Explore the cuisine of Hyderabad, India!

This cookbook of traditional family recipes presents both a tribute to the culinary legacy of a famed region of the Subcontinent and the story of one woman’s personal relationship to her home town, its food and the people who fed her.

Through recipes and stories, discover how a city and its food evolved by never veering from the path of cosmopolitanism. In Hyderabad Deccan—the gateway to South India—people, art and ideas converged from every direction, creating a cuisine that equally celebrates the almonds and chilies that came from afar as it does the tamarind and coconut that are local favourites. In essence, Hyderabadi food is an organic hybrid of the Arabic, Persian, Turkish and South Indian cultural crops that have been planted and harvested over centuries. Arguably, the strongest genes in this gastronomical mélange stem from the customs of the Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi dynasties. This royal lineage provides the sophisticated flavour and gracious spirit that has earned Deccani fare an august place on the Indian culinary landscape.

So while Dine Like the Sultans is dedicated to exploring the splendour of traditional Hyderabadi cuisine and its fascinating history, the book also reveals the author’s own culinary journey. It is a journey that includes childhood memories of lavish feasts, an arranged marriage, kitchen disasters as a new wife, cooking instruction at the hands of a local master and the founding of her own well-respected food business.

With all those ingredients in the mix, this cookbook aims to be a guide and source of inspiration. Whether you are a novice cook, a newbie to Indian cooking or simply someone who is still searching for an authentic recipe for Hyderabadi biryani, this volume will have you believing that you too can recreate the sometimes complex but always satisfying flavours of a region in India that has been underexposed for far too long. Now, you too can Dine Like the Sultans !