Butter biryani recipe divides foodies

Chef Naman Gulati’s “biryani butter” recipe spread online this week after he posted an Instagram video turning biryani flavors into a butter spread. (ndtv.com) (indulgexpress.com) NDTV Food said the video was updated on April 24, 2026, and showed Gulati frying sliced onions into birista, then frying garlic in the same oil. He bloomed saffron in milk before crushing it with the onions, garlic and mint. (ndtv.com) Gulati then folded that mixture into softened butter with 2 tablespoons of biryani masala and a splash of rose water. He described the result as “spicy, aromatic and addictive” and suggested eating it with parathas and chicken wraps. (ndtv.com) (indiablooms.com) Biryani is usually a layered rice dish built around long-grain rice, spices, herbs and meat or vegetables, not a spread. The novelty here was compressing those familiar flavors into butter instead of cooking them into rice. (ndtv.com) (indulgexpress.com) Coverage of the reaction split along two lines: curiosity about the flavor and questions about whether biryani should be reworked this way at all. Indiablooms called foodies “divided,” while other write-ups highlighted mostly positive comments from viewers who said they wanted to try it. (indiablooms.com) (notintown.net) (ndtv.com) The comments quoted in those reports were mostly practical. One viewer asked about shelf life in the refrigerator, and another suggested taking the onions off the heat earlier and warming the milk to bloom the saffron. (indulgexpress.com) (ndtv.com) The burst of coverage came fast: Indiablooms published on April 24, NDTV Food updated its piece the same day, and Indulge Express followed on April 25. That turned one short Instagram cooking clip into a broader argument about remixing a dish with deep regional and historical roots. (indiablooms.com) (ndtv.com) (indulgexpress.com) For now, the recipe is less a new category than a social-media test of how far a classic can be stretched before viewers stop calling it biryani. Gulati’s answer was butter, and the internet spent the weekend arguing over it. (indiablooms.com) (ndtv.com)