A lazy Sunday biryani

The Hyderabadi speciality on a warm ‘holiday’ afternoon deserves a nap after

In the good old days when Sundays were Sundays, and not just any old day squeezed in between two other nondescript days, part of our holiday fun was in going to Andhra Bhavan for some Hyderabadi biryani, which was available only on Sundays. I loved its hot flavours and the plump egg in it. A couple of Sundays ago, I suddenly pictured that delicious golden rice with juicy pieces of meat in it and thought I needed to do something about this yearning. I had earlier ordered from a place called Biryani Badshah, which had Andhra food on the menu. This eatery has branches and I tried out the outlet in Laxmi Nagar, which delivers through Swiggy and Zomato. There was some consternation about the name, a debate that we’d been having at home ever since I expressed a desire to order food from a Chinese restaurant called Shagun. But never judge an eatery by its name, I have always held. So, the order was placed: Hyderabadi dum biryani (₹329), extra salan (₹15), kaju ki sabzi (₹209), chicken 65 (₹249) and double ka meetha (₹99). I started my meal with the chicken 65, which has been an old favourite ever since I first had it when a breakaway faction from Andhra Bhavan cooked it for us at some get-together long years ago.