Khiva. Viman Nagar.

Khiva offers a unique journey of enjoying the exotic Royal Frontier Cuisine hailing from the North – Western Uzbekistan. It derives its name from a former province created by the British in their vast territories in South Asia then called British India. Since 1990, Khiva has been inscribed in the World Heritage list. At Khiva people celebrated life by saying “Khey – Vakh” which meant “What a pleasure” and they aspire for similar pleasurable experience for their customers each and every time they visit Khiva.

They serve specially curated North Western Cuisine which is prepared by some of the best chefs. All the ingredients are of a superior quality and they ensure they serve only the best.

They follow the ‘asli-dum’ preparation. The food is cooked in earthen pots and then simmered for long hours to ensure that the taste buds get ticked with every bite. Khiva is well known for their Galawati Kebabs, Seekh Kebab, Sikandar Raan, Nalli ka Salan, Nizami Kheema Kaleji, Dal Khiva, Lazeez Barrah Kebab, Asli Dum Biryani and i can go on and on.
So what all did we have? We started off with a

1. Virgin Mojito

2. Parra

3. Yakhini Shorba

4. Khumb Khazana

5. Cheese Kurkure

6. Mutter aur  Cheese Ka Tikka

7. Barra Kebab Lazeez

8. Baluchi Boti Kebab

9. Dal Khiva

10. Meloni Tarkari

11. Murgh Peshawari

12. Nalli ka Salan

13. Lahori Gosht

14. Patiala Shahi Gosht

15. Chicken Dum Biryani

16. Gosht ki Dum Biryani

17. Baked Anjeer Halwa

18. Lychee ki Tehree

19. Khubani ka Meetha

20. Elaichi Jamun

21. Zaffrani Angoori Rasmalai.

Now i know this is alot of food that we’ve had but i’ll tell you about my top picks at this place.

1. Parra – Parra are colorful long sticks served with 6 different dips. These are offered to everyone who walks in. The intention behind serving these is that one should not get bored and can munch these till their order arrives.

2. Yakhini Shorba – Highly flavored lamb soup simmered with Indian spices and with a drizzle of lemon juice and fresh mint. Ghar ki yaad dila denewala… This is all I can say ❤

3. Khumb Khazana – I simply love mushrooms. And these being stuffed with creamed spinach, cheese and barbequed, is simply toothsome. Moist, gooey and really filling.

4. Makai Seekh Kebab – Kebabs made from spicy corn with fresh herbs, I found this particular a little dry.

5. Cheese Kurkure – Minced mushroom and cheese stuffed in a thin warq of wheat dough but to be very honest, I didn’t find any cheese in it. It was absent. We expected it to have loads of cheese but what we saw was disappointing.

6. Mutter aur Cheese Ka Tikka – My vegetarian foodie friends are going to love this one. Extremely cheesy tikkas with green peas and herbs and shallow fried to perfection. This one definitely does justice to its name.

7. Tandoori Shikari Tangdi – Char grilled chicken drumsticks in a tangy marinade of kashmiri chillies and fenugreek. Loved it!

8. Barra Kebab Lazeez – Khiva is known for their Barra Kebabs and they live upto the hype. Tender lamb chops and nalli marinated in a tangy pepper marinade and kachiri, char grilled to perfection. These are simply melt in mouth. Honestly i’m not a fan of lamb meat but trust me these are so good. I’ve never had lamb which is cooked so nicely ❤

9. Chandi Kebab – Chicken laced with cream and grilled in tandoor, had a very subtle flavor of cream to it. Makes it just perfect!

10. Dal Khiva – This is the second best that i’ve had in Pune. Nice and thick with a dollop of butter on top… Ahhh… This is so good 😍

11. Meloni Tarkari – Home style preparation of garden vegetables and finished with cream. This wasn’t spicy at all and was flavorful.

12. Murgh Peshawari – Chicken in a rich and invigorating blend of spices, brown gravy, roasted garlic and dry red chillies, I found this one to be a little spicy for my liking.

13. Lahori Gosht – A Lahori specialty dish made from tender lamb and yes this too was spicy but it was so good that i couldn’t stop eating it.

14. Chicken Dum Biryani – I liked this one more than the Gosht biryani. Maa ke hath ke khane ki yaad dila di. Enough said, isn’t it?

15. Their Lychee ki Tehree is pure bliss and I simply love Khubani ka Meetha and these guys are so good with it.

A big thank you to Heena, Suraj, Shreeya, Imran and Roshan for inviting us and hosting us.

I wish this baby all the best!!

Picture Credits – Ajay Khare – Khot aka Ajay Khare Khot Photography

#jerlynfoodfanatic