The first stop on my cherished biryani trail was Aminia in New Market. The initial look – dirty streets, open windows, slightly unclean floors, waiters in red and maroon uniforms - turned me off. The walls lacked décor and the furniture was old and worn out. But …at 4PM, the restaurant was highly crowded, the waiters were having a ‘no-nonsense’ type confident look on their faces, and they were well-groomed and not shabby like the street in front of them. The mughlai paranthas, butter chicken, and various kebabs that the people were seen relishing were looking well endowed and delicious. The gravies had the right amount of red-colored fat floating on the top (which if you are calorie conscious, you can take out). With water in my mouth, I went straight to the accountant. Accountants are generally busy counting money, so they do not have time for marketing – the right people for sage advice.
I asked him whether Biryani would be available at this hour. He immediately replied all the items on the menu are available all the time. This is the answer you get at a typical well-patronized mughlai hotel. I was satisfied. I then asked him his favorite kebabs; he said ‘take shammi kebabs’. The parcel of Biryani came in 5 minutes flat. In those 5 minutes, I noticed that none of the guests were asking for the menu card or enquiring about the stuff that is available. They were just coming, sitting, ordering, getting, eating, paying, and going. The entire operation must be taking around 20 minutes. I also noticed a glass counter inside, where a sample of each dish was kept. I disturbed the accountant again - and this time some waiters were also eavesdropping – about his opinion on Rahmania and Sheraz. He, as well as the waiters, said that I should try kebabs and Lacha paratha from Rahmania and make another visit to Shiraz some other day. I requested the driver to get me two plates of ‘shammi kebabs’ from Rahmania at Park Street.
About the biryani - "The test of a good biryani is that when a handful is flung on a surface, each rice grain should rest separately." This biryani neither had the gravy nor the layered structure of a Hyderabadi biryani. It did not have the overdose of cinnamon, cardamom, and asafetida of a Kashmiri biryani, or the coconut, curry leaves, and roasted gram found in the chettinad style. The rice was cooked in pure ghee (clarified butter) along with a little cardamom, black pepper, and mace powder. The curd-marinated chicken seemed to have been cooked in its own juices. The potato was there, and so was the boiled egg. The rice was further flavored with saffron and rose syrup. There were no colors, but some cashews were there. The entire thing had a yellowish tinge. The delicate handling of the full-bodied basmati rice – each grain separate because of its initial tango with clarified butter, put in exact quantity to avoid a greasy feeling - should be seen to be believed. It was as though an expert mother had made a delicacy with all her love and pure, rich, carefully selected spices and dry fruits for her child who was not keeping well and had lost his taste - but has been advised a light food.
About the kebabs, I would be short of adjectives. These were juicy, succulent, reddish, soft, spicy – a sample of perfection! They just melted in the mouth.
Once again, my research had resulted in a delightful culinary evening. It was raining heavily outside, I was with hot microwaved delicacies, and really felt like the king of Lucknow deposed in Raichak storm.