Rustic, outdoorsy cuisine comes indoors

HYDERABAD: Why do picnic lunches taste so good? Why does even an ordinary tea taste so special when you are on a long drive? It’s the outdoor factor, of course. Bringing in ‘The Great Outdoors’ factor into the indoors is what Marriott Hyderabad is doing now.

The hotel on the banks of Hussian Sagar decided to find out the delicacies that taste even more delicious when cooked outdoors and is recreating the same taste in the kitchens of Okra.

Chef Aungshuman Chakraborty and his team gave Hyderabadis a sign of things to come when they hosted an outdoor dining event in February in a beautiful farm at Hasthalpur in Medak district, a two-hour drive from Hyderabad. The hotel constructed makeshift charcoal pits, roast pits, sand pits, spit roasts and good old chulhas in the farm and the food indeed tasted delicious. “I studied the techniques of rustic cooking and now am attempting to try this out for the city folk. So expect slow rustic cooking, made lovingly in our urban kitchens,” he promises.

Although it is not feasible to rebuild those very stoves inside, the chef has adapted the cooking techniques in this Sunday poolside brunch. In the coming few weeks, the restaurant will also give interesting variations of regular food to bring more novelty. Don’t be surprised if your appam comes with egg roast instead of a stew. “Each week will be a new delight and an innovation,” promises chef Aungshuman. Sundays look like Fundays now.