A true hidden Jewel in Gurgaon, Dlf Phase - 4 , Supermat complex where all the other big wigs are ... what an effort it must have been to bring the cuisines of the walled city and other Nizam favorites, to town . Last i remember when i visited down town tried my best for them to come to the city , they were so reluctant ,superstitious and too proud to leave their Gadhi's , Thaiyas,origins.
For the non adventurous lot who cant dare to visit the walled city for its food .. this is a treat .
A visit to Puraani Dilli's Al Karam kebab House was delightful, educating , interesting and Flavorful .Started by a young foodie cum Entrepreneur Varun Veigas who belongs to a multi facet family who are into Pharma, Travel , Events and Hotel business . He himself did the legwork in the walled city to identify the younger generation of the original khansamas of the nizams - he persuade Umez Miyan of the Al Akram House within a weeks time , showed them the exposure, told them how much people wanted to taste their delicacies down town ,showed them the money they can earn and eventually succeeded in getting Iqbal who is one of the better khansamas from Jama Masjid,
his grandfather worked in the kitchens of the Nizams in Hyderabad that is why
he cooks a version of haleem which is almost a hybrid between the hyderabadi
kind and the old delhi version. The entire team of cooks is from matia mahal, jama masjid.
A bit about the walled city food - Buff is common , spices are in abundance, butter is more than welcome ,the floating ghee or charbi on qormas is vital for the kahmeeri to do its job of soaking it in LOL, some of the food might not be very pleasing tot he eye but to the tongue its rock n roll for sure . Amazing mix of spices to tickle the palates out of their sockets .
The truth or the basic fact of Mughlai food is that is supposed to be cooked without oil or with minimal oil - just meat ,spices lentils etc ... slow cooked . The fat of the meat is the cooking medium . Most of it has originated from the Iran ,Persian side of the world .
10.pm We were nice and happy (Old Monk style ) after a tough day at work in gurgaon , scouting for a place to have basic daal roti and we landed up at Al Karam Kebab House totally unplanned unannounced had read a few reviews about it .Small cosy place with awesome aroma of bar b q floating around - i love the smell of charcoal and bar b q combined . Probably seating 10 -15 people as most of it is a take away . Met Varun a smart handsome Youngster with full knowledge of the food and of course the head chef Iqbal Bhai - started ordering but cudn focus so asked to do samplers of all , believe me that was it to bring smiles to their faces . What followed was a hurricane of mind blowing food . The only thing i asked them for was a good selection of bar b q , some qorma and kahmeeri roti thats it . ahhahah and what they did is below ...... silly people made me put on sooooo much more weight .. chalta hai . hahahahaha
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| They all being done for US |
On the gril you can see colors textures meats pf kebabs- in short armour in display of Al Karam kebabs ... sulti kebabs , gilafi , chicken seekhs and mutton seekhs . Mouth watering and Garam Garam. A real pleasure to the eyes with a watering mouth lol .
Below is the Sulti Kebab being undone ... originally a Pakistani specialty made with buff , whole lot of dry fruits , spices and fat .... a string is tied around it to hold the meat together like a binder and on untying the kebabs just splits in geometrical shapes on the plate .Actually there is a controversy on the origins - they say it was available in Delhi much before partition in the walled city a kebabi called Ustaad Moiuddin was the first person heard of making them for Ghalib etc etc ... I believe his outlet is still there ... next visit .
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| Mutton Sutli Kebab in the Making |
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| De Stringing of the Sutli Kebab |
Whats the logic of a Sutli kebab- hmmmmm binder , yes ; sutli adds to the flavor - not sure , presentation - yes ,flavors 100% . loved the concept will get into the history of this engineered kebab.- must be soem rocket science to it for sure. For me and for laugh the Sutli kebab is the a perfect examples of constructing a dish and then deconstructing it for serving Lol .
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| Mutton Seekh Kebab and Sutli Kebab undone |
The Seekh Kebab their style - spicy ,juicy in short different . Tasted awesome with the sheermal .
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| Chicken Gilafi Kebabs |
This dish is a spicy minced meat covered with a layer of
onion, capsicum and tomatoes. This layer is called Gilaf and
hence the name . Soaked in a sauce of seasame yogurt cream butter. can i call it healthy eating LOL .Have it with the khameeri roti
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| Khamiri Roti |
These rotis have become my first love in Mughlai Food ..... wonder how i was eating this most amazing ghee laden food for all these years without this bread . Khamiri
roti is a Mughlai recipe. Khamir means yeast and hence the bread has got the
name. The yeast is added in the flour which makes the bread soft and spongy. Best for dipping into the gorgeous oil laden qormas ...yum and also to clean the plate of the roast chicken.
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| Sheer Maal |
It is a mildly sweet Naan made out of Maida (All-purpose
flour), leavened with yeast, baked in tandoor oven. In the olden days, it
was made just like roti. The warm water in the recipe for roti was
replaced with warm milk sweetened with sugar and flavored with saffron It is
best served with Kababs and can even be
relished stand alone. It is sometimes also combined along with Nihari. i just love having it with garam garam kebabs like the sutli .
Nice Quarter portions for sampling thank god , otherwise we would have run away seeing so much food.... each had a unique taste flavor - and trust me the original flavors remained intact for sure .
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| Chicken Ishtoo |
Chicken Ishtoo with khameeri roti what a wonderful combination , somehow i find this gravy the lightest of all mughlai dishes ..... normally the meat cooks inits own fat with khada masalas . This one was the commercial side of the same .
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| Special Kaju , Matar, Ghee m Keema |
This came as a surprise ..... Keema Muttur made in kaju paste .. the sweetness was tricky . well for me it was a homey . The Keema was nice , not smelly which is what i liked .
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| Haleem |
The Haleem made by Iqbal is supposed to be patented , his grand father mastered the same from Hyderabad ,cooking for the nizams ... yes indeed was unique and different . A must try .The origin of Haleem lies in the popular Arabian dish known
as Harisah.. a slow cooked dish with a mix of wheat barley lentils meat and spices .. this varies in every household ,no standard formula .
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| Chicken qorma |
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| Mutton Nihari |
Mutton Nihari hmmmmmmm one of the msot tried dishes in the walled city , everyone has had this or want s to go all the way to eat it ....... the nali piece was cooked perfect , meat fell off on its own , the gravy nice thick slow cooked ,preserving all the juices of the meat ,combining them with the masalas. Good one .
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| Special Chicken Roast Purani Dilli Style |
Gorgeous looking , Super Tasting -in short HAWT......Roasted Chicken is doused in butter, yogurt, cream, noori
chat masala (Aparently everyone in the walled city buys masala from this one place including our famous Karims ) and an aromatic spice blend the tandoor chef makes on his own. The bar b Qued chicken or the roast chicken had small pieces , perfectly done well draped in the delicous sauce . Good concept where you get the flavor and exeriecne of the roast chicken and also a gravy to eat with it
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| Assorted Yum Deserts - Flavoured kulfis, Traditional Phirni & Habshi Halwa |
Flavoured Kulfis a very very old delhi style - we tried the Orange , Anjeer and Paan flavors - Orange was really Orange a bit too organgy , not fond of anjeer but was nice , the paan was a dynamic fusion kulfi - a full meetha paan inside it hai raba ..... amazing how they make it . Phirni nothing that great .. sorry actually the problem was that we had it after we ate the strong flavored kulfis ,hence the taste of the phirni couldn make it to the excellence board . But next time pakka.
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| Habshi Halwa |
Habshi
is the Urdu equivalent of Negro."The halwa is as kaala (black) as a
habshi,” says Firoz Ahmed, a portly man sitting behind the glass counter at
Haneef Doodhwalla, a mithai shop. Ahmed’s father, Haji Mohammed Haneef, founded
it in 1948 in a dark alley in Ballimaran.The word Habshi has it's origins in
Arabic/Persian and it has been incorporated into several other languages. It
basically describes a black person , quite literally the one who comes from
"Habash" (Ethiopia) , it was one of the words used at the time to
refer to the African slaves who were brought to work in the Indian subcontinent
and possibly a large number of them came from Ethiopia but the word came to be
used for all Africans in general. So, either the "Habshis" introduced
the peculiar halwa in the middle east which was later introduced in the
subcontinent , or it was directly brought to the subcontinent by them. Because
interestingly even the word Halwa (sweetmeat) is of Arabic origin which again
finds place in many languages.
Tigers Overall Experience:
Ambiance: Small cosy ,more of a take away , Lovely Aromas
Food : Fantastic , i believe there is more to be discovered - the biryani - cgreen chilly pickle wali , the raam and yes Iqbal promised to do the full bakra for me .... jealous are u .
Value for money: They have a concept of Full Plate half and Quarter plates which makes it very economical
Service : Totally Personalised , super knowledge of food , the chef stands right there.
Quality : Very good quality of meat , fresh - no burps , no heart burns No Zinetac needed.
My last word to Varun and Iqbal was - Please expand rapidly . They need to get a bigger place with more tables ..... and yes with a promise that they wil not change defer the original recipes of the dishes .
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