For the Khaas Muslim cuisine aficionado

An enjoyable drive down the Outer Ring Road (ORR) that goes towards Chilkur, near Telangana State Police Academy Junction, will take you to the beautifully built Sana Gardens – the grand function hall is built on the lines of royal architecture of the yore – where you see the stage set for a marriage (just for the effect) and the tables (Dastarkhan) arranged spaciously on one side. The ambience reflects the traditional Hyderabadi Muslim wedding, which is what the objective is.

Khalil Ahmed, the founder of Food Krafters & Services (who have recently acquired the popular ‘Hyderabad House’ brand of eateries), wanted to give the taste of traditional Hyderabadi khana from the Dastarkhan. Authentic Muslim cuisine is associated invariably with the weddings, and so the same needed to be replicated in a commercial format.

Dawat-e-Khaas, the weekend food carnival has all the trappings of a traditional Muslim wedding minus the bride and the groom and so you get to taste the rich and flavourful native dishes – the inimitable Kacchi Ghost Ki Biryani, the must-try Haleem, the uniquely Hyderabadi Pathar Ka Gosht, Till Ki Chutney, Double Ka Meetha, Baghare Baingan, Mirchi Ka Salan, Shikampur-Shaami Kabab, Do Pyaza, Luqmi, Dum ka Chicken, Shirmaal, Kheer, Gaajar Ka Halwa, Kadai Chicken and more served course after course until you are satiated.

Under the guidance of popular chef Pradeep Khosla, Dawat-e-Khaas aims to treat foodies with dishes straight out of Muslim homes and cooks who recreate the recipes handed down through generations. So you get the Haleem not in the usual format, but with a lot of mutton and the wheat rawa (daliya) and hence the taste is different and more enhanced.

The same is the case with the biryani which has a profusion of mutton and hence the original method of dum cooking spreads the flavours as they should. The elaborate meal is on for lunch (between 1pm to 4pm). “The ambience and the experience will be enhanced if the entire setting is repeated for dinners too, which the promoters said is on the cards.

There is going to be music and more,” said Khaleel Ahmed. The concept is amazing and can be called the perfect solution for people seeking to taste authentic Hyderabadi Khana. Usually they are left to wait for a wedding or a kind friend to invite them over for lunch.

What better place to get your guests to taste the real food of the city of Nizams in the way it should be savoured? The price is attractive enough at Rs 799, especially considering the fine dining standards being aimed at. However, going by the demand for the cuisine, which is more or less not met in Hyderabad, what with limited options; a food lover can be expected to be far more demanding in terms of the menu and taste. He will not settle for anything less the extraordinary. If the Food Krafters consistently meet the criteria and up their act each time, then they have a winner on hand.

By:Rajeshwari Kalyanam