On a food trail with Rana Daggubati

You can tell the Hyderabadi in Rana with the way he digs into his biryani ��� hands in first. ���I don���t understand why they keep forks and spoons on the table while serving biryani. You are supposed to eat it with your hand and I prefer it that way,��� says the strapping actor digging into a mutton biryani at Shadab Hotel in the Old City. ���Rice kam gosht zyada,��� he tells the waiter.Chicken Afghani, Chicken Pakistani, Talawa Gosht and roti completed the order. Apparently, a friend recommended the Chicken Afghani the other day and Rana nodded in agreement even as the bemused crowd in the dining hall tried to take in the sight of the actor.
It���s obvious Rana is a regular at the Old City, he knows the hotel staff on first name basis even at Pista House, where he sampled some haleem. ���Food is my big connect to Old City and I discovered the culture and history of the city by exploring food joints. If I am in the city during Ramzan, I come here almost every night,��� he says as a matter-of- fact. When he���s unable to make it, he gets food parceled.
And there isn���t a ���dish��� or a ���hole in the wall food joint,��� in the Old City that Rana hasn���t tried yet. Be it nalli curry, nahari, paya, zabaan, haleem, biryani, kebabs, mandi of Barkas��� he knows where you get the best. ���I���ve had a lot of exotic stuff,which I���m afraid you���ll not be able to write about,��� he says with a laugh.
���My routine begins with Adaab in Nampally. They make some amazing nalli (bone marrow) curry. It���s not on the menu and they keep it to themselves. The owner happens to be a friend so, I get to eat it,��� he says. From Nampally, he drives straight to the Charminar area. ���I first land up at Shahran, where the sheekh kebab, roti and peanut chutney are unparalleled. I then head to either Pista House or Shah Ghouse for haleem before halting at Shadab for biryani,��� he adds. What���s a Ramzan meal without some dessert? It ends with a visit to Matwale Doodh Ghar for lassi or faluda and before heading home, ���one last pit stop at a sweet shop���closes it.
That���s not all. On other days, he makes a trip to Barkas as well. ���I have grown fond of the food which is made in Barkas and I try to go there at least once a week. Some of the food joints don���t even have a proper name, but it���s so different compared to rest of the places in Hyderabad. I just love the laham mandi, which is served with rice around the meat. It���s Arabian style I believe, so there are plenty of dry fruits and the spices are different. It���s more of an acquired taste,��� Rana says.
A few days ago, after landing in Hyderabad from the US, he went ���straight to Old City and packed lots of haleem��� before landing on the sets of his film. ���Everyone was shocked to see me eat haleem at 7 am (laughs), but I think it���s ideal if you eat it in the morning. At times, when I am shooting till late in the night, I drive all the way to Charminar for the sehri (breakfast) in the wee hours. And their breakfast usually consists of stuff like roti, bheja and gurda. There are plenty of great options like Shadab and Farasha for sehri,��� Rana says.
Often, he returns with lots of food packed for his mother and uncle (Venkatesh). He admits to have lost count of the number of people he���s introduced to haleem and other delicacies. ���Ram Charan and Allu Arjun have accompanied me to these places, but I don���t think any actor is as adventurous as I am, when it comes to food. ���I need my dose of food orgasm every night, if I may say so,��� he smiles