Kolkata/New Delhi: When Kolkata is on the boil quite literally and a constitutional crisis is looming large on Bengal, piping hot biryani should be the last thing in anyone's mind. But guess what? Even as Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee decided to sit on a dharna (sit-in) against the CBI sleuths' act of visiting the residence of Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, she sent hordes of smoking hot chicken biryani for the media contingent waiting outside.

History of the biriyani recipe

Sources tell MyNation, the biryani packets were bought from the iconic Shiraz Golden Restaurant that was established in 1941 and known for its iconic Awadh cuisines. The recipe of the biriyani served to journalists was invented by a chef called Shamshuddin bawarchi (chef) back in 1972.
 
Legend goes that Shamshuddin was from the bloodline of chefs that served Wajid Ali Shah, the tenth nawab of Awadh.

Why media must be humoured

While some may construe it as a courtesy extended to journalists working all night, many are deciphering it as a way to sway the media that was constantly reporting on the extraordinary situation that was unfolding through Sunday in Kolkata.

A team of CBI cops reached Kolkata to question Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar when they were confronted by Kolkata Police and detained. Later, the CBI sleuths who are investigating the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams were whisked away in a Kolkata Police jeep to the Shakespeare Sarani police station. Though they were released later in the night, by then l'affaire CBI-versus-Mamata  snowballed into a huge political row.