It all started in 1973, when my father who is a native of Banaras (Varanasi) moved to little known town of Sultanpur to teach Sociology to post-grads. There he met Qazi Afzal, who taught Urdu in the college, and is today a Professor of Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University. Together they discovered Khadim bhai’s eponymous eatery near the town bus-stand. This was before I was born and it has been 37 years since, I have eaten at places around the country and Indian and Pakistani restaurants around the world, but I am still to find a place which serves better mutton do-pyaza than Khadim bhai. But that wasn’t a strong enough sample to anoint this place as the best in the world, so I asked everyone who had eaten at Khadim’s to tell me if they had eaten a better do-pyaza. I am yet to find such a person.
We come across many versions of the do- pyaza, the most common one having large chunks of onions in it as if trying to prove a point about it being a ‘do-pyaza’. There’s another one by people who want to ensure that all dishes taste the same – they add tomatoes to the do-pyaza as all sauces should have onions and tomatoes as per them. I am sure each of the versions have their fans, but one which would get a nod of approval from muslims of Avadh has onion added in two different stages – first finely chopped onions in the tadka which helps flavour the meat during bhunoing, and then barista (fried onion) added towards the end to give the sweetness of caremalised onions to the sauce (two stage addition of onions in two forms gives it the name ‘do-pyaza’ rather than addition of twice the quantity of meat as some recipes mention). This gives the final dish a texture which is similar to the ishtew popular in Delhi.
Khadim’s brother has opened an eatery in neighboring Pratapgarh district, while one of his apprentices has become a competitor with a shop a kilometer away from Khadim’s – we always knew imitation is the best form of flattery, and a business nightmare as well! Khadim has only three dishes on the menu – mutton do-pyaza, chicken do-pyaza (which even he acknowledges is a commercial compromise) and a biriyani. But half the people visiting his place don’t even know that he serves anything other than the do-pyaza.
When people ask me what my home district is famous for, my stock answer is, “arguably the most influential politician in India, Rahul Gandhi, and inarguably the best do-pyaza cook, Khadim bhai!”
Sweet! Perhaps we could go for a day trip. How long does it take?
It is 55 kms from Ayodhya (50 from Faizabad which was erstwhile capital of Awadh), so best to club it with teerthyatra! Or 2.5 hrs from Lucknow.
Enjoyed reading your article particularly hinglish sentences, “first finely chopped onions in the tadka which helps flavour the meat during bhunoing”, added to my spellchecker as English words. I prefer the method used by this erstwhile eatery, first addition of onions during tadka – and secondly fried onions at the end. I have had version in Manchester Pakistani restaurant where a plateful of chopped onions is added at the end. Khadims eatery is type that I go for which is bit rustic down to earth and does not provide artificial ambiance. I presume, it was eaten with fresh hot Nan’s or roti. Like most north Indians, I am not a big rice eater. A nan or roti would do justice to such a dish.
Thanks for sharing, I was of course envious reading this salivating dish and your commentary as a great fan of Khadims.
Karam, I think I should have used italics but tempering and stir-fry are poor substitutes for ‘tadka’ and ‘bhuno’ respectively, a fact acknowledged by very respected authors on Indian cuisine as well.
Khadim’s mutton do-pyaza comes with rotis. Use of tandoor is not common in Awadh, and that is why ulta tawa parathas, roomali rotis and rotis are more common than naans, tandoori rotis and kulchas. Sheermal, I guess, is the only popular bread in the region which uses a tandoor.
And I always thought I always made the best gosht-do-piaza from Mum’s recipe!!! Just kidding Sid. Would love to try out the recipe if we can ever get to it. Karim’s at Jama Masjid also does a mean do piaza, and I am already experimenting to get to the flavour… not much luck though!
Great delicious post!
I am a vegetarian by birth and by choice, but i wont stop praising you for the artistic way of writing the recipe and taste of the delicacy.
Not only this but the chandni chowk photos of delhi are also very tempting and yummy……
i am delighted with the posts…keep blogging…..!! good luck
@Sanyukta Hectic work schedules mean I ignore the blog every now and the but such posts just get me back to blogging…Thanks! A post in visit to Cheese factories in Switzerland coming soon
I live in sultanpur but i never ever gone to khadim hotel..bt after reading ur blog i think dat i must go to khadim hotel !
Nd i wanna ask u dat r u also belong from sultanpur?
While this is an interesting take on do pyaza I have heard the name originates from the practice of using both ripe onions as well as spring onions to create the authentic flavor of this dish.
Dhrubo, if someone had mentioned shallots I may have bought into it, but spring onions sounds a bit out of place for a do pyaza. Would make it traditionally a ‘winter only’ dish, and that is certainly not the case
BTW your blog page was recommended by Themelis Cuiper, search engine result advert whiz – so you must be doing a superb job?
@Laura I am very ignorant about such stuff. Hope the content is of interest to someone other than me!