Foodies back biryani emoticon campaign on Twitter

A petition started last week by a music channel on getting an emoticon for 'biryani' made Twitterati offering their support to the campaign.

Twitter users posted pictures of the sumptuous Indian dish and offered support. One user wrote: "It's human nature to see emojis and feel excited, loved the whole idea of this emoticon. Thanks for this Biryani Emoticon".

"Someone gets tensed over waistline, and someone on calories. I only get tensed over when I will eat biryani next. Everyone is obliged for the emoticon", wrote a foodie.

One supporter of the emoticon called upon others to sign the petition "because biryani is not only a dish it's an emotion".

Another user had a confession to make: "Whenever I'm a guest at someone's house I'm secretly judging their biryani's meat to rice ratio".

The love for biryani

No one can ever get tired of a biryani. The very moment of breaking the seal of a biryani pot, when the fragrances rush out with the hot steam, can be the most blissful moment in the life of any true blue foodie. The biryani satisfies both the tongue and the eyes, with its flavour and colour. Just one mouthful of the biryani, laced not just with kismis and cashew nuts, but with enough sprinkling of muhabath (love), can take the biryani lover to the seventh heaven of foodie bliss. But, the biryani is not just one avatar, it has multiple avatars.

Even in Kerala, the biryani has enough local varieties, with Malabari biryani leading the chart. After that, Malayalis seem to be most familiar with the Hyderabadi biryani, believed to have been originated in the royal kitchens of the Nizams of Hyderabad. The Hyderabadi biryani has both the Pakki and Kacchi versions. The Pakki version has the rice and meat cooked separately, to be mixed together in layers later. In the Kucchi version, both the meat and rice are cooked together from the very beginning.