A glimpse of its people & food

Hyderabad:  Built on the foundations of love, the city of Hyderabad boasts of a culture as composite as its lineage. Just as there are Sufi saints in the Garden City, there is also the Tirupati Balaji who the rest of the world swears by. The native Telugu and Muslim races do not have any friction; both in fact, learn from each other. As a matter of fact, the Telugus of Hyderabad quite enjoy identifying themselves as Hyderabadis, rather than Andhraites so strong is the ethnic identity of the city state. Hyderabad, therefore, is merely the capital of Andhra Pradesh and a part of the RangaReddy district. Cultural identities haven’t varied. Both Hindu and Muslim men wear the achkans for special occasions. Even Muslim wives wear the Telugu mangalsutra till recently when such past glories were dispelled and relegated to history. 

Hyderabadi food has also taken many influences, slowly displacing the standard flavours by more improvised ones. This is best demonstrated by the advent of chicken, which if mentioned alongside mutton, is considered nothing short of sacrilege by the gosht-eating population. Mutton being the revered meat, chicken never really stood a chance till the broiler came along. This was clean meat and the North Indian love for Tandoori Murg took over. The point to be noted here is that in Hyderabad, it is the hen that is considered a delicacy while in the rest of the country, it is the Murgha or the rooster. 

There are several dishes in this repertoire that have their origins elsewhere but have been in and around the place long enough to be called natives. This is the quality of Hyderabadi, foreigners can walk in as anybody, but after tasting the waters of Hyderabad, they are forever Hyderabadis. Proved down the ages, this adage has evidence in the cuisine also. 

Click here for Reachout's excusive coverage on 'Hyderabadi Cuisine'

-Reachout's News Bureau
October'01

More 'Hyderabad Watch'......