Lately few food fanatics of Kolkata, on a Sunday afternoon headed towards the latest fine dining addition at the Park Circus area. Ladies and gentleman we hereby present Elahi Luxury Dining – winner of Best Mughlai Casual Dining at Times Food and Nightlife Awards Kolkata 2020. Elahi’s ambiance has cave like structures with beautiful white-textured walls adorned with touch of gold.
Murgh Tikka Mirza Hasnu Dahi Kebab
While exploring through the lanes of gulistan-e-kebab we were introduced with couple of non-veg and veg variants. Murg Tikka Mirza Hasnu has a delicate and succulent and the garlic flavour. The speciality of this kebab lies in its unique marination technique where spices are tempered in hot mustard oil and mixed with the chicken morsels. Dahi Kebab, prepared with cottage cheese and hung curd is a vegetarian take of the seekh kebab. The kebab was bit dry to my preference as I prefer this soft melting inside while they are crispy from outside.
Gosht Barra Kebab Tandoori Bharwan Aloo
Gosht Barra Kebab originates from Iran where mutton chops are coated with poppy seeds and cashew nut paste. Marinated lamb chops were done well, roasted and charred in the tandoor on the bone. The meat was so soft that was falling apart from the bone with a little twist. I can easily conclude that this was the best burra kebab I ever had. Tandoori Bharwan Aloo, baby potato stuffed with cottage cheese and dry fruit. Stuffed tandoori potato is a perfect blend of spices and every bite of it has a mixture of crunchiness as well as softness. Its flavour is so overwhelming that it will give you an amazing delight of spices with every bite.
Chowk Ki Nihari Special Gosht Kolkata Biryani
Before hitting the biryani I wanted to en-route to their their dustarkhan for the nihari and kulcha. Elahi’s Chowk Ki Nihari is the local take of the famous Raheem’s nihari from the Chowk area of Lucknow. The consistency of the gravy is what makes the difference in the nihari. Elahi’s gravy is thicker than Rahim’s and gave us goose bumps with the flavour. This is a slow cooked mutton stew with delicious amalgamation of spices. Well cooked mutton shanks fell off from the bone with the slightest effort and exposing the gooey bone marrow. This must be relished with Gilafi Kulcha and Sheermal. Finally it was time for the shaan-e-mehefil Special Gosht Kolkata Biryani. The long grained basmati rice with the trademark potato sitting atop and mutton pieces are peeping through the rice. The meat was soft as ever, succulent and full of flavours. This ought to be one the best biryanis in town.
Ala Jannat Kheer Shahi Tukda
In desserts, we had Ala Jannat Kheer. This is traditional rice pudding (phirni) prepared with saffron and milk. The quintessential Indian dessert is unbelievably creamy and full bodied. In this Kashmiri variant of rice pudding the rice grains are soaked in water and grounded to coarse paste which is later mixed with thickened milk. Topped with abundant dry fruits traditionally served in small earthen bowls known as shikora. Lastly, the Shahi Tukda was a planned good way to end the meal. A popular special sweet where bread pieces are deep fried in ghee until crispy and then drenched in condensed milk to top-up with creamy rabri. Is a royal treat to taste buds at any time when served chilled. However was disappointed here for not finding the bread crisp.
Bro Tip: Must try Gosht Barra Kebab, Tandoori Bharwan Aloo, Chowk Ki Nihari, Gosht Biryani and Ala Jannat Kheer
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