Indian Night at Kebabs and Kurries

Ethnic restaurants have always drawn me like a firefly drawn to a lamp.  Unfortunately, I don't always get the chance to actually dive into it.  Partly because my constant meal-mate is not as adventurous as I am and partly, I'm scared myself, especially if the restaurant is known to be for boys-only type.

While I am still into the Indian cuisine (I think I'll never get enough of their food, promise!), we visited Kebabs and Kurries at Souk Central Market.  We had a hard time looking for the restaurant as it was actually located at one of the entrances of the mall.  I'm not entirely sure which one but its right next to where a guy makes handmade bangles and other hand intricate jewelry.

It was a Friday night and it was not packed.  Two tables were already occupied.  One table was obviously tourists and the other was occupied by an Indian family.  The staff immediately seated us and gave us the menu.  Good thing I have already checked the menu online so we could give out our orders immediately.  We ordered chicken biryani (what else??) and kadhai chicken.  For drinks, we ordered iced tea and mango lassi as this was highly recommended by the staff.  While waiting for our order a bread basket was serve with some dippings - mint and yoghurt.

Bread Basket with mint and yoghurt dipping

The food took some time to arrive, hence, the bread basket was empty after a few minutes of waiting.

The mango lassi was good.  Too rich for my liking.  The chicken biryani was good while the kadhai was not that memorable.  It just tasted like the Indian style buttered chicken.  It was not so spicy so it was okay.

The serving was enough for two people.  But if you are really hungry, you might end up ordering more.  I guess, another bread basket would have been good as there was enough sauce from the kadhai to dip into.  The food, the service and the price of the food was all in all a B-.

I would still visit this place just because the place is comfortable and the price was reasonable.

For the menu click here.

The Biryani Experience

The first time I had Biryani was way back 2005 while I was doing my post-graduate study.  One of my classmates suggested we try this Persian eatery near the campus.  I was a bit hesitant since I was not that adventurous with food yet.  Since I don't want to be the killjoy of the group, I tagged along.  Majid's is a small eatery serving Persian food locally prepared everyday. 

The kababs, the yoghurt and the biryani were a delight to the tongue.  It is something you'd definitely be ordering again and again.  Before I could go on though, let me tell you what a biryani is.  Biryani is a dish based mostly with basmati rice mixed with different spices.  The dish is usually accompanied by chicken, mutton or fish.

A few months back, my sister and her family took me to Ras, an Indian buffet in Singapore.  It was everything I hoped for and more.  I had biryani for like three rounds!  And by the time I was in the middle of my second serving, my mouth was already burning and a thin sheet of sweat was already forming on my upper lip.  I love it!

Since I came here in Abu Dhabi, I have tried a few biryani but most of them are just plain forgettable.  Only a few that I could remember which I would definitely be ordering from again.  The first one is Green Darbar.  We discovered this place when we were living in Tourist Club area.  It was cheap but very filling.  One serving is already enough for two people.  And one weekday night I had a Biryani 101 crash course.  It was mouth burning, tummy filling and culturally enriching dinner.

Where else can you find all types of Indian food in one place?  Yes, the food court, but not just any food court, its at the food court of the extension of Madinat Zayed.

For our main meal - the biryani - our biryani guru lead us to Biryani Hut.  We had the Malabar Chicken Biryani and the Hyderabadi Biryani.  The prices for this biryani range from AED 14 and up.  Depending on the protein you will be choosing.

the feast

As part of our menu, we also had, Beef Fry, Dahl and Paneer Masala.  Our guide informed us that there are two ways to prepare beef fry the dry one and the wet one.  We ordered the dry one, I figured it would be spicier.  But actually its not.  The dahl is a vegetarian dish made of lentils cooked in their special spices. The winner of the night is the Paneer Masala.  It is a cheese dish cooked in a spicy masala sauce.  This made an absolute fiesta inside my mouth.  I simply love it.  It was burning hot and its sauce.  Plus it made me eat more rice than what I would have liked.

Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Malabar Chicken Biryani

The Malabar Chicken Biryani was highly recommended by our guide, and true enough, it was good.  It's not as what I usually have but its good.  Perfectly go well with the Paneer Masala.

Dahl and Beef Fry

Paneer Masala (I know it doesn't look appetizing - but looks can be deceiving!)

Our night ended when I could not swallow more rice anymore.  As much as I want to shove more paneer into my mouth, I just can't feel my tongue anymore.  The minute that it happened I can't wait to go home and gurgle some milk to take away the burning sensation.

It was a good mouth torture, but I will definitely do it again and again and again...besides, I always have a carton of milk standing by.