The interesting thing about Desi restaurants in the US is that they
always tend to play the same music. 'Desi' is Hindi (or Bengali, or
several other Sanskrit derived languages) for 'country'. So calling a
person Desi is like referring to him as a countryman. Your countryman.
And country means India. So you guys (which is everyone else) can't use
it. Unless you use it to refer to India, or Indians or Indian things.
Like food.
So passing lightly over the gawdawful music that they play ( there is prolly one playlist that all of these joints have to use or else)... the food. This particular place claims to be of Andhra origin. That means they come from a state in India called Andhra Pradesh, formerly known as the Hyderabad Princely State (British Indian times). Of course, given the fact that Andhra has divided like the proverbial amoeba and created a new state called Telengana, things could be complicated, but I digress.
Hyderabadi cuisine is very, very good. There are two classic and one modern schools of Biriyani. The northern Lucknowi tradition, which finds its inspiration from the Mughals is the oldest. The southern Hyderabadi tradition does its own things with spices onlu available in the Deccan. Also very good. And then there is the Calcutta way of doing things. This draws from the Nawabs of Bengal (hence the strong affinity for mutton) and combines with it the spices of this region.
But Biriyani Pot is all about the Hyderabadi. See, here is a pointer: if the joint is populated by hordes of bewhiskered natives (I mean people from Andhra, highly adept at coding Java, somewhat swarthy of complexion, you know, your friendly neighbour from across the street with the polite family) - then yes, it is doing something right. And indeed, Biriyani pot is doing something right. The lunch thali (which means a plate with a bit of everything) is a lot of decent food at a reasonable price. And the place will fill up very quick - being relatively close to the USAA campus. You will get a small pot of biriyani with your thali. This is usually quite good. If you haven't had goat biriyani before, give it a try. Goat meat is not as succulent as lamb - but cook it long enough and with the right spices - you will enjoy it.
But dinner - from the menu. Well, that is a different discussion. I have tried a Indo-Chinese fried rice. This is sort of a subcontinental take on a Chinese classic. Not good. Calcutta does it infinitely better. And then, I tried a kabab. Uninspiring. So there you have it. Biriyani Pot. Best visited during lunch. And order the thali.
PS- they do recognize that Indians generally hate being served ice water at meals. So you get room temperature water. My white friends were served iced water, though - without being asked. So, we have a leetil bit of intelligent profiling going on.
So passing lightly over the gawdawful music that they play ( there is prolly one playlist that all of these joints have to use or else)... the food. This particular place claims to be of Andhra origin. That means they come from a state in India called Andhra Pradesh, formerly known as the Hyderabad Princely State (British Indian times). Of course, given the fact that Andhra has divided like the proverbial amoeba and created a new state called Telengana, things could be complicated, but I digress.
Hyderabadi cuisine is very, very good. There are two classic and one modern schools of Biriyani. The northern Lucknowi tradition, which finds its inspiration from the Mughals is the oldest. The southern Hyderabadi tradition does its own things with spices onlu available in the Deccan. Also very good. And then there is the Calcutta way of doing things. This draws from the Nawabs of Bengal (hence the strong affinity for mutton) and combines with it the spices of this region.
But Biriyani Pot is all about the Hyderabadi. See, here is a pointer: if the joint is populated by hordes of bewhiskered natives (I mean people from Andhra, highly adept at coding Java, somewhat swarthy of complexion, you know, your friendly neighbour from across the street with the polite family) - then yes, it is doing something right. And indeed, Biriyani pot is doing something right. The lunch thali (which means a plate with a bit of everything) is a lot of decent food at a reasonable price. And the place will fill up very quick - being relatively close to the USAA campus. You will get a small pot of biriyani with your thali. This is usually quite good. If you haven't had goat biriyani before, give it a try. Goat meat is not as succulent as lamb - but cook it long enough and with the right spices - you will enjoy it.
But dinner - from the menu. Well, that is a different discussion. I have tried a Indo-Chinese fried rice. This is sort of a subcontinental take on a Chinese classic. Not good. Calcutta does it infinitely better. And then, I tried a kabab. Uninspiring. So there you have it. Biriyani Pot. Best visited during lunch. And order the thali.
PS- they do recognize that Indians generally hate being served ice water at meals. So you get room temperature water. My white friends were served iced water, though - without being asked. So, we have a leetil bit of intelligent profiling going on.
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