Chapter 1 : Special Chicken Biryani

The Kakatiya Special Chicken Biryani Encounter

It's been a while since I started thinking that I should maintain a food blog. Owing to my acute tendency to get lazy, it didn't happen so far. I feel it is long overdue and inevitable, being the foodie that I consider myself to be (narcissist-foodie-wink 😉).

The first challenge was finding a name - after I found out that 'Amour Food' (inspired from 'Amour Fou', the movie) wasn't available, I wracked my brain hard and came up with 'Food Quixote'. Don Quixote is my all-time favourite book. For people who aren't familiar with the character, Don Quixote is a middle-aged gentleman who, obsessed with heroic tales of knights, declares himself one and embarks on mad adventures. It is his passion that makes him move forward to moments of glory in spite of the numerous misadventures. The quixotic journeys that I take up for food makes this name apt, I feel (Happy-narcissist-foodie-wink 😉).

To start things off, I would like to introduce you to my experience of the Special Chicken Biryani from Kakatiya Deluxe Mess, Ameerpet, Hyderabad. What inspired me to try it out is a video by the Facebook page 'Street Byte' which showed '10 Biryanis you should try in Hyderabad that is not Hyderabadi Biryani'. I loved the video, had already tried three of them, and has made it a mission to make it a 10/10 within the next two months.

Without further ado, here's presenting the Special Chicken Biryani (well, the packaging really).

And here's when you open it.

And here's the dish in it's full glory.

This is not, traditionally speaking, a Biryani, but a mix of Bagara Rice (Tempered rice in Hyderabadi style) and Boneless Chicken Fry pieces. When you take the token (Rs. 200 for the dish) and order it, the guy at the counter takes the box, puts a good amount of chicken and fills it up with rice. Mutton fry and prawns fry were also kept nearby and I was tempted to ask them to give me a mix-of-all biryani, but resisted.

Cut to - Home. Setting - me in front of the plate with 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' ready to be played.

I opened the box. The slight cold that I had didn't stop the lovely aroma of the spices in the Bagara Rice. I held the box in my hand and enjoyed the heavenly smell again. The box felt heavier than what I expected. The quantity of the dish is really good for the price. After serving the whole of it to the plate and keeping a small tiffin-box-full aside (which was for lunch at office, next day), I wiped the spicy oil and little bits of rice that were in the box and licked it clean. Then, I proceeded on to the real deal.

The flavours were just right for me. The chicken is on the spicy side but when you balance it with the flavoured rice, it becomes a joy. The chicken was well cooked, not too soft or not too hard - could just munch on and on if I get just the pieces as a snack. Special mention goes to the gravy that came with the biryani - spicy, and perfect for a dish like this. I do sometimes wish the Mirchi ka Saalan that is served with Hyderabadi Biryanis could be a little spicier. This one was more like a thick chicken curry gravy. I loved it.

Overall, had a great meal, a good start to my latest adventure, if I may say so.

Also, on my taste rating scale - 8/10