Over the years, intimate Iftars with the family have been the norm. Then, there were iftar boxes that are just a phone call away. This year, the city takes an interesting route with curated Ramadan dinners and even festivals. What makes this really unique is that, under one roof, you get to taste the dishes of several restaurants in the city. One such event that is going to take place is the Dawaat-e-Ifthaar, an Eid food festival which will take place at Buva House in KNK Road. Word of advice before you head here? Eat light the entire day and get ready to be absolutely blown away by the sheer number of dishes that come your way. From ouzi to mandi to buttery mutton samosas, this is a festival you ought to not miss!
Imdad Mecca, the Director of Buva House, named the house after his grandmother who he fondly called ‘buva’. He first noticed how in Fraser Town in Bangalore, the roads were lined with stalls with amazing food, with incredible variety. “We thought we could try the same thing here, but in a different way,” says Imdad. “You can book your slots for the dinner, there's no entry fee for that. And at the stalls, you can pay as per what you order,” Imdad and his wife Shamshad have over 30 vendors from different places that includes Abids, Fipola, The Biriyani Shop, Mashawi and Pista House. As we walk in to Buva House, we notice they’ve arranged the area just like any traditional Muslim household would - a majlis (seating area on the floor) with satin coloured sheets, and a long table that would soon fill up with food.
We ask Imdad where the most exotic dishes are from and he says without a blink, “Al Mashawi, for sure! They only make Ouzi, and have a whole lamb shoulder which is cooked in some aromatic rice!” Ouzi is a large rice-based dish popular in Levant countries and it is served with very slow cooked lamb, roasted nuts, raisins and served over rice. For the festival, visitors can expect stalls outside the house with live counters, while smaller stalls with cooked food will be placed indoors. House favourites will also include Imdad’s mums dishes which she insisted she must cook for her guests. “She wanted to cook everyone her favourite mutton samosas,” says Shamshad with a smile. “And it’s really different from other mutton samosas. It’s buttery, flaky and delicious!”
Soon we take our seats, as we await the first few dishes. Two types of Haleem makes its way to our table - one from The Biriyani Shop and the second one from the 200-year old kitchens of Amir Mahal. While one is aromatic and rich, the other one is less spicy and earthy - either way it’s a win-win situation for Haleem lovers. Ramadan time is all about fried food, so we reach out for Abid’s Chicken Escalopes, which are deep fried chicken breasts and the crispy chicken cutlets from Buva House - both equally crunchy and packed with flavour. More food arrive as the good folks from Abids serve us succulent Moroccan chicken koftas on skewers, which finds its origins in Pakistan and Iran. These tender balls of minced lamb are mildly spicy, served with a mint chutney and a salsa dip.
With quintessential Mediterranean flavours like these, we were truly in food heaven! Pathar Ka ghost, Akbari Murgh chops, sandwiches and crispy prawn from Fipola are among other appetisers that you can try. The piece de resistance came next in several forms and our happiness knew no bounds - Biriyani! While Nawabi chicken biryani and Hyderabadi dum biriyani was being served piping hot onto our plates, we wondered how we were ever going to get up after such a large meal.
Both biriyanis were equally scrumptious, however the Nawabi variant had a tad more masala than the other. For desserts, The Baarik Kitchen serves you specialties like their sinful Shahi Tukda, while Abids has the decadent Kubbani ka Meetha, with cream on top. To wash this all down. Paul Street’s coffee has three flavours of caffeine kick - eclairs, original and hazelnut.
At Buva House
On June 1, 2 and 3
From 4 pm to 10 pm