Hyderabadi cuisine (Nizami) has a reputation similar to that of Delhi (Mughalai) and Lucknow (Nawabi) for being a non-veg lover's heaven. Each city has one or two dishes which it's famous for; Delhi has its nihari and quorma, Lucknow has its kababs and Hyderabad has its biryani (refer to the next blog which explains this in detail). However, similar to those royal and historically/culturally rich cities, Hyderabad has a lot more to offer than just spicy non-veg meals.
My cousin and I met up with a friend of mine from NZ who was in Hyderabad at the same time. First we went to Charminar (the icon of Hyderabad). The 4-towered mosque is located on a roundabout bang in the centre of the old city of Hyderabad (similar to Old Delhi) and is a fantastic display of Islamic architecture. After taking a few mandatory selfies we walked down one of the streets that start from Charminar called Laad Bazaar (market for jewellery - particularly bangles and pearls) to help my friend with some shopping.
Since we were in the Old City, we decided to have some lassi and falooda from an old hotel restaurant called Sheraan. The lassi was thick and had a cherry with roohavza (rose syrup) and also a generous amount of Malai (the fat from boiled milk) at the top. The falooda was nice but probably could have given it a miss.
Hyderabad also has a chain of restaurants called Chutneys which specialises in South Indian cuisine and some monster sized Dosas. This restaurant offers a range of approximately seven chutneys with all meals. If anyone is looking for some nice vegetarian food in Hyderabad then definitely check this place out.
Hyderabad has two unique sweet dishes - Qubani ka meetha and double ka meetha. Qubani ka meetha is an apricot based sweet dish which is popular during Bakr-Eid. It was very sweet and served cold which was very refreshing on a tiring day. Double ka meetha is a type of bread pudding (very similar to Shahi Tukda) that is served at weddings and on Eid. This was very heavy and can be quite tiring if you have already eaten a large meal (which we had).
Overall I felt that Hyderabad was the cleanest city I have been to in the last three years. In my opinion it is probably the most liveable city in India at this point. I found the cuisine offers a lot for people with different tastes - in quantity and quality.
Be sure to check out the next blog post on Hyderabadi biryani.
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