Been thinking a lot about Biryani today. And the day I ate the best biryani ever. At home.
What happened was there was this family get-together. Dad called his Muslim friend to help in the kitchen. This gentleman came at about 10 in the morn in a typical Hyderabadi-style lungi. More surprisingly he walked past the kitchen to the backyard and announced that’s where he will cook the biryani.
We were not prepared for outdoor cooking. In fact, this is the first time I was witnessing one. He arranged the whole thing. We just managed to provide him with 4-5 bricks to make a make-shift kiln. He went and brought coal and wood from god know where. And then he started. Then rolled up the lungi as only a Hyderabadi could and got down on his haunches (now I know why he wore the lungi). Lit the fire and use a metal pipe to blow into the fire now and again. Finally, put a lid on it. He then put a big stone on the lid and scooped up some burning coal and ambers and put it right on the lid for two-way cooking….
Everything in one big vessel, in layers. And by 1230 we had tasty biryani for our guests. It served us well for the dinner too.
This man was dad’s childhood friend who came all the way from city to BHEL to make the food and left. He was soon posted in Delhi where he, a couple of years later, retired as Chairman cum Managing Director of LIC of India.
#biryani #hyderabadi #royal
No comments:
Post a Comment