Hyderabad special meal at The Park and a recipe of Safaid Korma and Akhrot ke kulchey...

Hyderabad food brings a smile on my face as I love spicy food in general. Biryani and Haleem comes to my mind immediately and then there is a complete blank. Ah yes, Double ka meetha and Khubani ka meetha I love to indulge into occasionally. We decided to go for a Hyderabadi dinner one evening last week and were expecting a spicy affair. I was surprised to know there is so much more to Hyderabad cuisine when Chef Tarun Verma introduced the menu at Aish at the Fire restaurant in The Park.

Our meal started with amuse bouche, a masala papad followed by a dahi ka golgappa served rather dramatically in a miniature tagine. Loved this along with the appalams.

Among the starters I liked Magaz ka pakoda /lamb brain fritters (575), pattey ki machhi, a steamed fish similar to Patrani machhi (825) and a shikampuri kabab, lamb kabab with a hung curd center (695) though I could not find any yogurt filling.. Pathar ka gosht (695)was nicely smoky and soft. I liked it as it was different from grilled kababs and still smoky.

Among the vegetarian starters you might like to taste the khajoor paneer ke dhol (425), a rolled up slice of paneer with a stuffing of dates and spices, I found it a bit too sweet. Some more spice and herbs would have balanced the flavors well as it was nicely soft and well rolled. Other vegetarian starters were not at all good.

Few mains were liked too. I found akhrot ke kulchey (145) really good. Walnuts are my favorite nuts and this naan was just too good for my palate. A thin white gravy of safaid korma (725) was quite a surprising element. Very delicate flavors and not at all spicy, contrary to what I think of hyderabad food, this korma was really nice though the gravy could have been thicker. I loved the akhrot ke kulchey with safed korma. Tried these at home, recipe in the end of this post..

Haleem (745)was good, a nice pasty Haleem that is made with large pieces of meat and cooked for hours so the fibers break. Nice flavors the way I like in Haleem. Apart from that Palakura pappu (425) was a nice yellow daal with few bits of greens but nothing great. Vegetarian dishes were an absolute disappointment.

Desserts were out rightly disappointing. Badam ka halwa (425) was very mediocre.  Chocolate double ka meetha (425) was a disaster as a real thick slice of bread with chocolate was not even soaked in syrup properly. Khubani ka meetha was a joke as dried apricots topped with whipped cream do not make khubani ka meetha. I was not expecting this from a five star hotel. The presentation was good though.

I would suggest you to go if you like Safaid korma and akhrot ka naan, haleem and some non vegetarian starters but avoid any desserts from the hyderabadi menu. The gulkand rasmalai (425) they served was a lot better and refreshing with slivers of dehydrated paan and gulkand.

The good thing is that I am bringing the recipe of Safaid korma by Chef Tarun Verma. Here it is for you to try and let me know if you like it...

ingredients...
mutton curry cut 1 kilo
cinnamon stick 5 gm
almonds boiled, peeled and blended 200 gm
ginger garlic paste 40 gm
full cream milk 2 liter
cinnamon powder 5 gm
green cardamom powder 5 gm
salt to taste
ghee 50 gm

I quartered the recipe as it was being cooked for just the two of us..

procedure..

Wash mutton pieces and put to boil with ginger garlic paste and cinnamon sticks. Keep skimming the surface or change the boiling water twice. This helps in keeping the color of the gravy white and flavor really delicate.

Simmer the mutton pieces till done. Took an hour for me.

Reduce the milk to half and add the mutton pieces with the stock to it.

Add the cardamom and cinnamon powders. Boil till you get the right consistency of the gravy.

Finish with cinnamon powder and ghee and serve hot with any kulcha or naan you fancy.

I made whole wheat Akhrot ke kulchey with this. Knead whole flour wheat flour with a pinch of soda bi carb, pinch of salt (for every half cup of flour) and a tbsp of chopped Walnuts and knead using warm milk. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then roll out and bake Kulche on a griddle or in an oven.

See how to bake Delhi street style kulche here..

For these kulchey I just rolled up small balls of this dough to make oblong breads and slapped it on to a hot griddle. Let it cook one side and then grilled the kulcha on open flame on the other side. It becomes perfectly soft inside and a bit crisp and firm on the surface. With the nutty crunch of Walnuts, these Kulchey are yummy with just anything you wish.

Who would have thought I would share a delicately flavored (and not hot and spicy) recipe from Hyderabad? Having said that, I am not sure if this recipe is authentic as a few such curries are cooked in Banaras as well. So have good food no matter where it belongs to.

Cheers..

paneer kulche in whole wheat

kulcha is a flat bread made in the north of India especially in Punjab and i have seen that is made in parts of Pakistan and even in the middle eastern countries where the form and names are slightly changed..........

plain kulche is normally accompanied with chhole or a rich gravy curry , but when they are made stuffed with potatoes or paneer they can be good with plain curds or a raita with green salads on thr side........sometimes i make it stuffed with beets...see the recipe here..........and this time it is a simple paneer stuffed one.........


to make the kulacha base ..........you need 2 cups of whole wheat flour ( to make about 10 kulchas)...2 tbsp of fresh yeast or a pack of dry active yeast, 2 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp of salt, a cup of whole milk or soy milk ( i use soy milk)

to proceed dissolve yeast into half a cup of warm water with sugar and leave it in a warm place.............like in a preheated warm oven or on the side of gas stove where something else is cooking.........when the mixture becomes frothy which takes about 15 minutes, mix with flour, salt and enough milk to make a smooth pliable dough.........at this step any flavoring spice or herb can be added to the flour like black pepper powder, cumin seeds, coriander leaves or fenugreek leaves......,,keep the dough covered in a warm place again and let it rise to double it's volume...takes about half an hour.........now punch the dough and make portions like you make to prepare stuffed parathas......stuff the paneer mixture generously inside each flattened portion and keep covered for 10 -15 minutes....this will allow the balls to increase in size again.

now roll each ball with a rolling pin to make the kulchas and roast on a flat bottomed griddle
( tawa) , on low flame to allow better cooking and no spotting of the kulcha.......cook both sides till lightly pink in color........butter or ghee has to be smeared after it is done...
alternatively, the kulchas can be grilled in an oven at 180 degree C for about 5-6 minutes each....it is convenient to make it on tawa when making large numbers of kulchas.


to make the paneer stuffing..........you need 400 gm paneer, one boiled potato, a cup of chopped onions, chopped green chillies to taste and salt and pepper to taste.........

mash the paneer and mix with all the other ingredients to make a stuffing...this is a low fat preparation and no frying is done either in the stuffing or in the kulcha base ...so you can enjoy it without guilt........

the pictures do not do justice to the recipe i know ...but they taste yummy and my husband can have them for breakfast, lunch or dinner......even as snacks........