Our next stop, a couple of minutes’ walk back into the basti, on Dargah Road, was a shop called Moradabad ki Mashhoor Biryani ki Puraani Dukaan. There are two types of biryani to choose from: chicken and buff. The Moradabadi biryani is a very simple one, the basmati rice very long-grained and fragrant, the chicken perfectly tender, the only visible spices being cumin seeds and thickly chopped green chillies. To add a little tang to the biryani, there was a large salt shaker of a masala that I couldn’t quite identify: something like chaat masala, but possibly a proprietary concoction of this eatery. A little bit sprinkled on the biryani certainly added to the dish’s charm. Served alongside this was a fiery-looking red chutney.
Where: Follow the directions in the description above, on Dargah Road.