Ceramic cutleries have replaced the silverware. The upholstery has changed and with it Firdaus — the Indian-themed restaurant at Taj Krishna has also made a few new inclusion on the menu. The restaurant which earlier served only Hyderabadi food wanted to give their diners more than the flavour of authentic Hyderabadi food. So they have included a few select signature dishes of the state and some Northwest frontier cuisine.
The idea is to give the guest a real feel of the various types of flavours in the food from the state and the Northwest. Gongura mamsam, the dish prepared from spiced lamb with tangy sorrel leaves is one the most popular dishes amongst non-vegetarian eaters, so it definitely has to be there.
But before we get onto the menu details, it is a must to try the Amuse Bouche, a complimentary single bite-sized taste bud enhancer.
However, this mouth amuser cannot be ordered. Depending on the chefs mood the Amuse Bouche can be anything from a tiny alu tikki to dahi papdi to a mini kebab. Since it works up an appetite, desi spices with appetite-building qualities like cumin, aniseed and asafoetida are used for seasoning an Indian-style amuse bouche.
And these definitely are not a part of the table accompaniments like the papad, bread sticks or the fresh cut veggie slices.
The chutneys that come to your table are not the predictable green chutneys. One of them is made with gongura.
What makes the chutney delectable is the home-style preparation. The other noteworthy Andhra styled dishes that are newly included are the Mirpakaya kodi, which is a dry style chicken preparation spiced with Guntur red chillies.
The Andhra fish curry is for fish lovers, this tangy curry spiced with traditional deccan spices goes well steamed white rice some freshly-sliced onion rings.
The choice of soups are Murg yakhani shorba, Paya shorba, Bhuni mirch aur makai ka shorba which goes very well with starters like Curry patte aur hare dhaniye ka jhinga, Salmon kutti mirch, Bhatti ka murg, Kebab-E-Firdaus. The vegetarians starters can be picked from a choice of Lal mirch ka paneer tikka, khumb galouti, sarson ke phool, and the the vegetarian sampler.
A must at Firdaus is the haleem with sheermal. And besides the selection of Biriyani's it could Chicken Tariwal, Dum ka murgh, Paneer tikka joshina, Lasooni Palak, Subz Panchphoran with hot fluffy phulka's with or without a generous helping of ghee straight from the Phulka trolley. And the Khatti dal.
And for those, for whom these food names sound ‘foreign' go ahead and ask for the Dégustation menu. Which is a platter of small portions of chefs signature dishes offered for tasting. It has five varieties of kebabs, besides soups, haleem, biryani, parathas, roti and curries.
Finally walk out chewing a meetha paan.
Firdaus
Where : Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills
What : Haleem, Kebabs and Khatti Daal
When : Lunch and Dinner
Valet : Available
Table for two : Rs. 2000 approx. for a four-course meal
