Taste of the Nawabs in Nepal

Mughlai cuisine comes with a rich history and literally signifies all that is ‘royal’.

When the Mughals invaded the Indian sub-continent they brought along with them their culture and lifestyle – from architecture to fine dining. The Mughals are not only renowned for their world-famous architecture like the Taj Mahal but also for the wide variety of food that they introduced to India.

What one has to understand is that the Mughlai cuisine is basically an influence of the Turkish-Persian culture. The dishes portray a mix of culinary styles and recipes of north India and central Asia.

And bringing these bud-tantalising tastes to Nepal is the House of Karim’s, a restaurant specialising in Indian cuisine. Located in Lazimpat, it serves everything from mouth-watering kebabs to sumptuous biryanis.

Sumit Tamang, Human Resources Manager of the restaurant, says, “We try to deliver authentic Mughlai cuisine and the customers that come here love our food. The spices that we use are brought from India and that’s one reason why our customers love the gravy we serve because of the zing that it has.”

To actually feel what their food tastes like I decided to try their Chicken Biryani. I could sense the food was about to be served due to the strong aroma that wafted in.

One aspect that caught my eyes was the clay pot in which the biryani was served.

Garnished with fried onions the biryani was served along with raita.

M'd Sharfuddin, the chef, explains, “Before we start with biryani we marinate the pieces of chicken with spices and let them rest for some time. Then the boiled rice is cooked with spices and pure ghee for some time. We then add the marinated gravy along with all of the ingredients to start the process called ‘dum’ where we cover the pot and put a heavy material on top. We then slow-cook the biryani.”

When the biryani is ready they first place some ‘Sal’ leaves at the bottom of the clay pot and heat the pot. They then put the biryani into the pot.

Along with the amazing aroma of the spices, while taking a spoonful of their biryani you could not only taste the spices but also the ghee.

The boiled potato they put in the biryani also soaks up the spices and is very flavourful.

And taking raita with the biryani balances the spices if you do not prefer spicy food.

And while their food is good, Tamang says they are still working on their ambience and trying to reflect Indian culture.

The icing on the top is that the House of Karim’s also has two days of live music and a salsa night twice a month.