The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 24 Apr 2014 08:16 PM PDT

BY MELISSA DUIS
April 25, 2014

The chicken malai kebab is marinated in a mélange of herbs and spices to make it flavourful. – April 25, 2014.Amidst the convoluted bends of any city enwrapped in the dust of history, one would be hard-pressed to find an authentic dish. In fact, even when one claims a strike of good luck in finding an authentic dish, the claimant's good judgment still comes into question. On top of that, suggestions by do-gooder foodies often come off more as a cacophony of opinions.

As a fan of Indian cuisine, I've had my fair share of Indian dishes in Malaysia, India and in other parts of the world. But as fate would have it, it was a long overdue visit to a Hyderabad restaurant in my country and that did the trick. The excursion elicited a genuine cry of excitement and glee from me.

There was once upon a-not-so-long-ago time that I had frequented another Indian restaurant for their mutton briyani but that quickly moved down to the bottom half of my favourite restaurants list when I had my first mouthful of 'this' mutton briyani.

Aptly called Hyderabad Recipes' Restaurant, the place is small but roomy, simple but comfortable and they served a mutton briyani that sounded foreign to my ears - Soofiyani Mutton Briyani. I guess what that means went unlearned by me during that lunch course that altered my perception of mutton briyani forever. An experience like that goes undisturbed unless the building itself was burning down.

When my dear friend and I took a seat for my life altering moment, I naturally let him take the lead as he was the leader and I, the follower. In my opinion, it's only natural that I admit defeat to my friend – a native of India – on any discussion of authentic Indian dishes.

The eager beaver in me was pushed to the point of foolhardy when I suggested we dig in to our meal before allowing my friend to take a picture. I indulged my friend's newly found "Malaysian hobby" – as he called it – of 'instagramming' his food before devouring it.

Finally, the dishes were served and in came the chicken malai kebab which was tender to agonising perfection and juicy. The soofiyani mutton briyani was served with a flavourful and spicy, but not intolerably hot brinjal curry and later gulab jamun for dessert.

Gulab jamun, a traditional Indian dessert is made mainly from milk solids, traditionally from freshly curdled milk. – April 25, 2014.My first spoonful of the mutton briyani upped the ante for me as all my senses scattered in opposite directions to try and make sense of the dish. As I duly chewed and ingested mouthful after mouthful of the mutton briyani I surmised that an authentic Hyderabad mutton briyani should be smoky, spicy, buttery, savoury and more.

Unfortunately, the rest of the mutton briyani goodness becomes indescribable to me at this point. But a shout out to my friend would also describe a good Hyderabad mutton briyani as comprising basmathi rice cooked at the right temperature and duration and bedecked in various colours from different spices. The 'properly' multicoloured basmathi rice grains also indicate proper cooking technique as briyani rice is cooked in layers. Not forgetting the mutton, or whichever meat used, should be tender, juicy and tasty.

Although conclusively, I still think what is truly authentic and what isn't, really is subjective to the enjoyer, Hyderabad Recipes Restaurant on Jalan Putra, Kuala Lumpur, for whatever it's worth, certainly changed my understanding of and appreciation for mutton briyani.

I did leave the restaurant feeling satisfied but with a miniscule degree of resentment that I got schooled by a non-Malaysian on where to find top-notch food in my own country. Still, it was worth every penny and at a reasonable price too. – April 25, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Khamis, 24 April 2014

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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