Hi foodies, today I’ll be doing a food review of a popular cloud kitchen near Ballupur Chowk, Chakrata Road. They are well known for their authentic Andhra & Hyderabadi dishes, aromatic Biryanis, generous portion sizes, an elaborate menu, as well as providing fast delivery options too.
Come, let’s take a closer look!
Location
196, 2nd Floor A.B. Towers, Ballupur Chowk, Chakrata Rd, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001
The restaurant is located on the 2nd floor of a complex, and even though the building itself has a decent-sized parking space of its own, it is still relatively small and almost always full, hence if you’re opting for takeaway, finding a good parking spot might be an issue here, especially during the daytime, so please go prepared.
Service Options
Takeaway – Delivery
Timings
Mon–Sun: 11:30 AM–12:00 AM (Midnight)
Cuisines Offered
Andhra, Biryani, Hyderabadi, Mughlai
Average Cost For 2 (Exclusive of Taxes & Other Charges)
Rs. 400/- approx.
Zomato Rating
Website
Menu
Ambience
The premises of the cloud kitchen looked well-maintained and super hygienic. They had decorated the approach of the kitchen in accordance with the theme of the restaurant by using large-size boards, along with a small wall-mounted table and a few framed pictures of some of their dishes as well, to give the area an inviting look.
Quality Of Food (Taste, Service & Presentation)
The service of the restaurant was quick and efficient, and I found the overall presentation and packaging of the dishes to be on point as well.
My order through Zomato came in approximately 15-20 minutes, which I personally found to be quite impressive for a place serving dum biryanis.
The service staff was courteous & warm towards me, and it was a real pleasure to talk to Mr. Dinesh and Mr. Ritesh, who were on hand to provide me with an in-depth view of the workings of the kitchen, as well as what goes into all of their dishes to give them their unique and authentic flavors.
Dishes Ordered
From their non-veg starters section, I ordered one of their highly rated and most authentic non-veg starters, the Andhra Chicken Fry. To complement the dish better, I ordered 2 Malabar Parathas to go with it as well.
For my main course, I ordered one of their bestselling non-veg biryanis, the Handi Chicken Dum Hyderabadi Biryani.
From their desserts section, I ordered one of their signature Hyderabadi desserts on offer, the Double Ka Meetha.
Andhra Chicken Fry with Malabar Paratha
First up came one of their highly-rated non-veg starters, the Andhra Chicken Fry with 2 Malabar Parathas.
The dish was delivered in a durable and spill-proof, black-colored plastic container, and to ensure that there was no spillage of any kind whatsoever, the restaurant had taped the lid of the container very securely as well. The Malabar parathas, on the other hand, were delivered tightly wrapped in silver foil.
The Andhra chicken fry had an extremely robust, intense & aromatic flavor of all the various flavorful spices they had used in making the dish, and it tasted absolutely divine.
The dish was made by roasting around 8-10 bite-sized chicken pieces along with a few flavorsome ingredients like firstly, their special signature spice mix, which I was told comes directly from their head office, contained a delectable blend of powdered dry roasted aromatic spices like coriander seeds, black pepper, black and green cardamom, cinnamon, etc., followed by lots of finely chopped onions and green chillies as well, and finally garnished and infused with a generous quantity of curry leaves too, to give the overall taste of the dish some freshness and a more intense, coastal flavor.
The chicken pieces, along with the other flavorsome ingredients, were roasted and cooked to such an extent that not only did it help the chicken pieces to develop a tasty, brown-colored, roasted coating on the outside, which in turn gave the pieces a premium level of taste, but it also helped the other flavorsome ingredients to completely infuse with each other wonderfully, to form a delectable and intense flavored masala base, which ultimately gave the dish its distinct, aromatic taste.
Even though the chicken pieces had been roasted very well, it was great to see that they were still quite soft and moist on the inside, and had also managed to absorb all the delicious flavors of the aromatic spices beautifully in the process as well.
Coming to the Malabar parathas, they were super flaky and crispy in texture and tasted great. They acted as the perfect accompaniment to the Andhra chicken fry, as I found their crispy texture to complement the intense, spicy flavor of the chicken fry extremely well.
*For people who are unaware, the Malabar paratha resembles a lachha paratha, with the only major difference being that they, the Malabar paratha, are made out of Maida (refined-flour or all-purpose flour), whereas the lachha paratha is made out of wheat flour.
Handi Chicken Dum Hyderabadi Biryani
Next up came their bestselling non-veg biryanis, the Handi Chicken Dum Hyderabadi biryani.
The biryani came in their traditional handi, securely wrapped with the help of silver foil and tape. 3 accompaniments were provided with the biryani as well to help complement the dish better in 3 smaller, black-colored, durable plastic containers, with two of those containers containing a creamy variety of raita, whereas the third container contained a thick and flavorsome variety of salan.
The biryani, just like the previous dish, had a deliciously aromatic flavor to it and tasted absolutely delicious.
Starting with the rice that they had used in the biryani: they had used a long-grain variety of basmati rice and it was cooked to perfection. Each grain of rice was separate from one another, looked extremely fluffy in texture, and was not mushy at all. Moreover, the rice had also absorbed all the delicious flavors of the various herbs and spices used in making the biryani, to give them an even better, more delectable taste.
The rice was arranged in accordance with the flavor profile of the biryani, with the outermost layer containing the white layer of rice, which was garnished with a generous amount of coriander(dhania) leaves, whereas the second rice layer was yellowish in color, and had a subtle flavor of saffron running through it beautifully. The third, innermost layer of rice was reddish in color, mainly due to the fact that the rice in here had completely absorbed the heavily spiced marinade of the chicken pieces, giving them a robust, aromatic flavor, which was totally different from the other two layers of rice.
Coming to the chicken pieces: two large-sized, healthy pieces of chicken were served in the biryani, which was marinated and cooked very well in a flavorsome curd-based marinade, which also contained various other aromatic whole spices like bay leaf, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, etc., to give them a more sumptuous flavor.
The chicken pieces were cooked to perfection in such a way that not only were they melt-in-mouth soft in texture, but they had also absorbed all the tasty flavors of the flavorsome marinade wonderfully, giving them a truly delicious taste.
Coming to the accompaniments provided with the dish, starting with the raita, it was slightly runny in consistency but was still quite creamy and sweet in taste. A modest amount of fresh ingredients like some thin shreds of cucumber and carrots were added to it, along with the added freshness of some coriander(dhania) leaves as well.
Raitas and biryanis in general go very well with each other and here it was no different. It acted as the perfect accompaniment to go with the biryani and is especially recommended for people who prefer a mild accompaniment to go with their biryanis.
Moving on to the second accompaniment provided with the biryani, the salan. The Salan was thick and creamy in consistency and was jam-packed with lots of varied, robust flavors. It was basically a peanut-based curry base which is usually seen served as an accompaniment with all varieties of biryanis and Pulaos in authentic places to add more flavor to their dish and it did exactly that.
Although I found the flavor of the salan to be slightly spicy, it was nevertheless still super tasty and definitely helped in enhancing the overall taste of the dish considerably. A highly recommended option for people who prefer to have their biryanis with a more flavorful yet spicy accompaniment.
Double Ka Meetha
For my last course of the day, I had one of their best varieties of desserts, the double ka meetha.
The double ka meetha was delivered in a durable, black-colored, plastic container, which was tightly secured with the help of tape to avoid any spillage.
The dessert was rich and creamy in texture and had an intense flavor of saffron flowing through it wonderfully, thereby giving the dish a truly mouth-watering, premium taste. Although personally I found the dish a bit too sweet, it was ideal for people who prefer their desserts to be on the sweeter side.
The dish was made by frying a few pieces of bread in ghee and then completely soaking and cooking them in a rich syrup made with the help of sugar, milk, and infused with lots of saffron as well, and finally garnished with a generous amount of fried cashews too.
The pieces of bread had developed a melt-in-mouth texture as they had completely absorbed all the delicious flavors of the saffron syrup very well, and they, along with a generous quantity of cashews and the extra saffron-sugar syrup only added more flavor and a slight crunch to the overall taste of the dish.
It might come across as a simple, homely dish, but it was nonetheless a very delicious dish to complete any meal.
[More to follow…]
To Eat or Not?
To Eat, absolutely.
With its sumptuous, authentic, and aromatic food, generous portion sizes, excellent packaging & fast delivery, this cloud kitchen is one of the best places in the city today to order from if you’re looking to indulge in some truly authentic Andhra and Hyderabadi dishes, especially biryanis, at reasonable rates from the comfort of your homes.
Although I liked all the dishes very much, I was especially blown away by the authentic and intense flavors they were able to infuse into the Andhra chicken fry, giving it a truly mouth-watering taste and making it hands-down my dish of the day.
Overall, I had an immensely enjoyable experience ordering from this cloud kitchen and I can’t wait to go back and order a few more delectable dishes from their elaborate menu.
Food Critic Anmol Rating
Ambience
Packaging & Delivery
Quality Of Food
Value For Money
And that’s it, folks! Thanks for reading and I’ll see you again later with another amazing food review tailored just for you! If you have any feedback or suggestions regarding this review, feel free to contact me anytime!
Take care & Happy eating!