Biryani is a colorful dish of flavored rice, dotted with meat, chicken, seafood or vegetables. Its genesis is usually attributed to the Mughal Empire, which swept down from Central Asia and ruled much of the South Asian subcontinent from 1526-1857.

But biryani also has roots in the pilafs of the Middle East and Persia. Arab traders who frequented South India around the same time had a hand in popularizing the dish.

The places considered home to biryani are Lucknow in the north of India and Hyderabad in the south, with each having a distinctive style. The Lucknow version tends to be simpler and subtler, scented with sweet spices and saffron and sometimes constructed in layers. The Hyderabadi version is spicier and sometimes deploys flavors mixed in at the last moment.

Either version may be served “dum pukht,” which means the dish is cooked in a sealed container, concentrating the flavors. Sometimes this type is covered with a pastry crust, which makes it pie-like. The central ingredient may be mixed in at the start, or added fully cooked later.

Whatever the origin and style of cooking, this ubiquitous dish is found on many Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan menus. It is often a favorite of immigrants, including New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who’s said a Pakistani biryani is his favorite.

The dish exists in the city in dozens of variations, some geographically identified, some associated with cultural or religious groups. Some restaurants serve it with ceremony and pay deep attention to its appearance; others treat it as a hash-house staple. Both approaches are equally delicious.

Here are a dozen distinct versions available in the city in no particular order. You can find many more without looking too hard.

Goat biryani at Kabab King

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

When asked by the New Yorker what his go-to restaurants were, Mayor Mamdani concentrated on the eateries he frequents in Western Queens.

He readily recommended Kabab King, an anchor of the Pakistani community, for its biryani. It offers a choice of two: chicken and goat. Both seem spare upon first bite, until you dig underneath and find a wealth of meat, whole cloves, cardamom and the surprise inclusion of miniature dried apricots, which impart a sweet flavor. It is just as delicious as the mayor says.

$13.99. 73-01 37th Rd., Jackson Heights

Chicken biryani at Halal Diner

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

This restaurant on the eastern edge of Briarwood serves the halal cuisines of South Asia configured as diner standards, a real meeting of East and West. This chicken biryani is attractively plated as a scoop and is rife with spices, nuts and caramelized onions, with profuse poultry hidden underneath.

$11.99. 84-47 Parsons Blvd., Briarwood

Beef biryani at Kuttanadan

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

Beef is not often seen in Indian restaurants, but here it follows the customs of Kerala, a southwestern Indian state. Kerala is the location of the Malabar Coast, a region famed for its spices, which prominently include black pepper, clove and cardamom. These spices lend a special pungency to this rich biryani with a real beefy flavor.

$17. 257-05 Union Turnpike, Glen Oaks

Egg biryani at Indika House

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

Located under the elevated JMZ subway tracks, Indika House offers regional dishes from all over India — including a stunning collection of nine biryanis, with a distinctive vegetarian variety featuring jackfruit and potatoes. But my favorite features hard-boiled eggs, deshelled and dyed bright yellow. They hide among the rice grains, and the raita rife with mango pickle adds a tart flavor to this biryani.

$15. 943 Broadway, Bushwick

Vegetable biryani at Masala Times

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

This brightly decorated Greenwich Village stalwart is Bollywood-themed and offers fast food from Mumbai. The street-style vegetable biryani is spicy, dominated by onions and cardamom, and arrives in a vast heap — not for dainty eaters. It comes with a large quantity of thick, vegetable-shot raita, which should be spooned over the top.

$21. 194 Bleecker St., Greenwich Village

Lamb biryani at Fresh Curry

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

There was a time when New York City was dotted with Pakistani, Punjabi and Bangladeshi steam-table joints, constituting the most readily available South Asian food in the city. Fresh Curry is typical of these largely bygone places, offering a saucy Bangladeshi style of biryani with lots of meat and gravy added just before serving. In this version, there’s no hide-and-seek with the meat.

$14.99. 183 Church St., Tribeca

Jackfruit biryani at Javitra

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

Javitra is a relatively new Upper East Side restaurant that concentrates on North Indian cooking and offers five biryanis in the Lucknow manner. They arrive in a ceramic crock sealed in a flatbread crust, which is dramatically cut open when it hits the table, and fragrant steam rises up. The jackfruit biryani is vegetarian, using a fruit native to India that grows on trees. It serves as a firm-textured meat substitute in its unripe state. The accompanying raita is sprinkled with a spice combination.

$20. 132 East 61th St., Upper East Side

Chicken biryani at Kebabwala

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

One of the first New York City restaurants to introduce crust-topped Lucknowi biryani was Adda in Long Island City, a restaurant that has since moved to the East Village. Its offshoot Kebabwala offers a recreation of this original dish in the new Union Square Time Out food court. A limited supply is available each day, so get there early and find a simple biryani bursting with flavors of onions and herbs.

$16. 124 East 14th St., Union Square

Baby goat donne biryani at Kanyakumari

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

This amazing and unique restaurant, named after the southernmost town in mainland India, treats geography in a didactic way: The menu follows the Indian coastline all the way to Mumbai, offering dishes all along the way. This biryani originates in Bengaluru, Karnataka, and features tender baby goat cooked in the dum puhkt style, but in a banana leaf rather than a bread-topped ceramic crock. The result is an earthy flavor, accompanied by yogurt and peanut salan.

$38. 20 East 17th St., Union Square

Gongura chicken biryani at Hyderabadi Zaiqa

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

Hyderabadi Zaiqa, with two branches in Midtown Manhattan, may be the foremost purveyor of biryani in the city (rivaled only by Jersey City providers). It offers 15 varieties, including this one associated with the state of Andhra Pradesh in southeast India. It deploys the pickled sorrel called gongura, mixed in at the last minute to produce a sour taste and distinctive green color.

$16.99. 184 Lexington Ave., Murray Hill

Beef tehari at Spice Up

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

Beef tehari is a dish that doubtlessly evolved from Lucknowi biryani, a casserole of short-grained rice dotted with morsels of beef enlivened with chiles and mustard oil — which imparts a burn to the throat unlike chiles or black pepper. This Bronx steam-table establishment provides a thumbnail sketch of Bangladeshi food, including the imported freshwater fish essential to the cuisine.

$10. 2160 Westchester Ave., Castle Hill

Chef’s special chicken biryani at Hyderabad House

Robert Sietsema for Gothamist

This biryani exemplifies the wonderful excesses of the Hyderabadi style: a basic chicken biryani with the poultry concealed under the rice cooked dum puhkt, but with a bonus of fried and glazed chicken 65 — a dish invented at a Chennai hotel — on the side. Boiled eggs provide decoration, and in the Southern style two sauces — raita and a peanut-based salan — are provided. $18.99.

523 Newark Ave., Jersey City