Hyderabadi cuisine is one of the best kept culinary secrets of the Indian subcontinent.
Hyderabad is situated in the Deccan plateau which is in the heartland of India. The Asaf Jahis were the governors of the Deccan under the Moghuls. With the breakup of the Moghul Empire in the eighteenth century, they set themselves up as the Nizams of Hyderabad. Many Moghul noblemen moved then from Delhi to Hyderabad and until the mid-nineteenth century the city had a lifestyle of immense wealth and beauty.
Hyderabadi food is a fusion of the cuisine of the Moghul court with frontiers of southern India. From the north come the kebabs, the Pulaos and Biryanis, the delicate Kormas and unusual desserts. These are mixed with the southern preference for the herbal flavours of coriander and curry leaves, the hint of sourness in the food with the use of tamarind, the nuttiness of peanuts and sesame, and spices such as mustard seeds and dried red chillies.