Hyderbadi cuisine goes beyond biryani and haleem, says Samyra Ruheen, an expert on the Nizami cuisine of Hyderabad. “There is variety and a lot of vegetarian fare too,” she adds. Ruheen is in Kochi for Mughal-e-Nizam, a a 10-day-long Nizami food festival open for dinner, at Port Muziris, Nedumbassery, Kochi. She clarifies that her specialty is Nizami cuisine, not to be interchanged with Andhra cuisine because the latter tends to be extremely spicy in comparison. “My paternal grandmother hails from the family of Nizams, and she cooked the food the family had. Everything I know I learnt from her,” says the 33-year-old. Ruheen started out as a home chef, before becoming a Nizami specialist visiting chef for ITC Sheraton and Marriott Bonvoy three years ago. This is her first trip to Kochi, on work. Ruheen, a graduate in Financial Studies, also cooks for private functions, besides cooking for many Hyderabad-based celebrities such as Telugu actor Nani, Tamannah, Ram Charan, tennis players Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal. She even prepared a Nizami spread for RRR’s success party. Ruheen’s earliest memories of food is of elaborate meals cooked by her late grandmother when they would be in Hyderabad on vacation from Saudi Arabia. She would join her grandmother in the kitchen to help. “I must’ve been 11 years old when I began helping her in the kitchen, I watched and learnt. And I love cooking and feeding,” she says, telling stories about food as she watches us eat. We start with the delicately spiced soup, haddi(mutton) ka shorba, which is followed by starters paneer reshmi kebab and hariyali kebab (chicken). While the reshmi kebab isn’t a standout, the hariyali kebab hits the spot with its hint of a marinade and mild spices. Starters done, the main course arrives, led by mutton kheema biryani. The combination of rice and kheema is different from the regular biryani. As we prepare to dig in, Ruheen says “Wait! It has to be served with mirchi ka salan and raita.” Spicy as it sounds, mirchi ka salan is not. It is curried green chilli with roasted/ground peanuts and a must-have with Hyderabadi biryani. This was followed by chicken biryani. Mutton and, to some extent, beef is an important component of Nizami cuisine, she says. Chicken is now used as a substitute for some dishes. While dum gobi and paneer korma are a shade of pale yellow, the dishes taste different. Dum gobi is cauliflower in a thin gravy made of cashew paste and comes with a mild smoky flavour that works well with the stuffed kulcha. “The stuffed kulcha has potatoes and garam masala, which is not normally found in stuffed kulchas in North India.” “Although we have come to associate Hyderabadi or Nizami cuisine with non-vegetarian fare, it is not so. I have spoken to a bawarchi [cook] who is familiar with Nizami cuisine and he told me there are 36 vegetarian items. Cooking meat is easy, the same can’t be said about vegetarian food. It is difficult to prepare. The true test of a chef is how well they cook vegetarian food.” A word on the lal murgh, it may remind one of butter chicken but it is not. Despite the hint of sweet, it is a must try if it is on the buffet menu of the day. Lal murgh or Hyderabadi lal murgh (literally red chicken) is chicken cooked in a fiery red gravy but is mild flavoured. “Nizami cuisine is subtly flavoured by spices, there isn’t much heat in the food as Andhra or Telangana cuisines tend to be.” It is a much in demand dish in Hyderabad during functions such as weddings and engagements. What is a Hyderabadi meal without dessert? Shahi tukda and beetroot halwa it is. You can’t go wrong with shahi tukda, but the revelation is the halwa. Ruheen clarifies that beetroot halwa is not a traditional recipe, but the processes are the same. For beetroot-sceptics put off by the root’s hard-to-miss earthy flavour, the halwa is a happy surprise. Roasted in ghee and cooked with khoya and a syrup of sugar, it is a must try. “We make halwa out of many vegetables, capsicum and even onion. Onion is cooked in water a few times and the water drained. It eventually loses its pungent smell and is cooked with khoya, milk, sugar and almond. The taste is more like those of apples,” Ruheen says laughing. Ends April 30, 2024.