Enter the drawing room of a three-storeyed bungalow at Jubilee Hills
and the first thing that greets you is the chime of grandfather’s clock
standing under the gaze of a huge glittering crystal chandelier hung
from a wooden ceiling that gives you a feel of sitting in some palatial wood cabin in a hill
station. A number of table chandeliers glow near different sets of sofas
and heavy teak tables. As the vision adjusts a tall frame in crisp
white kurta pyjama and skull cap enters saying salaam. His smile is
brighter than the diamond ring he is wearing. This is Nawab Mehboob Alam
Khan for you, doyen of the Hyderabad royalty. He is just back from his
kitchen supervising a sumptuous dinner that he is hosting at his house
for fifty people. Yes, Nawab Saab also dons the chef’s cap.
It’s not for nothing that he is known as the legend when it comes to
Deccan food. Now in his late sixties and having braved a by-pass surgery
his stature grows larger day by day when it comes to the knowledge of
Hyderabadi cuisine that he opens a treasure trove of. Sitting in the
plush sofa he checks the progress of the dinner with his staff and
continues the conversation, “What’s food? It’s four things: namak,
mirch, gehun, and chawal. These make the basic food. Somebody puts
wine. Someone puts cream and hence different cuisines emerge. The way of
cooking changes as the geography of kitchens change.” He tells that the
right preparation of haleem takes 11 hours! “The ghee, gosht and genhu
(wheat) needs to be rightly cleaned, ground and cooked. It’s the balance
that makes the difference. These days cooks use semolina so how can one
expect the right taste for a bowl of haleem when the ingredient is not
right!” he laments.
The clock announces 8:30. Nawab Saab
checks with his attendant about Doodh Ka Sherbet over the phone. “I use
charcoal smoke for the sherbet as it is prepared in a clay pot. It’s a
typical Muharram food savoured in Deccan. There won’t be many in the
city who know about this sherbet,” he informs.
For the dinner,
under his supervision were cooked delectable dishes like Safeda/
Sofiyani Biryani, Mirchi Kaa Saalan, Baghare Baigan, Chaal Kii Kebab,
Shermal, Baigan Ka Raita, Haleem, Murgh, Sheer Khorma and salad. And of
course his signature dish haleem with its cream colour texture topped
with onion rings fried golden in ghee.
Who has ever heard a Nawab
take to cooking? But Baba, as he is fondly called has been cooking for
the past forty years. And how exactly did he land in the kitchen? He
smiles and says, “As a young boy sometimes I’d peep into the kitchen and
help myself with some quick food. As I grew up I knew I loved my food.
Then, we had cooks who knew the golden secrets of our kitchens and were
old and dying. I decided I can learn the tricks from them if I have to
eat the same delicious royal food that nobody else cooks. And that’s how
I learnt cooking from them and till date I am cooking.”
When the
monarchy of Hyderabad ended in 1947 police action happened and it came
under Indian Union. “There was a large scale migration that never
happened in other parts of India. The best cooks moved, only a few
remained and those died. I was in London in 60s I started cooking there
also. In 1956 three districts Bidar, Raichur and Gulbarga ewent to
Karnataka and four went to Maharashtra. We studied their recipes and
cooked the food. The best part is that such food was cooked in pure
ghee. Even today we use pure ghee. I love cooking Mandi also especially
the way Yemenis relish eat. They dig a pit and fire huge logs into it.
Huge pot of rice with cardamoms and water is cooked and then on the top
lamb is put. A gunny sack which is wet is also put. Such food is not
cooked with oil. It is cooked in the heat. The shawarma of Middle East
is different from ours. They use camel meat while we use beef or mutton.
The real shawarma is marinated in onion juice,” he beams.
So,
what Deccan recipes has he restored? “Daasht. It’s kind of chicken of
Hyderabad. We use paste of browned onion, almond paste, chiraunji and
khus khus. For marinating we have special lagan, a shallow pan with
legs”, he shares.
And guess what, he’s collected heavy-bottomed
copper utensils that were used in the times of his forefathers even from
his great great grandfather. The crockery and cutlery of his family
suffices for 500 people. And he even has the scales. He has English
style serving dishes. Chhaal Kii Kebab made from minced meat which used
to be served in many royal Hyderabadi dinners and lunches. He himself
goes to the market for buying meat.
“Many people don’t know what
is silver screen in a meat-piece. Those who have the zauq and shauq of
good food only can understand what it is. If it’s not cleaned properly
the masala won’t cook in the meat-piece. Then there is Mukhdas a sausage
like Arabic dish we make which is meat-pieces wrapped in cleaned
intestines. Again its recipe is lost in many families,” he explains and
adds, “We make different kinds of Do Pyazaa like Tamatar Ka Do Pyaza,
Nimbu Ka Do Pyaza, Meetha Do Pyaza without adding sugar to it. Kachii
Imli Ka Do Pyaza, and even Starfruit Do Pyaza. We bhuno it so much that
nothing of onion remains in the dish. Dalcha is another dish we make
i.e., Deccan Ka Dalcha with three different kinds of pulses, tamarind
and meat chunks. These dishes are exquisite.”
A walk into his
kitchen and you get to see stocks of sauces, vinegars, oils, spoons,
spice-boxes and three burner stoves. This is the place he comes to
whenever he rustles some ingredients in a pot to cook his legendary
dishes that even food connoisseurs and chefs are fond of. But for
dinners like he hosted on a Sunday he gets temporary brick stoves made
at the backside of his bungalow on the floor. And the food is cooked on
huge wood logs. We take a walk and find the cinders still glowing red.
The smell of wood-smoke mixed with food cannot be ignored.
He
still has buffaloes whose milk is used for cooking. “The kind of fodder
that animals eat has its effect on the taste and texture of food,” he
tells us.
He has been trotting all over the world and has
collected rugs from countries as far as Uzbekistan, Chechnya, Iran,
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Kazakhstan Pakistan and
Iraq. He loves collecting knives. He has built his collection over the
past 50 years. And these are not big knives but small, foldable ones.
He
shares, “You don’t get pure Shah Zeera outside Hyderabad. It grows only
in Afghanistan. What is sold outside the city is not Shah Zeera, it’s
something else. When I’d gone to Afghanistan, local merchant told me
that 90 per cent of Shah Zeera that is grown in their country is used
in kitchens of Hyderabad, they use only the rest 10 per cent.”
So
does travelling enrich his food experiences? “I don’t have a club life.
Travelling always enriches experiences. I taste the food wherever I go.
This tells which food is different from what. I find that pulao or
pilav as it is called is cooked in many countries. The taste and
ingredients differ from land to land. You see the basic is rice and some
condiments.”
The director of Hyderabad Deccan Cigarette Factory,
popularly known as Golkonda Cigarette Factory, and honorary secretary of
prestigious Anwar-Ul-Uloom Group of Institutions starts his winter
breakfast at home with Daal-e-Maash topped with ghee tadka and roti.” He
is fond of rural Deccani food. But finds a lot of refinement in
Hyderabad food. “Twenty quintals of biryani I cooked for my son’s
wedding and 1,200 Kg fish and 3,000 Kg chicken. We make certain foods in
clay-pots. You cannot cook the same on a gas stove. Western cooking is
dependent on the sauces. Ours is masala-based that needs to be cooked
for a longer period. Country chicken is better suited for our kind of
cooking. The skin of country chicken stands the heat and spices. It
takes one hour and a half, and then the masala will develop its own
taste. You cannot do it with broiler chicken. For restaurants broilers
is heaven-sent item. I cook Anglo-Indian food also like Chicken Roast. I
do pot roast in old English style,” he tells us.
He reminisces
the time when he would relish pomfret at Taj Bombay when he used to
visit Bombay as a little boy along with his father Nawab Shah Alam Khan.
“They removed their signature dish which is sad,” he laments.
After
the sumptuous dinner that he lovingly served to his guests he sits and
talks about the time when he was invited to prepare a feast for Prince
Agha Khan who didn’t want a lot of ingredients to be included in his
food platter.
“Two sets of dinner were prepared under my
guidance; one for the guests, one for him. It so happened that he ended
up having the guests’ food while the food prepared only for him remained
untouched,” he chuckles reminiscing. He has many food stories up his
sleeve and before we take his leave we ask him if he’s going to pen a
book. He thinks and responds, “Now I think I will.”
The City of Pearls has always offered an assortment of desserts to choose from for the food connoisseurs. From the ubiquitous soft, gooey apricot dessert Khubaani ka Meetha to milky and the understated delight Elaneer Payasam, the latticed sweet Baadam Kii Jaali, Urusa Halwa made of beetroots and age-old bread pudding called Double Ka Meetha… traditional Hyderabadi sweets have always been around. But now, the luxury restaurants in Hyderabad are giving them a special touch by adding choicest of ingredients. Even the calorie-counting celebs, super busy top bureaucrats and politicians can’t finish their meals without opting for these sweet cravings. We present to you the vast array that luxury hotels and plush restaurants in Hyderabad have to offer.
Khubaani Ka Meetha
No scrumptious dinner or lunch in Hyderabad is ever complete without a bowlful of cooked apricots dripping in syrup and topped with dollops of ice cream or thick layers of cream. Well, whenever a celebrities land in Taj Deccan, Banjara Hills, the demand that chefs get for satisfying their sweet cravings is of King of Desserts: Khubani Ka Meetha. Dried apricots are cooked on very slow heat in sugar syrup for three – four hours till they are tender and get a sheen like glass. And when the dish is served it’s kept plain and simple. Executive chef Rishi tells us, “Simplicity is the key. I just let the apricots soak in sugar syrup till the right amount of time. We top it with cream and serve.” No wonder then other hotels of Taj Group follow suit. But it’s the guests who have the gala time. The price for the sweet dish is ` 225 ++ taxes. Details: 040 66663939 Urusa Halwa
Urusa Halwa is an old Nizami recipe. Since it is made with beetroot, the sweet is maroon in colour. This is a much favoured dish of Taj Falaknuma Palace. Chef Sajesh Nair prepares it with beetroot cubes, milk, ghee, sugar and cardamom powder. He says, “The name is derived from the Arabic word uroos which also means celebrations.” Urusa is an Arabic word which means bride. Perhaps because of the colour, the halwa has been named so. It’s priced at `540 ++ taxes. Before serving, they adorn it with chandi ka varaq. Details: 040 66298585
Shahi Tukda
Yes, it’s that bread delicacy dipped in thickened milk with a dash of saffron and crunchy nuts. Better known as Double Ka Meetha, it gets this name because the dough rises to double its size on being baked. Triangles of golden fried bread are left to cook in condensed milk with saffron and cardamom. That’s how it gets its deep golden yellow colour. The dish is decorated with chandi ka varaq (silver leaf) and served with a dash of pistachios and almonds. Executive chef Agnimitra Sharma of Hotel Park Hyatt, Banjara Hills, informs, “It’s mostly the expats who swear by this dish.”
Baadam Kii Jaali
It is a dish with calligraphy. Yes, you heard it right. Inspired from the lattice in the windows of old palaces, this royal sweet has lacunae that are nothing but calligraphic works in Nastaliq script. The result? A delicious and beautiful pattern of sweetmeat. Made with almond powder and sugar Baadam Kii Jaali is sold by kilos. Earlier available only with age-old recipe knowing people in the crooked lanes of Old City now it is available on plush platter of Hotel ITC Kakatiya. Informs executive chef Paul, “I bake Baadam Kii Jaali in the oven for a subtle flavour. The final product turns golden yellow.” For a royal finish, he adds layers of chandi ka varaq (silver leaf) on top of the sweet. He doesn’t mention names, but asserts that his guests swear by this sweet. It is an exclusive item not available on the menu and is prepared on request.
Bakarkhani. The very name is enough to send old Hyderabadis into a nostalgic mood. A luxuriously rich 14-layered bread garnished with slivers of nuts and a sprinkling of sesame seeds, the bakarkhani was once the star attraction of the table at feasts in Hyderabadi families. But today, only its memory remains, says Nawab Shah Alam Khan, whose family's mehman-nawazi and their heritage recipes are legendary.
"I ate bakarkhani when I was a school boy. This Mughali bread travelled all the way from the North during the time of the Mughals and came to Hyderabad. It was a delicacy of the royalty — its time-consuming preparation is testimony to that fact. It used to be a bread rich in taste and texture," Shah Alam reminisces, adding, "Today, there are hardly any chefs left who know how to prepare it."
The secret to a perfect bakarkhani lay in the way it was baked, according to Sadaf Yasin, a Hyderabadi foodie, for whom the bakarkhani is the stuff of childhood . "Since it wasn't a native food, not many people were trained to make it. And whenever it was prepared for special occasions, we used to eat it with much delight," says Yasin, who recalls the laborious process that went into preparing this flavourful bread in the spacious kitchen garden of her ancestral home. "the bawarchi would begin his preparations early in the morning. He would dig the soil, and prepare the earthen tandoor from scratch. Meanwhile, a dough would be made of maida mixed with ghee, sugar, cardamom powder, nuts and khuskhus, and set aside for a couple of hours. This dough would then be rolled out into round discs, and put in the clay tandoor. The freshly-baked bakarkhanis would then be dipped in pots of pure ghee. The aroma and taste still lingers in my mouth," says Yasin.
Flaky on the inside, with a soft crust outside, the bakarkhani was served in quarters with accompaniments like qorma or kaliya. This usually made the first course of any lavish spread at weddings or other feasts.
Sadly, it's rare to find the authentic bakarkhani in Hyderabad anymore, even though it's still available in parts of Lucknow, old Delhi, Patna and Gaya. There are a few new variants of the bakarkhani though, that trace their origin to Bangladesh and Kashmir. But Nawab Alam Khan considers these "merely distant cousins" of the real bakarkhani. "They can be called bakarkhani naan or bakarkhani pastry, at the most," he says.
A recipe of modern version of bakarkhani naan
Ingredients: - 4 cups maida - ½ tsp salt - 2 tsp sugar - 1 ½ tsp yeast - ½ tsp powdered green cardamom - 1 egg -¼ cup ghee - Milk to knead the dough - Poppy seeds, a handful
Method: Sieve flour in a bowl. Add salt, sugar, yeast, powdered green cardamom, ghee, egg and mix well. Now, add milk and knead to a soft dough. Cover it for two hours and let it rise. Then, divide the dough into eight balls. Flatten on a pastry board and apply some ghee. Fold in half. Apply some more ghee on it and fold lengthwise. Fold again in circular way to make a ball. Press very lightly with your palms to flatten it. Sprinkle poppy seeds on it and bake it in an oven at 200°C for 10 minutes. Take out from the oven and lightly brush with ghee. Bakarkhani naan is ready. Serve with qorma or kaliya.
We take you on a culinary tour of traditional Parsi delicacies that are hard to find in the city today
There are around 1,161 Parsi families in the twin cities. However, finding a restaurant serving authentic Parsi cuisine is well, impossible. That's because there just aren't any left. Connoisseurs of Parsi fare would recall a restaurant called Spenta which opened at Paradise circle over a decade ago. But the place shut shop soon, because the city couldn't quite appreciate its hot and sweet taste palette, some say. But the Parsis beg to differ. "It was shut because of shortage of staff," reckons the community. "Your best bet to get a taste of Parsi gastronomical delights like mutton dhansak, salli marghi is to get invited to a traditional Sunday lunch in a Parsi home," quips fashion designer Zubin Vakil, who lives in his 100-year- old family home in Secunderabad.
An exotic blend of varied cuisines
Parsi food is an eclectic blend of exotic culinary influences of East and West, which is reflected in the sweet and sour taste of the cuisine. "Parsis first arrived on the shores of Gujarat after escaping Persia way back in the 7th century, and thus, emerged a blend of Iranian and Gujarati cuisine. It is not for nothing that Parsi food has a blend of khatta and meetha," says Beyniaz Edulji, a food blogger residing at Sainikpuri. Enobia Daruwala manager of Parsi Dharamsala Secunderabad informs, "We use a slight dash of sugar/jaggery and vinegar in our food."
Vengna no Patio, a sweet-sour dish made from brinjal and flavoured with Parsi vinegar, garnished with coriander leaves, reflects the Portugese influence. "The Portuguese had settlements in and around Surat and other parts which had dominant Parsi population, much before the British came to India. The Patio is Portuguese influenced," says home-maker Firoza Mistry, based in Secunderabad. The 18-egg-omelette is an embodiment of the community's love for eggs. Much like French poetry, Parsi food is based on symbolism. "Eggs are very important to us as we consider these as symbol of fertility. And that's how we start our breakfast with lots of eggs," explains Beyniaz Edulji.
Seeped in family traditions
Parsi food is never complete without the matchstick-thin potato fries known as salli that is put atop salli marghi — a chicken curry for weddings and festivals. The red curry is delicious enough to cause cravings. "Bakhras, the fried biscuits, and kumas, the fruit cakes have become dishes of yesteryears now safe only in the hands of our grandmothers," shares Zubin.
The most popular Parsi food item must be the dhansak. Most non-Parsis might sheepishly recall tasting the dhansak at a Parsi wedding or birthday. Beyniaz busts the myth saying, "Dhansak is not served at Navroz our New Year. You will never see it being served at weddings or birthdays or on any happy occasion. We serve it only on the fourth day of a loved one's death. Many people do not know this." 'Dhan' means rice: in this case the rice is brown and mixed with spices and 'sak' means lentils mixed with vegetables, mutton or lamb cubes. Sometimes on a lazy Sunday afternoon a Parsi family likes to have dhansak, believed to be an age old recipe.
Another popular snack of yesteryears, Popal Jee, also has an interesting anecdote to it. Apparently, when a girl meets her to-be-in-laws for the first time, she carries a plateful of Popal Jee along with tea. "It is a sweet fried snack like a doughnut that's difficult to make and serves as a token of the bride's culinary skills. And when the girl is married, the vast assortment of delightful dishes is beyond description. And it can be savoured only when one goes to a Parsi household," says Beyniyaz.
With the onset of winter begins the wedding season, the rich aromas of great Parsi food are set to tantalise the city folk soon.
Most foodies in the city would recommend a trip to far away Barkas to get your fill of authentic Arabic cuisine. But now, a lot of alternatives have cropped up around the city (in Tolichowki, Charminar, Banjara Hills) that serve delectable Arabic specialities like mandi, muttabaq, umm ali, hummus, khabsa laham etc. It does look like city folk have developed a taste for Arabian cusine.
Socialite Aamer Javeed often visits restaurants in Banjara hills with friends to relish the Arabic platter. He says, "I love eating samak al-faham (fish that looks white after cooking), hummus and khabsa laham. An Arabic meal can never be complete without the sweet delight, baklava, which is a flaky pastry filled with nuts. It just dissolves in the mouth."
The platter is an amalgamation of cuisines like Yemeni, Persian, Lebanese, Turkish and Saudi Arabia. The experience of sharing food served on one big thhaal (a huge round plate) is proving to be a big draw for the city folk. "I often go to Old City with friends and enjoy eating the Arabic dishes. I am fond of the flavoured rice with less spices," says city based artist Aziz.
Restaurants in Towlichowki have an exotic Arabian ambience with long curtains, woven carpets laid on the floor and with masnads (bolsters) laid around low tables.The mandi is a huge favourite with the crowds. Served as a mound of rice with chunks of meat (chicken mutton fish) on the thhaal, it has many variants -khabsa laham, majboos (tomatoes are added) and maghluba (more nuts and a bit spicy). The rice is flavoured with saffron and hence, is yellow in colour. It is sprinkled with fried raisins, nuts and fried onion ringlets. A boiled egg sits atop it, sprinkled with finely chopped coriander and mint leaves. "Many Hyderabadis like us want a break from the spicy biryani and these dishes stand out because of their flavours. My Sunday special is steaming hot majboos, another variety of mandi, which has a mild flavour.I used to go to Barkas a lot, but thankfully, we have so many more options these days," says Neidhi, an MNC employee. She loves eating basbousa, a kind of semolina halwa cooked with orange flower water and sugar syrup.
City-based food blogger and critic Sankalp, sums it up saying, "Arabian food is cooked on slow wood fire that gives it the special flavour. My favourite is muttabaq, a kind of patties filled with minced meat, scrambled eggs and herbs. Another favourite of mine is khabsa."
Cups of suleimani chai (decoction of tea served with a dash of lemon) are a must have after a hearty Arabian meal.
MADE IN TANDOOR
A pit is dug in the ground and its inside walls are covered with clay. Logwoods are fired. A pot containing water, rice and spices for mandi is kept on these logs. Atop the vessel, a wire mesh is kept on which big pieces of meat are placed and is left to cook. "The taste of meat cooked in this way has flavour of smoke and gets cooked tenderly. When its fat drips on the rice the final flavour is unique," shares Mohammed Aslam, a cook at an eatery in Tolichowki.
HOW ARABIAN FOOD REACHED HYDERABAD
Hyderabad has an old association with the Arabs. Way back in 13th century, many Yemenis were part of Bahmani army. After the dynasty's fall, these soldiers joined the Maratha army. When the Marathas were defeated by the British, these Yemeni soldiers were sent to Hyderabad to serve the Nizam. And the rest as they say is history. URL:
Urusa Halwa
Baadam Kii Jaali