Asian Window

In Mint Lounge, celebrity chef Karen Anand on Hyderabadi tradition and cuisine — and a recipe for the famous Shikampur Kebabs [Minced Mutton Kebabs]:

 Several years ago, I had the fortune of being invited to the ancestral home of ad film-maker Zafar Hai in Hyderabad. I hadn’t been in India long and I remember being impressed by everything. The detailing was perfect, from the silver slippers in the bathroom to the intricacy of the table and the rich, painstakingly prepared food. Zafar’s mother never went into the kitchen herself but clearly knew how to cook and lay a superb meal. All the dishes came out together, the biryani or the safed pulao, coming out last. You were advised what to have with what-the lukhmi first, then kebabs and sheermal or kulcha, the vegetables and “kut” meats and lastly the biryani. There was a raita and two desserts at the end. This elaborate menu and laying out everything together is also done at a traditional dastarkhan dinner and a wedding. The crockery was bone china and the serving dishes were silver. It made me realize that Hyderabadi food was both complex and difficult to replicate without a serious amount of help.

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