Chapter 2 : My Beef with the Government

My Beef with the Government

On Friday (26 May 2017), as I was sitting in the office and scrolling through Facebook the most terrible news popped up in front of me. The Government of India has declared the imposition of a new rule (or the revival of an old one, I don't really know) banning all cattle sale for slaughter purposes, in the guise of prevention of cruelty against animals. I am not going into the politics of it (makes me sick), even though, it is interesting to see that the move was bang on the first day of Ramadan and also that the same 'animal cruelty' thing doesn't somehow apply for chicken, pork, fish, or mutton.

The sad state of affairs increased my appetite. I became hungrier. It so happens that good food provides solace from all my woes - in fact, all my emotions revolve around or eventually lead to food. So my plans of a humble dinner that night, owing to my weight loss regime (which is almost at a loss, as usual), went for a toss. I craved for beef. I started thinking about the various good beef joints which I can access easily in Hyderabad and zeroed in on one of my favourites, Hotel Prince at Mehdipatnam.

The place was crowded as usual - I've seen the restaurant full-up even at 3 AM. Went ahead and ordered one Beef Biryani and one full Talawa Beef (or Tala Hua, it's pronounced both ways) as parcel and a Lukhmi (Hyderabadi special, beef-kheema-stuffed-in-the-side-flat-samosa-type-thing) for my hunger of the time. As always, I wished there was more of that tasty filling inside the Lukhmi. I collected my parcel from the two separate counters and headed home.

Right before reaching home, I got two Tandoori Rotis as well so that I could have the leftover Talawa and Biryani for lunch the next day. With 'Star Wars: Rogue One' to keep me company, I started my indulgence.

Here are some pictures of the affair.

 

Spicy and delicious, the Talawa from Prince has always been a favourite of mine. The dish didn't disappoint this time as well (a couple of pieces were tad under-cooked, which I choose to ignore). After finishing off the Roti and Talawa, I proceeded to the Biryani which was too, good as usual.

The next day afternoon, I took the leftover Biryani and Talawa, mixed them together and heated in a pan, with little oil and a dash of pepper (pepper and butter makes most things better for me). I shared it with two friends who came over. It was the bomb! The taste actually got better this time around. It is true that some meat dishes and cake actually taste better over time. I think the reason is that the flavours really reach all nano-bits of the main ingredients. Anyway, the mixed-biryani tasted awesome, we wanted more, but had to be content with white rice, brinjal-with-pappad fry, curd, and some tender mango pickle. May be another time.

Epilogue

Friday, 26th May 2017 is a sad day for me. I have been eating beef from ever since I could remember and I can't think of a world without the delicious beef ularthiyathu, cutlets, fry, roast, curry, chilli, dry fry, talawa, biryani, kebabs, pickle and other awesome dishes that I grew up with. I hope it doesn't come to that. I hope people do not judge or interfere with the food culture of other people. I hope this stupid vote-bank politics gets buried forever. I hope everyone eats and enjoys their meals in peace.