HYDERABAD: The spicy and tangy Telangana cuisine makes every Telanganite feel proud about it. Living up to this traditional taste, Taj Krishna’s Telangana Food Festival is serving the Grand Telangana Thali.
Explaining why Telangana cuisine is spicy Chef Vishwamitra Velleki, sous chef at the hotel says, “The cuisine is made spicy keeping in mind the farmers who work hard in their farms. Spicy food cools them down when they work in scorching heat.”
With the right blend of chilies and adequate use of tamarind, even a non-Telanginite is sure to relish the thali.
Don’t miss
What will drive you to back to savour the same thali again is soft masala wada made up of soaked split chickpea, onion, curry leaves, and green chilies. Majjiga pulusu and Majjiga with curry leaves, ginger, green chilies and coriander will leave you refreshed. If possible, try to grab a seat beside the pool to relax your eyes as you relish the food.
Don’t mind
Though the idea of eating starters and main course in the same thali may not please a lot of you, this is exactly how it was done here. The starters -- masala wada and sarva pindi -- and later the main course on the same platter can leave you confused and your thali a little messy. From one corner masala wada and sarva pindi will be eyeing you and then there will be chamagada pulusu, dondakaya masala, palakura pappu, aloo gada vepudu tempting you to try them first.
The pancakes, however, were crumbling on the plate and were a little dry making chewing tedious. Do take some pickles with it and masala wada.
For those who prefer less spicy, do mention it to the waiter while placing your order. For the non-vegetarians Chamagada pulusu and dondakaya masala has been replaced with punti kura mamsum and ooru kodi pulusu along with kodi seekulu and chapa vepudu as starters.
The main course also had three varieties of rice -- bagara rice, curd rice or steamed rice along with jonna roti and sajja roti.
For your sweet tooth
Bobbatlu made of chickpea and jaggery and garjelu, a sweet dumpling stuffed with chickpea flour were served as desert. While Bobbatlu was passable, garjelu was a disappointment--worth giving a miss. The juicy paan served at the end is just the perfect way to end your meal.
For those who do not wish to go for thali, can savour the buffet, which is also serving the Telangana cuisine.
The festival will be ongoing till June 15. While lunch and dinner thali cost Rs 1500 (including taxes) the buffet is priced at Rs 1200 (excluding taxes).