#biriyani raid

[thathusenfulhu]

a taste of kanz (biriyani)

i'm by myself at kanz biryani after a day of hard work (i work hard dammit). and dear god, does it smell SPICY in here! it's the place that's taken over 'the space' on roashanee magu. they don't seem to care about the decor too much now, which may in fact be a good omen.

anyhow, i order the beef because i want to save their dum biriyani for later, to eat with fellow biriyani fanatic @shaari_. the first impressions are extremely favourable. the biriyani arrives in minutes and is accompanied by the usual suspects (raita, rasam) plus kheer, that sweet indian dish with vermicelli and almonds and sweet milk, well, you know what i'm talking about.

but the real winner is the rasam. i've never had anything like it, it's exploding with flavour, of a medley of spices and sourness, a full-flavoured experience. i mix it with my biriyani, which is fragrant and deliciously spiced with fennel and cumin and cinnamon. and together with the rasam, it's a killer combo. i eat like a dog, then down my rasam in a few shots. my god. this is stellar stuff. i must have shaari's thoughts.

so, on the saturday before election saturday, we find ourselves in the kanz again.

'you want us to try their dumB biriyani huh?' says shaari, grinning.

'yes,' i reply. man’s a real hoot.

'why's it called dum biriyani though?' he asks.

'let's ask someone,' i say. so they explain it to us: it's basically a biriyani that's been baked over a wood fire in a clay pot.

'huh,' says shaari. 'i'm really ready for this. it should mean something that they named themselves kanz biriyani.'

'oh,' i say. 'as opposed to...?'

'kanz kahanbu?' grins my lunch companion.

oh dear.

and soon, shaari too is taken with the swiftness of service. he arranges everything for the pic (first photo of this post). then, he inhales the rice.

'mmm,' he says. 'it's smelling goooood.'

i nod my agreement and we begin.

'ah,' says shaari. 'this chicken is so tender.'

'isn't it just,' i say. 'it's fucking phenomenal, man.'

'yeah,' says shaari, chewing thoughtfully. 'you know, i think you might disagree but this is as good as maagiri.'

'you think?' i ask.

'at the very LEAST.'

'try it with the rasam, man.' i tell him.

he pours over the little container into his rice and takes a bite. his eyes light up.

'this is definitely next level,' he says.

we polish off our meals, and ask the server for gulaab jaamun to close this excellent outing but it is not to be had.

'well,' sighs shaari. 'let's pay up.'

the bill is 190MVR for everything. it's incredible and we would've parted with double that gladly. well. in theory anyway.

'screw maagiri,' says shaari. 'THIS is where it's at.'

so fellas, if you’re craving great biriyani next...

[enigma-the-mysterious]

WIP Wednesday 25/7/24: All progress so far!

Original post

@somefishycat

They took him down from where they had kept him, strung up like a slab of butchered meat, and attempted to lead him away from the cell.

Bheem did not make it easy for the policemen. His limbs felt numb but his spirit did not.

@zyrafowe-sny

He knew. He knew the real reason why he had not stayed, why he had refused to get his wounds tended by the medic at the police station. Deep down, in the empty hollowness of his chest where his heart once used to be, Ram knew.

@aparticularbandit @sourb0i @post-and-out @adhdavinci

Some nights were easier than the others. In fact, Bheem would say that most of his nights were peaceful.  But on some cursed nights, when the moonlight did not reach their little hut and the report of an English rifle was heard a little too close to their home, Bheem's worst memories were dredged up from the dark crevices of his mind that threatened to swallow him whole. Tonight was one such night. The gentle hand kept running through his hair, untangling his curled knots with such tenderness- such a sharp contrast from the rough, uncaring hands in his nightmare. 

A kiss pressed to his forehead. A thumb carefully wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Bheema."

His name, so softly spoken, so unlike the icy cold words of the stranger in nightmares.

Eyes still adjusting to the darkness, Bheem took deep breaths, willing his racing heart to calm down. There was no little girl to rescue, no British soldiers to run from, no jail to raid. No pain to endure, no shackles to resist, no spiked whip to stand proud and tall against.

@scifikimmi @eriquin @1attheedge

There were two things Ram was certain of in his life, besides his mission. Akhtar was his best friend. Akhtar loved to eat.

"Bhai, have you ever tried the samosas from that little shop in the corner near Lal Qila? The potatoes, bhaiyya! I swear, they just melt in your mouth."

"More biriyani, Ammi!" "Bhai, what would you do if you ever woke up as a jalebi? Would you try to eat yourself?"

@auburnlaughter

The weight on his shoulder felt both foreign and familiar, right and wrong, comforting and crushing. "My legs are about to fall off," Akhtar whined. "Carry me a little longer."

Thank you for all the requests! Really made some solid progress today 😄

[anoopkam]

A couple of months ago, I saw an ad in Facebook about Leela’s Kitchen a home-made food venture by Deepika NK… The ad said that she specialises in vegetarian Dhaba style North Indian cuisine and since me and my mother love North Indian food, I thought of giving Leela’s Kitchen a try and so contacted Deepika and was informed about this app called PinStove whom she works with to have the food delivered… But unfortunately an iOS version of the app wasn’t available at the time and since I don’t have an android phone, I had to wait for the iOS release of the app to come out, especially since her location is not nearby where I live… Finally after 2 whole months of waiting, the iOS version came out and so, I finally made my first order to Leela’s Kitchen…

First of all I must say, I was surprised at the promptness of the delivery… Came 5 mins before time… The order was placed on the previous night as we planned for it… The order consisted of a Paneer Muttar Biriyani, Paneer Jalfrezi, Sizzled Kadai Paneer, a portion of Buttery Soft Rotis and what they call Absolute Yummy Ginger Raita…

Absolute Yummy Ginger Raita

Buttery Soft Rotis (with the Biryani at the back)

Sizzled Kadai Paneer (Please Excluse the bad image quality)

Paneer Mattar Biryani

Paneer Jalfrezi

Regarding the food, I have been reading a number of good reviews about the food by Leela’s Kitchen in the foodie groups in facebook like EAT at Trivandrum and I must say that those reviews are perfectly justified… The food tasted absolutely awesome that I felt like I was back in one of the punjabi places in Mumbai (from back when I was there) 🙂 The food packs quite a punch in terms of spice levels and tastes incredibly authentic…

First, about the Paneer Mattar Biryani: Recently I participated in a discussion in the EAT community about the best options for a Veg Biriyani in Trivandrum and I gave my opinion based on my previous experience… However, Leela’s Kitchen has me corrected because this biryani is by far the best vegetarian biriyani I have ever had… Absolutely perfect flavours with the right paneer to rice balance that you can’t find in anywhere else… It was served with some freshly cut carrots and tomato, a little bit of vegetable raita and some green chillies… What made me quite happy about the biriyani is the fact that it didn’t contain any dalda/vanaspati which not only makes it healthier, but also is quite rare to find a biryani to buy which doesn’t have it… Instead, this one has a good smell of ghee 🙂

The Buttery Soft Rotis looks and felt exactly like chappatis but incredibly soft with a thin coat of butter inside the fold… 🙂

Next is about the two curries Paneer Jalfrezi and Kadai Paneer: Both curries came as 500ml portions with quite a generous quantity of paneer in it along with vegetables – tomato, onions, bell peppers, green chillies… The jalfrezi is a dry dish and the kadai one is with a gravy thats a bit creamy in texture (made me feel confused if my order got mixed up and I got Paneer Butter Masala instead 🙂 ) with the flavours being just perfect with the right balance of hot and sweet…

Last but not least is what Leela’s Kitchen calls as the Absolute Yummy Ginger Raita… This tastes exactly like our Inji-Pachadi but without the texture of the coconut… The curd tasted quite sour (which is a bit too much sourness for me) with what I describe as pretty much an explosion of ginger in my mouth…

So, overall, a welcoming experience with what I can tell as definitely one of the best options for North Indian food in Trivandrum which is better than most of the restaurants including all of the so called Dhabas 🙂 A funny thing that happened here is with regards to my grandmother… Normally she doesn’t like to eat vegetarian food and since my mother is a pure vegetarian, she ends up only eating very minimally and ends up throwing away atleast half of what we give her (which she supplements by raiding the store for all kinds of knick knacks 🙂 )… The same is true when we give her food we buy from restaurants ie, she would only eat the non-veg item and just enough of the vegetarian items to accompany the non-veg item and throw away the rest… This time, after a very long time, she not only finished the plate we gave her and asked for seconds… She particularly loved the Paneer Jalfrezi and ended up eating most of it 🙂

Only complaint personally for me is the spice level and oil level in the food… As the people who know me personally plus readers of my posts/blog would know, I like things that are mildly spiced, which lets me enjoy the natural taste of the ingredients better… So, for me, the food from Leela’s kitchen felt too spicy… Also, I prefer minimum oil content in the dishes, which also unfortunately felt a bit too much… However, I have talked to Deepika regarding this and she assured me that she will reduce both in my future orders and all I have to do is remind her when ordering, which we will definitely be doing very soon… 🙂

Leela’s Kitchen – First Try A couple of months ago, I saw an ad in Facebook about Leela's Kitchen a home-made food venture by Deepika NK...