Indian restaurants along Auckland's Sandringham road battle it out for the city's best biriyani dish

Those traditional staples of Kiwi fast food the pie and fish and chips are being challenged in a small corner of Auckland.

Pies and chippies have long had competitions looking for the best of their type - taking the humble pie or serving of chips to culinary perfection.

Now a new flavour is muscling in, with the Auckland suburb of Sandringham launching a Best Biryani Competition.

LAWRENCE SMITH/FAIRFAX NZ Biryani can take up to 10 hours to make, but the results are worth it.

Sandringham is one of Auckland's most super diverse suburbs, with rapidly growing Indian communities, said demographic expert Professor Paul Spoonley.

"It's like a little bit of India in Auckland".

With the boom in Indian population comes a growth if Indian delicacies - among them the prized biryani.

Biryani is hugely important in Indian culture, said Mohammed Salauddin, manager of Paradise Indian Restaurant and Takeaway.

"At every occasion we make biryani - it's almost like if there's no biryani, there's no celebration."

Made up of seasoned rice and meat, or vegetables, the dish can take around 10 hours to make.

Biryani is a traditional dish prepared throughout South Asia. Each region, and chef, has their own take on the fragrant meal.

Seven Sandringham restaurants have opted into the competition, which will run for the remainder of October.

Four judges have been chosen to blind taste test the biryani offerings at each of the restaurants in the running, to pick an overall winner.

Owner of Eat Auckland walking food tours Lisa Loveday is the inspiration behind the competition.

Loveday said the idea was cooked up when she noticed a growing popularity of the dish with a kiwi crowd. The biryani is pushing out butter chicken as the favourite Indian food for Kiwi tastebuds.

"The whole idea is getting people to come down to Sandringham and try biryani - and they will know that these restaurants will be putting out their best biryani for the whole of October."

The awards for the best meat and the best vegetarian biryani will be announced by Phil Goff on October 31 at the Sandringham Village Street Festival.

Indian culinary expert Sid Sahrawat, who was named Metro Magazine's 2014 Best Chef, said the unique aspect of the dish is how its cooked.

"The first thing you do is make this dough. This is put on top of the pot like a lid, and traps all the flavour in, it makes sure that none of the flavour escapes."

Paradise's version contains up to 20 spices, some of which are specially imported from India.

Loveday said the competition is a result of the fierce rivalry between the Sri Lankan and Indian restaurants in the area.

"It should answer the question for the competitors - who really does makes the best biryani?"