Andhra food is a gift that keeps giving. Whenever we think we're discovered all there is to the cuisine, a new offering makes us fall in love with the spicy fare all over again. If you love your Andhra-style pulaos (locally called palaav), there's a new joint in town you must check out, stat.
We first discovered Eera Babu Palaav on a popular Hyderabad based Foodie group where several folks were raving about the Palaavs served here. The joint is housed in a food court in Nizampet along with a few other eateries. With a limited menu and fast service, Eera Babu Palaav is soon becoming a hot favourite among Hyderabadis with their authentic recipes local to the Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh.
We found four Palaavs on the menu - two vegetarian and two chicken based ones. All of them are served with a generous portion of super flavourful rice, topped with the Masala or gravy. The Gutti Vankaya Palaav is a flavourful take on the quintessentially Telugu stuffed eggplant curry and is possibly our favourite among all their offerings. The other vegetarian dish was Panasa Palaav made with jackfruit. The jackfruit could be an excellent substitute for meat-based dishes, with the texture quite similar to chicken. If you like tangy food, you might like this one.
The Chicken Palaavs come in two variants as well, with a Fry Piece Masala and 'Joint Piece' Masala. We loved the addition of cashews. The star of the menu at Eera Babu Palaav, is their lone starter dish - the Chicken Kaju Pakodi. With a super generous garnishing of fried cashews, crispy curry leaves and green chilies, this dish pairs well with everything on their menu, even without any gravy.
There are three side dishes - a tangy Gongura gravy in true Andhra style, a dal and raita. While the dishes are limited to vegetarian and chicken based options for now, Eera Babu Palaav plans to introduce Mutton and Prawn Palaavs very soon.
