Hyderabad: As it stands, most people from India, especially in the south, are not much acquainted with food from the North-east in India, let alone knowing even mainstream dishes from all the seven states. Of course, everyone knows about the Bhut Jolokia chilli and a few things here and there from the NE, but do we actually know what food is eaten in the everyday life of people in the NE region? Probably not.
So we were super excited to learn that chef Farha Naaz, who runs Mamazaki in Guwahati, landed in Hyderabad with her pop-up at the Raen (in The Leela) to give us a taste of the best from India’s North-eastern states.
Farha’s set menu from Mamazaki offers an interesting array of flavours from the dishes she has created. And if you are one of those people who have actually been to the North-east and have been craving for some authentic food from the region, then head to the Mamazaki pop-up soon! On till May 3, Farha also promises to come back to Hyderabad given the response she has received. So for those who haven’t tried it and are looking for something to do over the weekend, Mamazaki is there for another day.
So what does the Mamazaki set menu at The Raen offer? (Hint: It’s actually Farha’s own take on the most quintessential dishes from the North-East).
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We start-off with the Pineapple prawn salad (topped by black rice), which even for those who are not necessarily salad-oriented (like myself), will was actually a very interesting taste. It was followed by the Omita Khaar soup, made from raw papaya and filtered banana peel ash water.
The main philosophy driving Farha to do her Mamazaki pop-ups is to break the mainstream preconceived notions of food from the NE region.
“This is what I do pan-India. My idea is to bring the North-East in a new concept and I wanted people to try the food from our region. That is the most important thought. In Hyderabad, people who have come for this pop-up really have appreciated it. People said these are familiar flavours, but with something different,” she Farha, who was also a top 20 contestant in MasterChef India season 8.
After the starters came the Datshi Dumplings (in creamy Himalayan-style cheese sauce), and the Joha Yakhni Arancini, which promises to be a burst of flavours in the mouth given that it is mutton, bhuna onion gravy reduction combined with green chilli mint oil and raw mango-apple slaw all crammed into a Yakhni-style Joha pulao ball filling.
For the seafood lovers, the Mamazaki set menu also has Patot Diya Maas (fish with mustard-coconut paste and sticky rice). Of course, for the red meat lovers, there is also the Maati Dali Manhsho, which is lamb chop gravy served with a Bengali poori. While the seafood wasn’t the most impressive thing on the menu, on the whole it is however is a great mix of presentation and taste that will leave you longing for more.
To top it all off comes the Bihu Jolpan dessert – a combination of baked yoghurt, puffed rice cracker, mango jaggery syrup and black sesame crumbs. A very unique flavour on the whole. “I wanted to show people that North-East food is not just about pork or Bhut Jholakia, as we have so many different cooking techniques. I felt like the mainstream media is showing some of the things in most places. I am open for more collaborations if things align well,” said Farha, when asked if we can expect more popups in the future.
