On a visit to the old city I heard these words in a non-descript eatery ‘Miya ek ghosht khorma dena aur zurra nattan boltaan zyada dalna’ – give me a mutton quorma and be generous with the knobbly bits of meat ! It was hard to miss the romance of language and cuisine – the meat and bone being metaphorically called nuts and bolts! Here was a person who loved his khormas, and as I was to learn, so was the rest of Hyderabad!
Hyderabadi food is much more than just a signature mass market biryani and a jammy Khubani ka meetha – it’s a reflection of how a cuisine has developed over the years by a careful and studied amalgamation of cultures and culinary technique. A lot of this has been credited to the seven generations of Nizams who were patrons of all things fine from literature, art and architecture to jewellery, culture and rich food. Originally believed to be from Baghdad - the Nizams were the administrators of the land and very rich at that, what with Mir Osman Ali Khan Asaf Jah VII being considered the richest man in the world with an estimated fortune of $2 billion (and this was in the forties!) Needless to say where there is wealth there has to be luxuriously great food! The kitchens of the Nizams boasted of culinary masters from all over, creating and innovating with their techniques and the rich palette of spices that India offered.
With this in mind I set out to taste what Hyderabad could put on my plate. From luqmis to saalans, kebabs to pachadis and biryanis to meethas - every day my discoveries amazed me no end. The tala hua gosht - a true tribute to elegant simplicity served with crisp fried curry leaves and chilli and ever so tastefully tossed only with salt and a bit of red chilli powder. The warqi samosa – artisan craftsmanship in the culinary realm, crisp layers of fine samosa dough enveloping a gem of spiced onions or mince. Haleem – the most intense meat porridge in the world! The khormas, qaliyas and the baghars, the killingly sweet Khubani ka meetha or the pastel green kaddu ki kheer; the almost pristine white sufiyani pullao with each grain of rice so wonderfully fluffed, the fragrance of cardamom, the pink doneness of the chicken which had been thoughtfully brined with the skin on before even being considered for the pullao! A subtle hint that this technique came imported from a western kitchen! For that matter even the muttabak - one look and you could swear that it had Italian ancestory, a thin roomali bread topped with mutton mince followed by a layer of egg and cheese topped with an encore! which on baking magically transforms into a kebab with no rival. Sensuous to the look and absolutely insane in texture and form!
Hold on - wasn’t that supposed to be lasagna?
But the biggest intrigue of them all was Hyderabad’s contribution to the gourmet world - The Hyderabadi Biryani - a dish that had me curious for years and I just had to find out what all the fuss was about. My pursuit led me on a trail of the old city eateries, high market restaurants, traditional homes and 5 Star hotels. And the world of me could never find the ultimate Hyderabadi Biryani! Because everybody made the authentic one!! However what I did realize was that it had a pedigree and a genus all to its own. While everybody and their uncle proclaimed that they made the best Hyderabadi Biryani – my determinations had to rest on the few signs of a great one - long grain basmati rice-longer the better, cooked to fluffy perfection, greased just enough to shine and suggest, well marinated raw meat to begin with, spice to excite and tease but not to singe, not too wet nor too dry, fresh minty fragrance, soft fall-off-the-bone-meat, saffron if you please and of course cooked lovingly on the ‘dum’.
Now as easy as this may sound - it takes the biryani master years of toil and patience at the stove in order to achieve the perfect climax of rice and meat! From being able to judge the best quality meat to be able to understand when the rice would reach its culinary zenith! The biryani master could well be the culinary equivalent of a barista, a winemaker or a cheesemaster! And that, to me, was what the Hyderabadi Biryani was all about. Detailing!
While these are the culinary strengths of Hyderabad, I took me a lot of tasting to realize that not everybody could stoke the fire. In the mad scramble for money Hyderabad has spawned dime a dozen eateries that belt biryani and ‘pure ghee- pure goat’ haleem by the tonnes. Arabic, Iranian and Yemeni are terms that lend themselves to sell anything from dates to tea and biscuits, and ajinomoto has become the new salt!
To the seeker though, it still has a lot to offer. The game is in the hunt!
A million culinary experiences, a million linguistic ones.
Hallu khao miyan nahin to pachinga nahin!(Eat slow or you wont digest it!)
PS: Nattan boltaan is a signature dish in Verandah at The Park, Hyderabad – my tribute to the endless joy of being in Hyderabad.
