Hyderabad: Mandi biryani is gradually replacing the popular Hyderabadi biryani with more and more food-lovers evincing an interest in the dish. Food lovers from the Old City are going crazy as they have to travel all the way to the new city for enjoying the Arabian dish that is available in premier hotels at Gachibowli, Hitech City Tolichowki, Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. Mandi sign boards dot the vicinity.
“One of the main reasons for people to look beyond Old City is that over there instead of going in for steamed chicken or mutton topping, the chefs are topping up grilled chicken or tandoori chicken on biryani rice. It is sold as mandi and not as mandi biryani,” a chef from a popular biryani hotel in Old City said.
“Not only locals, even foreign tourists while at Charminar ask for mandi. We are planning to start genuine mandi for residents of Old city very soon,” Mohammed Javed, head chef of Farasha restaurant said, adding that being adjacent to the iconic structure is boosting their business, thanks to tourists from all over the world.
“Earlier I used to take my family to Shadab restaurant in Old City for chowki biryani, but now we have several options close to my house”, Asadullah Baig, a techie fromAsadullah Baig, said.
“I have been to UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait where I tasted mandi. I am surprised that some of the top restaurants in Banjara Hills make mandi in an almost similar fashion. The taste is equally good. It is a mouth-watering dish,” said another food lover Afsha Bakali.
