Emphasis on the right flavour

Personalised Touch

Home-made food with a professional touch — that’s what ‘Spicy’, located in Vasanthnagar, offers. The eatery is run by 22-year-old Aftab Basha with the help of his father Mahboob Basha. The duo believes that hospitality is as important as the quality of the food. When they started off, they only provided a take-away service but have now extended the enterprise to a limited sit-in area.

Cooking, which started off as a hobby for Mahboob, has now turned into a full-fledged business. One of the reasons the place stands out is because of the personalised service. For non-vegetarians, there are a whole host of dishes.

Their signature dishes include chicken and mutton biryani and chicken singapori. “It’s the method with which we prepare each of the dishes that makes them stand out, although the spices may be similar,” says Mahboob. While biryani is a common dish and easily available, Mahboob says that they prefer using zeera rice to prepare the biryani. “We use it because it absorbs the flavour of the spices much better than basmati rice would,” he explains. Now, with Ramzan going on, they have additional dishes including barbecue chicken, Chinese sticks, American chops and chicken shashlick. Vegetarians needn’t feel left out either. Right from paneer butter masala to daal fry and babycorn and mushroom dishes, there is loads to feast on.

“The grilled chicken is particularly popular here because it is made in the Arabian style. We serve it dry, which is a technique I picked up abroad,” explains Mahboob, adding that they have many regular customers who ask for the grilled chicken. For those with a sweet tooth, they offer carrot halwa and firni.

Although the name of the eatery suggests otherwise, the spice levels of the food aren’t fixed. “We enhance the spice levels only if a customer asks for it. Even otherwise, in place of green and red chillies, we use white pepper,” he explains.

Mahboob adds that all the recipes are his own. “I have trained those in the kitchen to make them to our taste,” he says, adding that they are not competing with anyone. They have customers from in and around Jayamahal, Guttahalli and Sadashivnagar.

During the afternoon, there are a lot of office-goers who drop in for lunch.

 According to Arya, who works around the area, the biryani is one of the best items on the menu.

“I like the style of the biryani, which is what I keep returning for. I also like the chicken singapori that is offered here,” he says.

Another customer, Rudra, who tried the paneer butter masala along with roti, says, “At this place, the flavour of the food comes through. I found that the food is well cooked with the flavours of spices soaked into it.”

 Spicy is located at No. 15 MB Square, 1st Main Road, Vasanthnagar. For details, call 41200004.