‘Unlike Sex, You Can Have Food Three Times A Day’

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: Mohammed Khan, chairman, Enterprise Nexus, is gung ho about one topic—food. And that is a topic he can discuss at any time. A true blue Hyderabadi, he has an illustrious lineage. He is the grandson of Hyderabad’s legendary prime minister, philanthropist and reformer, Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad Bahadur. His maternal grandmother was a fabulous cook who made the most innovative dishes. His genes, not surprisingly, resonate with the secrets of gourmet cooking.

“I have always maintained that there are only three problems that the Hyderabadis face in life. What to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Our entire life revolves around food. When my wife, who is from Delhi, came to Hyderabad, she was amazed by the discussions at the dining table. At breakfast, we were discussing what to have for lunch, and at lunch time the discussions were about the dinner menu! ‘Why don’t you enjoy your meal?’ she asked in disgust.”

Mr Khan can be forgiven for going the whole hog about his favourite cuisine. “Hyderabadi cuisine is fabulous and incredibly varied. There is everything in it—from the subtlest flavours to the hottest and spiciest recipes. The only thing that it lacks, if one could call it that, is that there is hardly anything vegetarian about it. Even the dal has meat in it. The meats are more often than not red meat. My wife does not relish red meat and when we were in Hyderabad for a holiday, she was aghast to see everything on the table was non-vegetarian and had red meat.”

The passion for food and cooking was ingrained in Mr Khan as a little boy. “My grandmother, Begum Dawood Jung, and other women would sit around cracking betel nuts on to a big white cloth spread in the centre. Only those that were chopped in perfect cubes and had brown and white flecks in it would be offered to my grandfather. My folks were so fastidious about ingredients and the way a meal was prepared, that it was no wonder the taste of that food still lingers on. That was another age. But what I have imbibed from them is that there are no short cuts; only the right way of doing things, especially, food.”