All good things must come to end, right? Not really. Continuing the festivities and the good food of Ramzan and Eid, Hotel Golkonda is celebrating the Kebab and Biryani festival at its signature restaurant—The Jewel of Nizam.
Talking of good food, let’s do the subh arambh with meetha . The restaurant loves to surprise its patrons with something new for dessert each time they visit. If on a previous instance they served kheer made of onions, this time they served hot kaddu ka halwa with desi ghee doing the hide and seek with each spoon.
Now on to the main fest. It’s a specialised menu of kebabs, both veg and non-veg, and a long list of biryanis. The idea is to try and serve some new varieties of dum biryani. When they say variety they essentially mean the ingredient in the biryani. For a sample, how about sea food biryani? Or better still some ‘nalli’ biryani.
While the non-vegetarians have around nine biryani options to choose from, the vegetarian choice is restricted to only one. The lack of choice in vegetarian variety of biryani is however compensated by the wide vegetarian array of kebabs; and good ones at that. Besides the regular slab of paneer there is the Badami Vegetable Tikki. It is a patty made of spiced vegetables, roasted and pounded and then deep-fried, along with crushed roasted almonds. Then comes the vegetable Shikampuri kebab — another deep fried variety made of minced vegetables stuffed with creamy cheese and pepper. It’s crusty from outside and soft inside. There is the Makai Seekh Kebab as well.
For a new variety try the Rajmah Ki Gilauti . Made of smoked cardamom and clove spiced red kidney beans mixed with gilauti spices and cooked in mahi tawa. This one is tender and melts with each bite. Aloo lovers will cheer for the chatpatey tandoori aloo made of potatoes marinated in home-ground spices and comes along with a tangy dip. The achari mushroom however walks away with the honours. In the non-veg variety, the choices are many but what wakes up the taste buds is the Faluknuma Sarson Jhinga . The butterfly tiger prawns marinated in lemon juice, garlic and creamy mustard, cooked in tandoor makes for a royal treat. Then comes the Macchi Noorani kebab — it
is murrel stuffed with nuts and spices along with fish mince. It is then dressed with seasoned egg and coriander and cooked in a tandoor. Another fish kebab is the Kutti Dhaniye Hari mirch ka Macchi Tikka . This one is also made of murrel fish tikka and is combined with coarsely ground coriander seeds and lemon juice, cooked in tandoor.
Leg piece lovers will love the Kesari Murgh Tikka Kalmi Shirazi . This is chicken drumsticks stuffed with cashew and chicken mince and finished in tandoor. A good choice is the Lagan Ka Gosht . The tender mutton chunks, marinated wholesome and slow-cooked to retain the tender juicy texture makefor a perfect nizami specialty.
Also try the Atishi Burrah . They are tender lamb chops marinated with whole spices, smoked chili, hung curd and garlic and finished in tandoor.
When it comes to the biryani section, a little note says, “The cooking method of biryani originated in Persia. During the Nizami rule, the dish rose to prominence and now forms an integral part of Indian cuisine. The most famous of all, Hyderabadi style is also called the “kacchi Yeqni”, as both the marinated meat and rice are cooked together.
Adapting to the cooking style, the chef has come out with a new range with different flavours. Out of seven non vegetarian dishes, it is the Gosht biryani badshahi which will win your heart. The meat lets as you touch it and each morsel releases flavours and aroma of a different kind. In this the coastal prawn biryani is a sure shot. Chef Anirudh needs a special mention for making each biryani taste different from the other. The fest is on till September 9.
