Like many other food fanatics, there’re plenty of restaurants and food carts the world over that I can, and regularly do, swear by.
But Nizam is something else. Going to Nizam for me is more of a ritual, which needs to be undertaken every so often, to refresh the taste buds, to retell oneself how good a simple kati roll can be. Why this obsession with Nizam – not least because they are acknowledged as the first store to have given the ubiquitous kati rolls its present form, but because there’s magic in their kitchen. The early 20th century red brick building, the dust and grime of old Kolkata that seems to have stalled in time and old, secret recipes for the most succulent, delicious kebabs you’ll ever get to have.
Kati roll – chicken or mutton, or sometimes both, that’s all I ever get at Nizam. Paranthas, laced with beaten eggs, fried precisely right to golden crispiness, plenty of delectable chicken or mutton kebab stuffing, a sprinkling of raw, sliced onions and green chillies – and voilà, you have a culinary masterpiece. Magic truly lies in the simplicity.
I’ve been told that Nizam is expanding nowadays. But as long as the original store exists, behind New Market, on Hogg Street, I don’t think I can bring myself to go to any of their other locations.
I’ve been also told, that they do a mean biryani as well several other Mughlai delicacies. I wouldn’t put it past the sorcerers in charge of Nizam’s kitchen to fail at anything, but Nizam for me shall always be synonymous with kati rolls, nothing more, and nothing less.
thegourmetlens 