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Chef’s Corner

Chef's Corner

Faisal Tayabali of Euphoria

As a Hyderabadi you are said to be born with an insatiable appetite for sweets and desserts, such craving would have definitely made you scour the Internet by searching on Facebook foodie groups and Zomato hunting for those delectable & appealing dishes.

One of the prominent names that come up quite often and is also featured in the top list of bakers on Zomato is our very own Faisal Tayabali who is co-founder of “Euphoria” along with his “Baker” half

Q: What made you & your wife start Euphoria?

A: My wife has the Midas touch when it comes to cooking & baking and she started baking brownies for friends and family initially. One order lead to another, until we were asked to do a bake sale in YWCA in the month of Dec’15 where we had to make 40 kgs in around 36 hours or so. The entire lot was sold out in a day’s time, 15 days later we bought our second oven and started serious operations

Q: What has been your inspiration & what makes your brand stand apart than other commercial vendors?

A: There is a saying “Jack of all trades and Master of None” & my corporate career of 16+ yrs has taught me that it is better to be master of one than none so selling only one kind of item was a calculated risk. An outlet by the name of “Fat Witch” in New York sells only brownies which kinda prompted the idea & inspiration to start this.

As a home baker, there is certain perk of having to use the best ingredients possible without ever having to compromise on quality or taste & which doesn’t lighten your pocket. Our product is almost half in price that our commercial competitors but better in taste and quality

Q: How do you ensure hygiene and quality at the work place?

A: I am very particular about what goes where in the production area. My brownies are with egg and i keep separate vessels for the eggless ones to avoid hurting any religious sentiments. Also we don’t use any alcohol or alcohol based ingredients in any of our products

Q: What has been your U.S.P and strategy?

A: Constantly bettering the product, never compromising on the quality, coupled with personal deliveries to customers hence getting to know the customers personally and allowing customers to put a face to the brand Euphoria has worked exceptionally well for us in the last 1 year.

The above actions (without us consciously realizing it) has created a brilliant customer base for us with 80% + of repeat customers… The personal connect sets Euphoria apart from other brands which may or may not have equally brilliant Brownies in their menu.

 Q: What lies ahead?

A: Soon, we plan to move the baking out of our house and set up a full-time baking studio – A quirky place where we can bake, customers can walk in to pick up their orders and chill with us if they like, over a cup of Tea/Coffee.

Depending on how the studio goes and ambitions at that point , Euphoria as a brand may / may not go into the retail segment and the process would be streamlined & automated to the extent that I can take a vacation when I want to, checking off few items from my bucket list like backpacking across Europe will be on the cards.

 

“Hyderabad Mein World Famous Brownie” moniker by the Bald Brownie Baba sounds like a page out of Bollywood movie script. Agar yeh nahi khaya tho phir kya khaya….

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Contact details : https://www.zomato.com/hyderabad/euphoria-sainikpuri-secunderabad

Euphoria Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Chef's Corner

Naaz Anjum from Anjum’s Kitchen

One of my main intentions of starting a blog was to write about food and its origins along with the Chef’s journey, they are the main people who bring us these delicacies while toiling hard in the kitchen, whether it is a 5 star hotel or a home kitchen the painfully grueling hours of hard work often goes unappreciated. This is just a small way from my end to highlight the real stars of Food.

As I start my journey of meeting, interviewing & knowing these folks, many names come to mind who are amazing in whatever they whip up in the kitchen.

My First “Chef’s Corner” article starts off with Naaz Anjum of “Anjum’s Kitchen” Fame

It would be safe to say that her tasty food has been the talk of the foodie groups since inception and I have myself tasted many dishes made by her on more than one occasion.

Q: When did you first start cooking (Commercially) and what was the inspiration behind it?

A: I love to cook, learn and experiment with new cuisines as much as possible, it makes me happy to share that love of food with others. Started off my journey doing Feazt events that boasted my confidence and which translated into the idea behind starting Anjum’s Kitchen in June’16

Q: What has been your family’s contribution in your culinary journey?

A: Thankfully, I have a very supportive family. My pillars of strength are my Husband and Mother-in law without whom I wouldn’t have been where I am today. She taught me the nuances of making authentic Hyderabadi food. While I spend majority of my time in the kitchen, the other aspect of food which includes procuring the raw materials to delivery of the final product to our customers is looked at by my husband

Q: How has been the journey so far?

A: The Journey has just begun and it has been very exciting as well. Dealing with different types of customer requirements to different vendors and their orders have been quite a new learning for me

Q: How do you deal with negative comments about your food?

A: I always welcome constructive feedback which helps me correct any mistakes that I might have made unintentionally and grow on from there. Some negative comments & feedback did affect me initially as I was new into this field and didn’t know how to deal with it, but I am learning to cope with such situations with a customer centric approach. “ A happy customer leads to more orders in future”

Q: Which type of cuisine(s) are you good at?

A: Hyderabadi cuisine has become my forte and I also make excellent Veg & Non-Veg Chinese, Mughlai, Maharastrian dishes as well

Q: If you have to choose one dish that you make which can be termed as a must have or a show stopper?

A: Many of the dishes I make, have received tremendous appreciations like Double ka Meetha but if I have to choose one then I would go with Aurangabadi Naan Khaliya

Naan Khaliya has its origins from Aurangabad . It is prepared with mutton along with a variety of spices. Naan is a bread primarily made in a tandoor but different options available to make it at home without a tandoor as well, while Khaliya is a gravy  which has a mixture of mutton and various spices”

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Q: Which chef’s do you follow or get inspiration from?

A: I do not follow any particular Chef’s style of cooking via cook books or television as such. My inspiration and the greatest chef I know is my mother in law. Her words of wisdom and encouragement are the best things for me

Q: What lies ahead for Anjum’s Kitchen?

A: We have just started a new venture of taking catering orders for birthdays, weddings and other functions. Want to grow from there to ensure that dishes from Anjum’s Kitchen become famous all across.

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Naaz Anjum

I wish her all the very best for the future

~Palate Journals (Taher Syed)

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