There’s always good reason to rush to a food festival that promises dishes you can’t easily lay your hands on. Which is why t2 made the trip to Novotel for the Hyderabadi Food Festival. 

“Hyderabadi cuisine seems to be popular and we’ve created this whole ambience with the live Sufi and  Qawwali music. We have chef Abdul Haleem with us for the week because he’s worked for the Nizam’s family and his forefathers have passed on some recipes,” said Jai Kishan, GM, Novotel. 

Of course we had to ask chef Haleem the secret behind his light and aromatic Hyderabadi Biryani. He smiled mysteriously and told us, “Hyderabadi biryani masala is different. Many dried herbs that aid digestion go into the special Korma Masala we use.” 

That only means you can gorge plenty without feeling sick. Which is what t2 did.

What: Hyderabadi Food Festival
Where: The Square, Novotel, Rajarhat
When: Till May 20, 7pm to 11.30pm
What to expect: A buffet spread that begins with soup and kebabs and goes on to include traditional gravies such as Sandali Paneer, Nizami Aloo, Achaari Gosht and so on. The buffet includes some Continental dishes as well if you happen to be accompanied by anyone who’s not in the mood for Indian food. The chefs promise to whip up a new menu every day!
Pocket pinch: Rs 1,950-plus per person, which includes 60ml of Chivas.

Text: Ramona Sen
Pictures: B. Halder

FOOD CRUSH OF THE WEEK

The latest food obsession for Team t2 is the Mirror Cake. We are, along with the rest of the world, completely besotted with the Instagram feed of Russian baker Olga Noskovaa (@olganoskovaa). Never mind the fact that even at 73 weeks deep we couldn’t understand anything she wrote, except umm, pretty cakes, some of which are not mirrors though. Somebody help us!