Delectable street entries at Taj

One of the main attractions of trying out new menus, especially at one of your favourite restaurants is the curiosity factor – to check on what else did the chef see missing in an already excellent menu. Executive chef Nitin Mathur, Taj Krishna has religiously introduced new menus since quite a few years at the popular North Western Frontier Cuisine restaurant, Firdous.

And each time, he does manage to introduce new dishes or give a twist to the existing ones that amazingly taste better; call it novelty, exhaustive research that went into preparing the particular dish or plain experience in understanding the Hyderabadi palate.

This time, the new entrants on the menu are Patthar Ka Gosht (the Hyderabadi speciality street food did take some time to find a place on the menu, one would think), the tangy and spicy Kaddu ka Dalcha (an ideal comfort food for all seasons), the delicious Nawabi vegetarian specialty Chowgra and the Kebabs – the melt in the mouth Kakori Kebab with all its flavour intact and just right, Khumb Galouti and the Kebab-e-Firdous, the chef specialty made in tandoor using Chicken thigh (that explains the softness), but only after properly marinating in spiced cashew nut and yoghurt paste and the vegetarian ones too like the Sangri aur Mirch ke Kebab (a nice variation to the sangri that is usually made as a dry preparation),

Makai Motiya Sheekh (don’t let the Makai dupe you – this one is a must try on the menu) and the Jaituni Malai Paneer that is mildly flavoured with two kinds of chutney and the twisted slightly by adding chopped olives. The most common yet worth a mention is the Dahi wada- the sourness of the curd not compromised, but enhanced with the sweet and sour pudine ki chutney and tamarind chutney is finger lickingly good. The biryanis stay even as many more new dishes have been added.

On the dessert menu too – in addition to the double ka meetha is the a nicer version of Badam Halwa; Badam Ka Kund (just like you get it in Hyderabad, shares the chef) and the flavour of the season, Kulfi served with rose syrup and rabri making it a richer and more delicious preparation. From the shorbas to the kebabs, main course and a dessert to round it off, lunch at Firdous seems to have only got bigger and better.