HYDERABAD: Piquant, hot and fiery is the best way to describe the spicy food served at Telangana Spice Kitchen Bar and Grill located in Jubilee Hills.
Refreshed with a new menu to suit the wintry days, nestled in greenery, this ethnic Telangana food restaurant has both al-fresco and indoor seating.
We tried a wide variety of non-vegetarian starters and main course while liberally washing it down with the highly-recommended sweet Panakam drink. The Panakam is a burst of flavours ranging from herbal and citrus-y from the cardamom to the sharp bite of pepper, the pungency of ginger, and the sour-sweet-saltiness of jaggery.
While the restaurant has Mughlai and Chinese options, we stuck to their local food menu and did not regret it. We tried the starters – Golichina mamsam, Pitta roast (quail), Karimnagar fried wings, and Paneer Kurkure. Golichina means to fry in Telugu and the mamsam (mutton) was just short of melt-in-your-mouth, blended with a fiery mix of spices. The fried wings, one of the four owners of the hotel, Harsha Reddy said was a signature recipe. The paneer was batter fried and medium spicy and a pick in the vegetarian fare. The quail was the pick of the dishes though. Smeared with our regular Indian spices and deep-fried to a nice crackle, this was the one dish we just couldn’t get enough of.
For the main course we had Mutton dalcha with bagara rice and garelu with Oori kodi koora. The combination of meat with bones, daal and the sweet-sourness of tamarind gave this dish a unique taste and the taste buds a much-needed reprieve from all the other spicy food. It paired well with the bagara rice – rice sautéed with whole spices, onions, and green chillies before being cooked. The country chicken was a spicy-tangy curry and went well with the garelu (vada), which were crisp on the outside and spongy inside.
We ended the meal with a scrumptious portion of pacchi pulusu, with mudda pappu and steamed white rice. This pulusu is an uncooked rasam-like dish made of tamarind and topped with a simple tempering and cools the stomach.Telangana Spice Kitchen Bar and Grill is run by four foodies —Harsha Reddy, Rohit Rao, Vikas Rao and Uday – and is a must-visit if you want to enjoy local authentic cuisine.