Hyderabadi Biryani Curry at Sitar

Just want everybody to know that the next currynight at Sitar is not going to be a normal curry night.

We are making it a Special Hyderabadi Biryani Night

I talked to the owner during last curry night and he will have someone make this just for us TT crowd in both Lamb and Chicken. There is no need to order anything from the menu next night. Ofcourse, you could order from the menu but we will sneer at you

For those who do not know what Hyderabadi Biryani is, it is a very very special kind of Biryani that comes from the southern city called Hyderabad. Those who ate the real thing will agree that it is food from heaven. It normally takes 8-10 hours to prepare this and is quite complicated with Basmati rice, Meat and thick gravy cooked in several layers and is very aromatic.

Just to get and idea here is one link for Hyderabadi Biryani Recipe

I do not expect Sitar to spend that much time nor come anywhere near the real thing but if it is half nearly as good I think we will be lucky.

I hope all those who show up next time will enjoy this special item.

Sounds wonderful. I wish I could go. Indian food is truly the food of the gods.

Count me in. I am already drooling...yummy!

Sounds like a great idea! However...


How much advance notice will we need to give them (i.e., so they know how many dishes to prepare)?

@Aquatic

I don't think they will spend that much time. He asked me to tell him that morning but I will inform him the evening before.

For those who wanna come, I think it is better to register earlier than Wednesday so we know the approximate number of people.

Not sure if it takes 8 hours to prepare that Briyani... The most time consuming step in making this dish is the one called "dum". (dunno if its the same word they use in hyderabad... but that's what is used in chennai)

Here they seal the vessel in which the rice and meat mixture is being cooked (the rice is 3/4 th cooked by the way when this step comes) to make it air-tight. This is then left on a simmering stove for more than hour or so. (the best results are got when this process is done with a stove using charcoal )

It sure is heavenly stuff. Hope they make it as near to the original as possible...

As for me... i'll be lucky enough to get the REAL thing next week in India...

@electrobuzz

Yes, the real one does take that long for large gropus and I don't expect Sitar to do that. The faster version probably takes 2-3 hours.

Real Hyderabadi Biryani is made in several stages. The marination of meet actaully happens the night before. Plus they also cook rice, meat, gravy separately and then they are slow-cooked again together in layers. The rice itself is cooked in atleast 3 stages as far I know. First it is fried, then half cooked and then cooked again.

My feeling is, Sitar is gonna put it all together and cook in one stage.

For large groups like in weddings, it easily takes 8-10 hours. It is quite a complicated procedure but well worth it.

Damn, my mouth is watering. Seriously

hyderabadi Biryani! Yummy...memories of days long gone...
I will be there.

Cheers,
xargon

yeah... its one hell of a procedure...
The hyderabadi briayni is a specialist recepie of the Nizams of hyderabad. The Nizams are muslims (for those who dont know.. .) and they have amazing recipies for meat, since the south of india is not so famous for meat recipies (though we do have some amazing meat dishes, the south is more known for vegie stuff).

A few years back, we had a muslim family renting my aunt's place which was next to ours... and they had a briyani shop. They used to make this briyani everyday evening in our backyard for one whole year. Man, the smell of this thing alone will take you to heaven if done properly...!!!

Hope the non-indians enjoy this dish... and i hope the Sitar guys do justice to this dish.

By the way, i'm going to Sitar this thursday for a business lunch. I suggested the place based on the reviews posted here... since i've not been there before, can any of you informed people tell me their best dish?
I'll be flying home the next day and i dont want to experiment with stuff before i leave...

@electro - I have always had the vegetarian fair and it was pretty decent at Sitart. I would definitely recommend the clilli naan for those who are not afraid to tread a bit on the wilder side

xargon

@electrobuzz

Although sitar is nice, for business lunch I would take them to Sangeet in odeonsplatz.

I would avoid lamb at Sitar. Chicken and veggie stuff is pretty good.

hmm--- cant change the place now, since it's already been reserved

I'll stick with chicken i guess... the lambs here have always been below standard. dunno why this is so. I had it once in Kashmir and it was pathetic...

@roots

it's sonali bendre and she has THREE sisters,,,

@electro


Shhhhh. Others need not know that. Every man is entitled to "one" secret

@roots-Shame on you! Hogging the other sister

Xargon

and.. here is that gorgeous sonali.. (cant get the pictures of sisters though )

Ok, Hyderabadi Biryani night has been officially changed to Hyderabadi Bendreyani Night

Once again I wanna remind everybody of the following (in case you are lost)
------------------------------------------------------------

Just want everybody to know that the next currynight at Sitar is not going to be a normal curry night.

We are making it a Special Hyderabadi Biryani Night

I talked to the owner during last curry night and he will have someone make this just for us TT crowd in both Lamb and Chicken. There is no need to order anything from the menu next night. Ofcourse, you could order from the menu but we will sneer at you wink.gif

For those who do not know what Hyderabadi Biryani is, it is a very very special kind of Biryani that comes from the southern city called Hyderabad. Those who ate the real thing will agree that it is food from heaven. It normally takes 8-10 hours to prepare this and is quite complicated with Basmati rice, Meat and thick gravy cooked in several layers and is very aromatic.

Just to get and idea here is one link for Hyderabadi Biryani Recipe

I do not expect Sitar to spend that much time nor come anywhere near the real thing but if it is half nearly as good I think we will be lucky.

I hope all those who show up next time will enjoy this special item.

Also please try to register before Wednesday.

Hmmm since its special it could be something to consider. Have to decide next week though. Will it cost much extra than normal?

I dont believe so. If they wanna charge a buck or two for the effort I don't have a problem with it. Normal Biryani at Sitar is $11 so $13 should be tops. Anyway I will find out and post it.

Okay, I'm ready and willing to give it a go.

count me in

...well, not too many sign ups for the curry night this week
Roots H. - you didn't even sign up yet!

1 more... :-)

most prob i am in but will confirm later.

arghhhh I wanna come ...but unfortunately, I can't...

Update about Special Hyderabadi Biryani Night.

It is going to be 12.50 Euro per person.

It will be predominantly Lamb Biryani (cuz real Hyd Biryani is made with lamb) but Chicken will also be available for Chikenarians sake.

Please register before tomorrow evening cuz I need to tell them the number tomorrow.

Hopefully, it will be nice. I have a couple of people from work who have their hopes real high with the Hyderabadi biryani. :-)

Will it still start at 9pm? Is anyone up for a drink beforehand?

@showem.

I and some guys plan to be there at 8.00. It tastes much better after a few beers

are you going to be in the restaurant for beers or in a nearby pub?
I might just join you for a couple of cheeky pints to get the old appetite rolling

@Topsy

xargon, ashu, harry and myself will be at Sitar at 8:00 to get a few drinks. You or anyone else is more than welcome to join us.
We should stick to normal 9:00 for actual dinner to accommodate others (esp Aqua and co.) who cannot make it earlier.

I wanna remind once again that you need to register by 6:00 PM this evening (tuesday)

just made the reservation for me plus four more guests...

its already 27 people... can sitar handle this...?

27 will fill the whole restaurant. cool!

@electro

30 is the maximum and the reservation stops after that.

We have 29 now so only one space left.

Hi,

Can I take the last slot. I cannot register so I need someone to add me on.

Hey Ravski - I'm gonna put you in as a +1, OK?
see you tomorrow

@Topsy:- Much appreciated, See you all there.

I know that Sitar can seat more than 30 people, so even though I can't add hubby to the reservations page, please consider him #31.

@Gen
whats its capacity?
@RH
any chance of adding one more?

As I understand it, it's not a matter of the restaurant capacity. The restaurant can seat about 70 people. Instead it's a matter of Rootsherbal giving enough warning to the chefs as to how many special dishes to prepare.

Cant make tomorrow, but will be along to a curry night soon, not had one for ages!!

Am looking forward to all these reviews of the Biryani.

I thought the limit of 30 was just for website-technical reasons, not cooking-technical reasons -- and I posted before 18:00 too...

@Gen

Yesterday I told them I am expecting upto 30 people and he told me to tell the exact number at 6:00 PM tonight.

I tell you what, I will tell him that we are going to be 35 just to accommodate few more. Please bring your hubby.

Also I think anything more than 30-35 will be chaotic.

@Ume

yup, add yourself.

Can we preorder some biryani for today? I am feeling hungry now!

hooray! I'm hungry too!

*tummy rumbling already*

I think I'll take my camera along to take some photos of this magic food substance.

Fully booked already ???
And please register before this evening ???
Guess I won't be coming then

Yeah,

Thats my fecking teddy out of the pram!

Stamps foot and crawls into corner to suck thumb

@Jeeves and Grinner,

Come along. I made reservation for 35 just in case and with you two, we are at 34.