Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
Biryani is spiced rice layered with meat, fish or vegetables, and in Abu Dhabi the Kerala and wider Indian kitchens serve it; Nihal Restaurant lists a mutton version at AED 38.
Biryani is a mixed rice dish traditionally made with spiced meat, seafood or vegetables, and it was present in Mughal-era India. It is thought to derive from a Persian rice dish, with Persian pilau meeting Indian spices in the royal kitchens, and the word comes from a Persian term meaning to fry or roast. Abu Dhabi's large South Asian communities cook it in regional styles: Curly Tales describes Thalassery chicken biryani made with jeerakasala rice and ghee, Taste of Kerala lists six kinds, and Nihal serves a mutton version.
3 editor picks for Biryani in Abu Dhabi, ranked by editorial score. All Abu Dhabi signature dishes · Biryani across every city.
Thalassery Thattukada serves Malabar parottas, beef curry, potthu kaal and mutton biryani from a small room near Big Mart in Al Khalidiya, Abu Dhabi.
OrderPotthu kaal, the bone cracked at the table for the marrow, with Malabar parottas, then the mutton biryani.
TipStart with a kadak tea, as Gulf News does, then order parottas, beef curry and potthu kaal; the tables gradually fill up by evening.
Nihal Restaurant serves Indian and Chinese dishes such as butter chicken and mutton biryani in a large room behind Lifeline Hospital in Al Danah, Abu Dhabi.
OrderMutton biryani, butter chicken and Indian-Chinese mains
TipBest Bites rates the butter chicken and mutton biryani at AED 38 each; Experience Abu Dhabi notes a banquet hall upstairs for events.
Taste of Kerala cooks home-style Kerala breakfasts, fish molee, beef ularthiyathu and six kinds of biryani on Old Passport Road, Al Danah, Abu Dhabi.
OrderFish molee or beef ularthiyathu with ghee rice, then a biryani from the six-kind list.
TipBreakfast plates of idly, dosa, appam and puttu with kadala curry sit beside the lunch spread, and the room opens at 06:00 most days.
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