Few sights in world are as comforting as a plate of steaming hot
biryani. High eyebrows drop, creases on foreheads smoothen, bodies unwind and smiles sprout forth on seeing this aromatic dish being served on the
table. The world suddenly seems a marginally better place, and life more bearable.
However, in today's world of rampant adulteration- where you
are more likely to find stones in rice, pebbles in lentils, potato mash in
"shuddh ghee", margarine in butter and
molesters among ‘babas’- it's impossible to find purity in food as well.
So imagine my surprise when I was strolling around the city
in search of something (if not someone) interesting, and happened to chance upon
this place that serves some of the most unbelievably delicious biryani. Just have a look at the color,
the gloss, the steam, the long grains of rice... I mean, splendid.
And I haven’t come to the best part yet- It's purely
home-cooked. Just in case you weren't able to believe what you just read,
let me repeat:
Yes, 100% home-cooked!
Yes, 100% home-cooked!
So you don't have to mortgage a kidney to afford a sumptuous biryani meal in a posh eatery. You also don't have
to risk purchasing biryani from that seedy roadside stall and chomping down on a chicken leg, which tastes like
a chicken leg, but somehow reminds you of a slippery frog.
Prices are steep, though- A single serving costs upwards of
Rs. 150. However, once you tuck one spoon of biryani in and let the cooking
cast its spell, I assure you that the only other time you would open your mouth is when you would feel the craving to
order another plate. But that is, if your belly has the space for it. One serving can feed two easily.
And what's more, there’s good news also for those who are cholesterol-conscious.
This place also dishes out a superb emu biryani, which is simply
another name for “heavens on earth”. Low
on fat, ghee and oil but high on flavours, it’s a foodie’s dream come true.
You see, that’s the magic of home-cooking. You can actually taste
and distinguish the ingredients that have gone into the preparation, as opposed
to dining in a restaurant, where practically anything you order tastes the
same- what with the biryani, pulao, fried rice, mixed rice, etc, etc. It’s the
same big, bland, over-puffed mold of stale rice, with a few pieces of meat
that seem to belong to the Dark Ages. You are left to figure out the ingredients
by reading from the footnotes of the menu-card.
The final frontier is religious sentiments, which have always come in the way of a good meal, hence the following info- The meat is pure halaal. The chicken and mutton both, are dressed by a Muslim butcher, however, all the cooking is done by a Hindu lady. I don't think you could get anything more secular than this, apart from Manmohan Desai films.
And vegetarians, you don't need to sulk- Place serves delicious veg biryani as well! Just replace the meat with paneer, aloo, soyabeans and raw jack-fruit. Yumm...
All said and done, I highly recommend you to try it when you get the
chance. Rs. 150 may not be that big a deal for most of you, but getting a 10-minute
trip to paradise and back is a big deal, indeed.
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| Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Bhubaneswar, Odisha: Look at that! |
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| Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Odisha: This is the tastiest biryani I have tasted in Odisha |
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| Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Odisha, India: And this is the mutton biryani |
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| Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Odisha: And this is a nicely-prepared mutton curry that can be ordered as an accompaniment to the biryani |