork are separate works and have their own terms.",
    "endorsement": "Wikipedia and the cited organizations do not endorse Fuelled by Biryani."
  },
  "sources": [
    {"id":"wikipedia-biryani","title":"Biryani — Wikipedia contributors","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani","revisionUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biryani&oldid=1378194025","historyUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biryani&action=history","revisionEditedOn":"2026-10-03","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"community encyclopedia","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","use":"Overview, historiographical disagreement, ingredient families and preparation terminology. References within Wikipedia were not all independently opened."},
    {"id":"wikipedia-varieties","title":"Varieties of biryani — Wikipedia contributors","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varieties_of_biryani","revisionUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Varieties_of_biryani&oldid=1376882107","historyUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Varieties_of_biryani&action=history","revisionEditedOn":"2026-09-26","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"community encyclopedia","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","use":"Regional comparison. Numerous weakly sourced origins and citation-needed details were omitted. Tendencies are not universal recipe rules."},
    {"id":"wikipedia-thalassery","title":"Thalassery cuisine — Wikipedia contributors","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassery_cuisine","revisionUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thalassery_cuisine&oldid=1376681774","historyUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thalassery_cuisine&action=history","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"community encyclopedia","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","use":"Kaima/jeerakasala rice and broad layered preparation description. Definitive origin, exclusivity and contradictory raw-meat terminology claims were not adopted."},
    {"id":"exeter-ain","title":"Ain-I-Akbari.Vol.1 — University of Exeter, Famine and Dearth project","url":"https://famineanddearth.exeter.ac.uk/displayhtml.html?id=fp_00128_en_ainiakbari_vol01","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"university-hosted historical text and editorial introduction","use":"The introduction dates Abu'l Fazl's Ain-i-Akbari to 1589–1596 with additions through 1598. The selected online excerpts inspected do not include the biryani ingredient passage; this source does not independently verify that passage."},
    {"id":"kerala-malabar","title":"Mutton Biriyani in Malabar Style — Kerala Tourism","url":"https://www.keralatourism.org/kerala-food/malabar-biriyani-mutton/105/","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"official tourism publisher's own recipe","use":"Broad ingredient families, separate meat and rice preparation, layering and garnish. No quantities, timings or food-safety instructions copied; displayed quantity and completion ambiguities require recipe testing before practical use."},
    {"id":"incredible-hyderabad","title":"The best local foods in Hyderabad and where to find them — Incredible India / Travel and Food Network","url":"https://www.incredibleindia.gov.in/en/telangana/hyderabad/the-best-local-foods-in-hyderabad","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"official tourism portal hosting a named contributor","use":"Confirms Hyderabad's public culinary association with biryanis in the visible introduction. Does not establish recipe authenticity, history or restaurant quality."},
    {"id":"wikimedia-terms","title":"Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use, section 7","url":"https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Terms_of_Use#7._Licensing_of_Content","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"publisher licensing policy","use":"Source-page attribution, indication of modifications, licensing notice and share-alike requirements for modified Wikipedia text."},
    {"id":"cc-by-sa","title":"CC BY-SA 4.0 deed — Creative Commons","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","checkedOn":"2026-10-09","type":"license steward","use":"Commercial reuse is permitted with attribution, license link, change notice and share-alike; no implied endorsement or added restrictions."}
  ],
  "history": {
    "title":"History: evidence, influence and uncertainty",
    "summary":"Biryani belongs to a family of South Asian rice dishes whose history connects Persian-language culinary traditions with local ingredients and cooking practices. The present Wikipedia overview reports Mughal-era references, including the Ain-i-Akbari, and presents competing accounts of how the dish developed. Its existence in Mughal India is a firmer statement than a claim that one named emperor, court or traveler invented every form of biryani. Historians differ about whether related preparations reached southern India before the Mughal period and how pilau influenced later biryanis.",
    "evidenceNotes":[
      {"claim":"The Ain-i-Akbari was composed under Akbar between 1589 and 1596, with later additions.","sourceIds":["exeter-ain"],"certainty":"The University of Exeter editorial introduction directly supports these composition dates."},
      {"claim":"The Wikipedia overview cites rice-and-meat and meat-only dishes with biryan-related names in the Ain-i-Akbari.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani"],"certainty":"Reported through the encyclopedia; the specific passage was not independently verified in the inspected Exeter selection. Historical names need not mean an unchanged modern recipe."},
      {"claim":"Food historians propose different relationships among Persian pilau, marinated meat and regional South Asian rice dishes.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani"],"certainty":"A summary of disagreement, not a settled single-origin account."},
      {"claim":"The name is associated with Persian biryan/birinj terminology in the overview.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani"],"certainty":"A reported etymological association; linguistic resemblance does not prove the birthplace of a modern dish."}
    ],
    "doNotAssert":["A verified single inventor or exact invention year","That Mumtaz Mahal, Timur or any named ruler definitively invented all biryani","That an ancient mention of meat and rice is necessarily the same as modern biryani","That every regional biryani uses basmati or one uniform method"],
    "sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","exeter-ain"]
  },
  "regionalStyles": [
    {
      "id":"hyderabadi","name":"Hyderabadi","region":"Hyderabad, Telangana, India","rice":"Basmati is prominent in the cited description.","method":"Dum preparations, including kacchi marinated-meat layering, are associated with this style; forms vary.","distinguishingFeatures":["Layered rice and seasoned meat","Kacchi and cooked-component approaches should not be collapsed into one method","Mirchi ka salan and raita appear as accompaniments in the overview"],
      "summary":"Hyderabadi biryani is closely associated with Hyderabad's food culture. The reference description emphasizes basmati, spices and goat meat, with chicken also common. A recognizable branch is kacchi gosht biryani, in which marinated uncooked meat and rice are brought together for the finishing cook. Describing the style only as hot or only as a single raw-meat recipe misses its range of preparations. Dum names the covered cooking technique, while kacchi describes the state of a component at assembly.",
      "caution":"No ranking as India's best or most famous; no origin year or raw-meat cooking instructions. Accompaniments are examples, not required ingredients.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","wikipedia-varieties","incredible-hyderabad"]
    },
    {
      "id":"awadhi","name":"Lucknow / Awadhi","region":"Lucknow and Awadh, Uttar Pradesh, India","rice":"Basmati in the cited regional description.","method":"Rice and meat curry or marinade are layered, sealed and finished over gentle heat in the cited description.","distinguishingFeatures":["Warm aromatic spices and ghee","A layered preparation associated with Lucknow/Awadh","Preparation and seasoning vary among cooks"],
      "summary":"The Awadhi entry places this biryani within Lucknow's culinary tradition. It describes aromatic basmati rice, ghee and warm spices assembled with meat and finished in a closed vessel. That gives a useful comparison axis: aroma, component preparation and the finishing method. It does not justify assuming that every Awadhi cook follows an identical recipe, or that a menu label alone specifies the chilli level. The overlapping use of pulao and biryani in culinary writing also deserves care.",
      "caution":"Avoid a universal mildness rule or a definitive royal invention story.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties","wikipedia-biryani"]
    },
    {
      "id":"kolkata","name":"Kolkata","region":"Kolkata, West Bengal, India","rice":"The selected source identifies a Lucknow-style relationship; a rice variety is not standardized here.","method":"Regional adaptation of a Lucknow-associated biryani tradition.","distinguishingFeatures":["Potatoes are a recognizable characteristic","Linked in the reference to Wajid Ali Shah's nineteenth-century exile to Metiabruz","Potato is an identifying tendency, not proof of recipe authenticity"],
      "summary":"Potato is an especially useful clue when comparing Kolkata biryani with other named styles. The regional reference connects the development of the Kolkata tradition with Wajid Ali Shah's exile from Awadh to Metiabruz in 1856 and the movement of his culinary household. That connection should be separated from popular explanations for why potato entered the dish. A story about poverty, cost-cutting or a particular invention requires its own evidence; the presence of potato alone does not establish such a story.",
      "caution":"The historical connection is attributed to the encyclopedia; do not claim an independently verified potato-invention explanation or that boiled egg is universal.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties"]
    },
    {
      "id":"thalassery","name":"Thalassery","region":"Thalassery and the Malabar region, Kerala, India","rice":"Kaima / jeerakasala, a fragrant small-grain rice, in the cited cuisine article.","method":"Cooked meat masala and rice are layered and finished together in descriptions of this tradition.","distinguishingFeatures":["Kaima/jeerakasala offers a clear contrast with basmati descriptions","Ghee and aromatic ingredients","Fried onions, cashews or raisins occur as garnish examples"],
      "summary":"For Thalassery, rice is a stronger introductory distinction than an unsupported claim about which style is most authentic. The cuisine article describes fragrant kaima, also called jeerakasala, rather than basmati. Kerala Tourism's own Malabar mutton biriyani recipe provides a nearby practical example of meat and rice prepared separately and then layered, with fried onions, cashews and raisins among the finishing ingredients. A Malabar recipe is supporting regional context; it is not a rule governing every Thalassery household.",
      "caution":"Do not equate all Kerala biryanis with Thalassery. Do not copy the tourism recipe's questionable quantities or treat the research as kitchen-tested.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties","wikipedia-thalassery","kerala-malabar"]
    },
    {
      "id":"ambur","name":"Ambur / Vaniyambadi","region":"Ambur and Vaniyambadi, Tirupattur district, Tamil Nadu, India","rice":"Jeera samba / seeraga samba in the regional description.","method":"The selected source discusses the regional style, without enough detail to prescribe one cooking sequence.","distinguishingFeatures":["A named Tamil Nadu town-based tradition","Small aromatic rice in the cited description","Curd and accompaniments such as pachadi or brinjal curry are described"],
      "summary":"Ambur and neighboring Vaniyambadi share a named biryani tradition in northeastern Tamil Nadu. The regional entry emphasizes jeera samba rice and describes curd as part of the gravy base. It also notes yogurt-based accompaniments and brinjal curry. These points allow readers to compare rice and meal context without turning one restaurant's proportions into a region-wide standard. Names, spelling and accompaniment labels can differ, so a cook's own recipe remains the right place to confirm the details.",
      "caution":"No universal meat-to-rice ratio, chilli level or definitive introduction date. Avoid translating a reported accompaniment into a fixed requirement.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties"]
    },
    {
      "id":"dindigul","name":"Dindigul","region":"Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, India","rice":"Not fixed by the specific inspected Dindigul subsection; do not infer a universal grain from neighboring entries.","method":"Not standardized by this research.","distinguishingFeatures":["A named Tamil Nadu city tradition","Curd and lemon juice are described as contributors to tanginess","The selected regional summary is shorter than those for several other styles"],
      "summary":"The inspected regional reference describes Dindigul biryani through a tangy note associated with curd and lemon juice. That is a useful starting point for comparison, but the subsection supplies less detail than the longer entries for some other styles. The evidence here therefore supports a narrow description rather than an elaborate invented flavor profile. Readers should check a specific recipe for its rice, protein, spice mix and cooking method instead of assuming that the place name settles those choices.",
      "caution":"Limited detail in the inspected source. Do not manufacture a standardized spice blend, shop origin or recipe formula.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties"]
    },
    {
      "id":"donne","name":"Bengaluru donne","region":"Bengaluru, Karnataka, India","rice":"Seeraga samba in the regional description.","method":"Herb-based gravy description; recipe sequence varies and is not prescribed here.","distinguishingFeatures":["Donne refers to the dried-leaf serving bowl","Mint, coriander and green chilli are described as giving a green character","Associated with Bengaluru military hotels in the reference"],
      "summary":"Donne is both a food name used in Bengaluru and a clue about presentation: the regional entry explains the dried-leaf bowl. It describes a gravy with mint, coriander leaves and green chillies, giving the biryani a recognizable green character, and lists seeraga samba rice. That distinguishes serving vessel, herbs and grain as separate comparison fields. Accounts of its military-hotel origins are disputed in the source, so this library does not select a single founder or century as established fact.",
      "caution":"Historical origin disputed; no claims of restaurant visits or verified hotel rankings.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties"]
    },
    {
      "id":"sindhi","name":"Sindhi","region":"Sindh, Pakistan, and Sindhi communities elsewhere","rice":"Fragrant rice in the regional description; no universal cultivar rule supplied here.","method":"Regional style rather than one prescribed cooking sequence.","distinguishingFeatures":["Potatoes and tomatoes are frequently included in the cited description","A spiced rice-and-meat preparation","Community and household versions should be expected to differ"],
      "summary":"Sindhi biryani is associated with Sindh and Sindhi food traditions. The inspected entry highlights potatoes and tomatoes as frequent additions alongside rice and meat, describing an aromatic, spicy preparation. Those are useful distinguishing tendencies, not compulsory ingredients in every family version. A comparison chart should therefore say that these ingredients are often present rather than promising them whenever a menu uses the name. No standardized sourness, chilli rating or exact spice blend is established by this research.",
      "caution":"No precise invention site or universal recipe; do not add unverified plum or yoghurt claims to this record without another checked source.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties"]
    }
  ],
  "ingredientFamilies": [
    {"id":"rice","name":"Rice","summary":"Rice choice is a meaningful regional distinction. Basmati appears in the Hyderabad and Lucknow descriptions, kaima/jeerakasala in Thalassery, and jeera or seeraga samba in several Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru descriptions. Grain names are not interchangeable recipe instructions; water and cooking behavior need a tested recipe.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","wikipedia-varieties","wikipedia-thalassery"]},
    {"id":"main-components","name":"Meat, seafood and vegetables","summary":"The overview includes meat, fish, prawns and vegetables among biryani preparations. Regional and household choices vary. A dish name does not disclose every ingredient or establish dietary suitability; the specific cook or ingredient label is needed.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani"]},
    {"id":"aromatics","name":"Herbs and aromatics","summary":"Onion, ginger, garlic, coriander and mint occur in the overview and regional descriptions. Their use, preparation and proportions vary. Fried onions can be both part of a preparation and a garnish; the reference is not an instruction to replace all raw onion with fried onion.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","kerala-malabar"]},
    {"id":"spices","name":"Spices and finishing aromas","summary":"Examples in the overview include cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, pepper, mace and saffron. Rose water and kewra appear in some preparations. Not every biryani contains the full list, and adding more spices does not establish authenticity.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani"]},
    {"id":"fat-acidity","name":"Fat, dairy and acidity","summary":"Ghee, yoghurt, tomatoes and lemon or lime appear in the inspected descriptions, depending on the style. They contribute different elements to a preparation and are not universally interchangeable. This library supplies neither health claims nor substitution guarantees.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","wikipedia-varieties","kerala-malabar"]},
    {"id":"garnishes-sides","name":"Garnishes and accompaniments","summary":"Cashews, raisins and fried onions occur in the inspected Malabar example. Raita and mirchi ka salan appear among accompaniments in the biryani overview. Sides are served with the rice dish and need not be cooked into it. Confirm actual ingredients for dietary requirements.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","kerala-malabar"]}
  ],
  "terminology": [
    {"term":"Dum / dum pukht","definition":"A covered, gentle finishing or cooking technique associated with biryani and other dishes. A dough seal is one described way of retaining steam. Dum is a technique, not the name of one rice cultivar, city or complete recipe.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","wikipedia-varieties"]},
    {"term":"Pakki","definition":"In the cited overview, components are cooked separately, at least partly, before layering and finishing. The label describes preparation state; it does not by itself fix cooking duration, spice strength or regional identity.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani"]},
    {"term":"Kacchi / kachchi","definition":"A preparation category associated with assembling marinated uncooked meat with rice before cooking them together. Descriptions of the rice preparation vary. This is a vocabulary explanation, not a raw-meat cooking instruction; a tested recipe and appropriate food-safety checks are required.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","wikipedia-varieties"]},
    {"term":"Layering","definition":"Arranging prepared components in a vessel. It is an assembly step, while dum is a cooking step. Regional and author descriptions vary, so layering should not be treated as an unquestioned test that settles every biryani-versus-pulao debate.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","kerala-malabar"]},
    {"term":"Pulao / pilau / pilaf","definition":"Related mixed-rice dish names used across several cuisines. The overview records disagreement about the exact boundary with biryani. Layering, seasoning and cooking separately are useful comparison questions rather than universal laws.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani"]},
    {"term":"Kaima / jeerakasala","definition":"Names used in the inspected Thalassery cuisine article for fragrant small-grain rice associated with that biryani tradition. This record does not claim that all small-grain rice is identical or interchangeable.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-thalassery"]},
    {"term":"Jeera samba / seeraga samba","definition":"Aromatic rice names used in the regional descriptions of some Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru biryanis. This library preserves the source spelling where relevant rather than treating basmati as the only biryani rice.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties"]},
    {"term":"Donne","definition":"The dried-leaf serving bowl described in the Bengaluru entry. The vessel name and the ingredient or preparation style are different kinds of information.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-varieties"]},
    {"term":"Raita / pachadi","definition":"Yoghurt-based accompaniments described alongside some biryanis. Ingredients differ; these names should not be used to assume one fixed dietary composition.","sourceIds":["wikipedia-biryani","wikipedia-varieties"]}
  ],
  "editorialLimits": [
    "This is a selected introduction, not everything ever written about biryani.",
    "Regional descriptions are tendencies. Named styles are not legally or universally standardized recipes.",
    "Community encyclopedia sources require editorial scrutiny; specific food historians cited by Wikipedia were not all independently read.",
    "No original kitchen tests, nutrition analysis, restaurant visits, verified prices, search-volume figures or taste rankings were performed.",
    "No Wikipedia images were copied. Every image requires its own file-specific license review.",
    "Do not turn raw-meat technique descriptions into practical recipes without safe tested instructions.",
    "Wikipedia reuse may be permitted by the license while still offering too little original value for a useful publication. Add reader-serving comparisons, explanations and tools; do not mass-clone encyclopedia pages."
  ]
}