Is it biryani?

Everyone loves biryani, Hyderabadi kacche gosht ki biryani that is. The meat that falls off the bone, the long grained rice that doesn't stick to fingers, the fragrance of spices that can make stomachs rumble with hunger and anticipation and the Irani restaurants where it is cooked by the tonnes.

But is it biryani as it was created in biryans over campfires for armies on the march? Is it the same dish that the men created where they dunked everything in sight to create the one dish to fill all the tummies? Is it the same dish, the royal women, including Emperor Jehangir's wife, modified to create the multi-layered gastronomic extravaganza? Step into some of the busiest biryani joints and get an eyeful of the fragrant rice with a piece of meat or bone sticking out. Roll up your sleeves and dig into it with your bare hands - the way it is to be eaten.

A chat with some of the cooks and waiters at the favourite biryani joints reveals the good, bad and ugghh side of biryani. At most of the restaurants, the quantum of gravy that sticks to the meat and the food varies depending on the time of the day, says a gourmand who thinks lunch is the best time to get the real flavour of biryani. Only if it is dum will the fat rise to the top and leave the rice soft with all the flavours of spices and meat.

Currently there are three variations of cooking in Hyderabadi restaurants, only one of them is authentic dum. The first is a one-well-heeled eatery that sells thousands of plates of biryani in Secunderabad. What they do is cook the meat and spices in one huge cauldron with little rice. The rice is cooked separately. Step in and order, and you will get your mountain of rice with the meat buried in it. Part of the rice would be dry while a little of it will be sticky.

The second is a real travesty; the meat and the rice are cooked separately, then mixed before serving. Then there are a few biryani joints that do cook in dum but fiddle with the proportions of meat and rice where the proportion of meat is reduced and the quantum of rice increased.

An art

"Not just the cooking even serving the biryani with the right amount of meat and with the layers of rice intact is an art. That art is also dying," says Md Yousuf who works in an old city biryani eatery and claims he can serve 30 biryanis in as half as many minutes. You may get a taste of real good biryani only if you are lucky.

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Amidst all the informationis a nugget of dope

Birian the Persian word that means roasted or grilled gives the name and changes the cooking process from pilaf or pulau. If Timurlaine's army is credited with creating a rough version of it, it was in Akbar's kitchen that it was perfected where the Persian technique of marinating meat in curd was modified with the addition of ground spices, onions, garlic and almond to the marination mix. Even Aurangzeb, the austere Mughal who banished music, booze, dance and art from the palaces of Delhi liked what he called khichri-biryani. It was he and his governor of Deccan the Nizam who brought the mughlai dish to Hyderabad.

SERISH NANISETTI

Monday, Dec 18, 2006, Metroplus

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Twist in the tea cup

The hustle and bustle of Hyderabad is kept alive thanks to the innumerous chai-wallahs that feature in every nook and cranny of the city. These are virtually the lifeline of many people, some of who are addicted to the tea of particular joints. The city may have many coffee pubs, but its tea drinkers remain staunch supporters. And so, two unique tea places in different settings caught our fancy.

As you drive away from Paradise towards the end of Prenderghast road, is a quaint little place called Chai Ho Jaye. It is located right across the road from the supermarket and curiosity surrounding the name itself will lead you to the place. It's not quaint like a picturesque , homely tea parlour, but quaint in the sense of being a tea stall with a difference. A pan shop will easily rival it in size, but the scooters, cycles and motorbikes of its patrons parked outside is proof enough of its popularity. The tea is de-rigeur Irani chai — milky, with a bit of masala and brewed in aluminium kettles and pans and is served in tiny glasses, but its the tea boys inviting shirts with Chai ho jaye? written behind that sets it apart from the other chai places. The boys are often seen running up and down the road catering to tea lovers on that lane. Chai Ho Jaye though, can be a bit intimidating for women to visit alone.

... and more

Aslam Bhai can still have his Irani chai but for the loaded globe-trekker, Hyderabad has a new fangled addiction that is catching on. And it is also called tea.

Not your pauna, cutting, suleimani but the real full-bodied tea with flavour minus the usual distraction of sugar and milk.

In Toli Chowki, as you zip back from Gachibowli, there is an arresting sight on the left of some clear brew being poured into a transparent cup. But not the cup of intoxication but the cup that cheers and it is called Finjaan (Arabic for a cup of decoction).

Step in and the ambience says something about what you should expect. A counter with exotic tea labels like Jasmine Pearl, Cinnamon Cliff Tea, Champagne of Darjeeling, Blue Mountain Tips and a host of other tea tasters' delight, a few books on tea and some tools to get the brew right.

So, what do you do in a tea den? Of course have tea. In contrast to the Irani chai brewed for hours in samovars and mixed with brownish milk with dollops of sugar, the tea is served on the table. Take your pick and you get a carafe on your table with the tea leaves in the stainer, pour the hot water and let it brew. After a minute, you can have your sip of cheer.

Want something more exotic? Climb a few stairs and you can have your own tea ceremony, Japanese style with all the adjuncts in place. Right down to the low glass table and tablemats.

One warning though, there is so much glass and crockery around that it is safe to keep your children home.

SERISH NANISETTI

Monday, Jun 19, 2006, Metroplus

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New turn for cafés

Why don't Indians play in the world cup soccer?

Because the moment they get a corner, they build a restaurant.

This might be a chauvinistic joke in East Africa, but in Hyderabad, corners have always meant Irani chai. They are called Irani café cafes, but serve only chai. And there are over 10,000 of them. And they are changing. Not just the interiors with cane chairs and marble tops making way for chrome, wood and glass. Not just the addition of Chinese finger foods to the Osmania and Chand biscuits. But the very corners where they have existed are now being threatened as the city's roads get widened.

The importance of corners can be seen where it all started: the Karvan (the first Irani restaurants were started to serve the brew to the Irani cavalrymen who were part of the Golconda kings' frontline soldiers).

It is a crossroad connecting Purana Pul to Golconda, on one corner is Sunah Hotel, in another there is Hotel Mehfil, in another corner is Faizan Café and in the other, Bharat Hotel.

At pre-dawn darkness at 5 a.m., as the young sleepy boys scratch themselves, the Sunah is nearly full of people having their first sips of the hot brew. Cross the Purana Pul and you know that parts of the old city have already seen the effects of road widening. In one corner of Murgi Chowk near the Charminar is Mohammed Ishmael's tea shop Mohammedia, started by his father some 48 years ago. Step out of the place and you can be run over by any of the zooming vehicles.

"What used to be a 150-sft place is now reduced to a 50-sft place which has translated into a loss of about 20 chairs and a decline in revenue," rues Ishmael.

To be über cool you and your partner have to order a ek chai (don't call it single) and pour half into the saucer and keep the remaining half in your cup and: shluuuurp. At Chaderghat, sitting inside Niagara, which is one of the few Irani joints that are not in corners, the man serving chai says wickedly:

"It is good if they are demolished, some of the competition will be out."

But right now the big action is happening this side of Musi.

Omega, where countless debates were brewed over the chai is now a hulk of its former self, Paradise has retreated and reinvented itself as a hep place for biryani rather than an adda for chai.

What used to be Friends Café in Somajiguda is covered in blue plastic sheets.

But prepared and living for worst case scenario is the Garden.

"The talk about bulldozers coming has been on for past seven years. Three years back we even purchased furniture and placed it in the premises that we own across the road," says the man counting the money and dispensing tokens to the waiters.

"Have you got a notice?"

"No, but the fear of bulldozers is always there," says F. Khan, summing up the welling fear among the corner landmark owners across the city as the roads get widened by the day.

But, why are all the Irani restaurants in corners? Because, according to the lore, no Hyderabadi was willing to take up the space for Vastu consideration and the band of Iranians grabbed them.

So, is this the revenge of the corner vastu?

SERISH NANISETTI

Thursday, Sep 07, 2006, Metroplus

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LAUKI KA JUICE INDIAN RECIPE

LAUKI KA JUICE Healthy cooler - a must try! Preparation Time : 5-10 minutes Cooking Time : 5-10 minutes Servings : 4

Ingredients

Bottle gourd (lauki/doodhi), peeled , seeded, chopped 2 medium Amla (Indian gooseberry), sliced 4 Ginger, chopped 2 inch piece Fresh mint leaves 15-20 Salt to taste Black salt (kala namak) to taste Cumin seeds 1 tablespoon Lemon juice 2-3 tablespoons Ice cubes as required

Method

Put the bottle gourd, amla, ginger, mint leaves, salt, black salt and cumin seeds in a blender. Add one cup of water and blend it for two to three minutes.Add another cup of water, lemon juice, ice cubes and blend it for another two to three minutes. Strain into individual glasses and serve chilled.

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ADRAK NAVRATAN Indian Recipes

ADRAK NAVRATAN A tasty digestive lemonade. Preparation Time : 5 mins Servings : 4

Ingredients

Green chillies 5-6 Tender ginger 100 grams Lemon juice 1/4 cup Salt to taste Raisins 1/2 cup Dried dates (chuhare) 10-12

Method

Peel, wash and cut ginger into julienne. Wash and pat dry raisins. Deseed and finely slice dried dates lengthwise. Remove stems, wash and cut each green chilli into two.Combine all the ingredients and pour into wide mouthed glass jar. Shake well.Serve when the juice turns pink. It makes a tasty digestive ade.

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AAM KA ABSHOLA -Indian Recipe

AAM KA ABSHOLA Sweet and sour mango drink Preparation Time : 15 mins Cooking Time : 10-15 mins Servings : 4

Ingredients

Fresh mint leaves, 1 cm cubes test 6-7 sprigs Salt to taste Rock salt (sendha namak) to taste Roasted cumin powder 2 teaspoons Powdered sugar 1 cup Black peppercorns, crushed 1 teaspoon Lemons, cut into roundels 2 Raw mango 1 kilogram

Method

Place serving glasses in a refrigerator to be chilled. Boil and peel raw mangoes and extract the pulp. Keeping aside a few mint leaves for garnish, grind the rest. In a pan mix raw mango pulp, sugar, salt, rock salt and two cups of water. Cook on high heat for a minute. Add crushed peppercorns, roasted cumin powder and ground mint leaves. Stir and cook for two to three minutes.Remove from heat and pass the mixture through a sieve. Coat the rims of the chilled glasses with a piece of lemon and dab them on a bed of salt. Pour the prepared drink into the glasses. Top it with chilled soda. Garnish with the reserved mint leaves and a lemon wedge and serve chilled

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HYDERABADI MUTTON BIRYANI RECIPE

1 kg Rice
1 kg Mutton
10 gms Cardamom
10 gms Cinnamon
10 gms Cumminseed
10 gms Cloves
40 gms Ginger
20 gms Garlic
100 gms Green Chillies
50 gms Fried Onion
1 bunch Coriander Leaves
1bunch Pudina
2 Lemon
1/4 Curd
1/4 kg Ghee

How to make meat biryani:

• Wash mutton and take it in a vessel.
• Grind green chillies, ginger, garlic, spices, fried onion, and mix them all, then add this mixture to the meat.
• Then add curd to it, mix the stuff thoroughly. Leave the material for half an hour.
• Take 2 litres of water in a vessel and put it on the stove.
• When water boils well put the rice in the vessel. Take out the semi-cooked rice and spread it on the meat and spices mixture as a layer. Take some more rice and spread as second layer. Finally, spread the fully cooked rice.
• Prepare a mixture of one cup of boiled water and 1/4 kg ghee and spill it on the rice.
• Now put a plate on the vessel and seal the edges with dough. Put the vessel on the stove, cook for 15 minutes on medium flame.
• Then turn off the stove. Leave the stuff for 15 minutes.
• Hyderabadi mutton biryani is ready to serve.

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