Karim’s is considered to be one of the legendary places to visit in Delhi, known to serve delicious Mughlai food. Their branches are located across Delhi and other northern parts of India. South had been deprived of their cuisine until now…
2’nd week of October saw their first branch in South India being launched at Podium Mall in Tolichowki, Hyderabad. Our visit to this outlet was on the 23’rd and it was definitely a good experience
Detailed review follows…
We started of our meal with soup, Gosht(Lamb) ka shorba & Murgh(Chi.) ka shorba. Both the broth were the same with addition of Lamb & Chicken in it. Still it was nice and flavorful, the hyderabadi marag is like a semi-clear broth while this is a little thicker in consistency and less on the spice aspect. Overall they have just three options in soup category the other which we didn’t try was the tamatar ka garam ras – Basically your run of the mill tomato soup
Gosht(Lamb) ka shorba
Coming to the starters the list is long and we loved most of the things that we had ordered
especially Mutton Burra – Marinated, skewered, roasted, medium spiced and charred in the tandoor, this lamb on the bone which is one of their signature dishes is definitely delicious and recommended.
Mutton Burra
Tandoori Rann – Leg of lamb marinated overnight and then roasted to perfection in a tandoor. The marination was perfect as each and every bite was quite flavorful and very succulent
Tandoori Rann
Tandoori Murgh – The Hyderabadi version of this dish is quite spicy and their version is slightly less on the spice level but equally flavorful
Tandoori Murgh
Dil pasand sheek kebab – This is the usual sheek kebab that you can get but the only let down was the green mint chutney which accompanied it. Totally watery – huge scope of improvement there
Dil pasand sheek kebab
Murgh Tikka – This was good but medium/less on the spice levels, when compared to the hyderabadi version very mild.
Fish Tikka – The only dish that disappointed, big chunks of boneless fish but the marination was not proper as the flavor was very mild and didn’t seep inside. Smaller pieces or lenghtier time for marination would help
For the main course
Dil Bahar Do Pyaaza (Stew) – A lamb onion curry, traditionally it has green chillies, red chillies(whole and powder), tumeric, ginger & garlic chopped making it more on the spicy side however Karim’s version is a tad medium (Very less for my palate though) and would definitely be liked by the general public
Dil Bahar Do Pyaaza (Stew)
Jahangiri Murgh – Boneless chicken pieces marinated with Yoghurt, tikka masala. It went well with the Khameri naan and butter naan we had ordered. Again medium on the spice level
Jahangiri Murgh
Laham Mandi – I found the rice to be yummy and perfect, the mutton however can be improved a little to be made more softer
Laham Mandi
Mutton Biryani – They have a Hyderabadi chef making this dish here and it is quite good, but the Mirchi ka Salan exceeded my expectations and I can say it is now in the top 5 places where you get the best one
Mutton Biryani
Small portion of Mutton Nihari(Northern Style) & Mutton Khorma were given across and they both were pretty delicious , the mutton pieces were soft but the flavor of the curry/spices hadn’t quite seeped into the meat which could have made the dish more tastier
Mutton Nihari
Desserts:
Limited options for dessert where we were served Badam Kund and Kaddu ka Halwa. Badam Kund was one of the best ones that I had in recent times, khowa and almond ratio was perfect which made the dish even more enjoyable.
Kaddu ka Halwa
Badam Kund
Highlights: Mutton Burra,Mutton Rann, Mandi, Dil Bahar Do Pyaaza and Badam Kund are my recommendations.
