Making biryani that hits the spot, in a city which abounds with it can be difficult — there are way too many choices! However, the brand new gourmet cloud kitchen — Naaz Biryani — was certainly up for this challenge as the outlet launched amid a pandemic. It is delivering at least 100 biryanis a day since it opened a few days ago. This place promises authentic Nizami variety in chicken and mutton biryani, slow-cooked on dum and that takes almost 15 hours from start to finish. “We tracked down cooks from the royal Nizami heritage after my wife (Asha Podila) and I decided to open Naaz a few months ago,” says Nitin Prakash, who helms it along with his wife. He confesses that for all the while that they dated, finding that perfect biryani place was one activity that they enjoyed together.
He reveals that for their biryani, the meat is marinated for five hours and slow-cooked on dum for two hours - including the ingredient sourcing. It includes over 50 fresh ingredients, and the rice and the meat are cooked in a copper vessel and the placed on the firewood for several hours. “We cook only firewood on firewood and at this point to keep up with the tradition,” says Nitin, who studied MBA, New York University. A whole chunk of husband-wife duo’s day goes into choosing and sourcing ingredients. Their meat is locally sourced and the rice used is of three different kinds, aged differently. “The last four months were ruthless, we hardly got two hours of sleep a day, and with all the things we had to do for launch, Asha and I had to step into our manager’s shoes,” says Nitin, asserting that they have to take stringent precautions given the pandemic situation. What we liked best about their biryani is that the flavours are subtle and the fine balance between the ghee and cardamom are maintained. The aroma of the saffron is not too overpowering either. The salan stands apart as it is not watered down and a rather thick blend of peanuts, coconuts and tamarind. It is evident that special care was taken to design the box — the elegance of its colours apart, it is crafted in a way that you can eat comfortably too.
Orders can be placed on their website.
Rs 589 for the Premium Chicken Biryani.