Charminar Biryani House

FOOD

Charminar’s Troy lunch buffet brings the restaurant’s biryani into a full Indian meal, with curries, roasted chicken and a substantial vegetarian selection alongside the rice. The chicken dishes span several cooking styles, while the vegetarian choices include lentils, chickpeas, spinach and paneer rather than a single token curry. The selection changes, with butter naan, salad, fruit and Indian sweets completing the spread.

Chicken biryani combines chicken cooked with tomatoes and spices, layered with basmati rice. Vegetable biryani brings mixed vegetables into a layered rice preparation of its own. Basmati’s fragrant, slender grains are important to the character of both dishes, carrying seasoning throughout the rice. The vegetable version supplies a meatless choice with enough substance to be more than an accompaniment. Plain basmati rice is also available for diners who would rather pair a simpler rice with the curries.

Tandoori chicken offers a roasted preparation, with bone-in chicken marinated in fresh green herbs and spices before cooking in a tandoor. The clay oven gives this style its characteristic roasted exterior. Chilli chicken takes the cooking to the wok: the restaurant’s version is stir-fried with sweet pepper, green chillies, onions and Indian herbs. The two dishes offer distinct alternatives to chicken served in gravy.

Butter chicken supplies that richer, sauced preparation, with a tomato gravy enriched with butter and cream. The chicken is marinated before cooking in the sauce. Chicken curry takes boneless chicken into a tomato preparation with garlic, chilli, coriander and spices, adding another style of curry alongside it. Butter naan accompanies both, with pieces of the bread used to gather the sauce.

Palak paneer combines spinach with pieces of Indian fresh cheese. Spinach is the defining green here; paneer is a mild, unaged cheese that holds its shape during cooking. Its pieces remain distinct within the greens, giving the dish its familiar contrast of textures. Vegetable korma offers a different vegetarian curry, bringing mixed vegetables together in a rich gravy.

Chana masala and dal makhani give pulses a substantial place in the meal. The chana combines whole chickpeas with onion, tomato and spices. Dal makhani uses mixed lentils with tomato, ginger, garlic and the kitchen’s spice mixture. Makhani refers to a buttery style of cooking; traditionally, the dish is cooked slowly to develop its soft, cohesive consistency. These are full curry choices in their own right, not simply vegetables served beside the chicken.

Butter naan is baked in the clay oven and finished with butter. Salad brings cucumber, tomato and carrot alongside the cooked dishes, with cut oranges among the fruit choices.

Gulab jamun and carrot halwa bring traditional Indian sweets to dessert. Gulab jamun consists of small fried, milk-based sweets soaked in rose-flavored sugar syrup. Carrot halwa is a cooked carrot sweet; the restaurant’s preparation combines shredded carrots with nuts and dried fruits. The grated carrots give it a different texture from the syrup-soaked sweets, offering two distinct finishes to lunch.

ish after the rice, bread and chicken preparations.