Hafeez Ahmed’s ‘Khansaama’: Gourmet chef strikes a musical chord

Delhi's walled city is all decked with eateries offering the best of authentic mughlai cuisine.

From Karim to Al Jawahar to Jahangiri to Changezi and many more stalls in the labyrinths selling their speciality like hotcakes.

Here comes another name Hafeez Ahmed, an eighth-generation pucca Dilliwalla, a tabla player by profession has got into the line of culinary craft. He comes from a background of a gharana where his forefathers carried music as a living. Hafeez's Khansaama specialises in mughlai foods ranging from mutton Nihari and mutton briyani to stew and the like. The chef with a unique and century old recipe has a band of experienced cooks perfect at making mughlai dishes serving the city. The Khansaama all set to bring back the authentic flavours of the mughals has made a name in outdoor catering for weddings and events.

The eatery has some traditional cooks like Kallan, Ghaama, Shareef etcetera who have come from a typical bawarchi background. Wedding events are the ones they seriously and solely deal in other than home delivery.

Most businesses have gone downhill since the pandemic caught the world in its grip. They too got affected but during the lockdown they meditated and devised a strategy to deliver the best and delectable food on the door step of the food connoisseurs who could relish the authenticity of the mughlai preparation sitting at home anywhere in the capital city and the NCRs.

Exotic dishes at Khansaama which top the a la carte are mutton stew and Nihari which is prepared on a simmering heat for hours, is ladled out and packed hygienically and delivered all across the NCRs on a day’s notice. The outlet prides itself on carrying out even small orders with combo meals.

"Most of the artists are food lovers wherever I go for a concert whether in India or abroad first we explore the best eatery. I was born in old Delhi with an authentic food sense.

Once I invited my friends over dinner they relished my preparation. They lauded the preparation particularly chicken biryani and mutton korma and advised me to start an eatery that could serve the same. I started, now you can see the tall list of my clients.” Hafeez recounted his foray into being a restaurateur.

Khansaama is a unique concept dealing in authentic muglai cuisine and serving the same on the doorstep. "We have a central kitchen in Gandhi Market Minto Road near Connaught Place. We are soon going to start home delivery in the NCRs including Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad and Ghaziabad in months to come." Hafeez concluded saying.

Khansaama opens at 11 in the morning and calls it a day at 10 with the last order. It goes anywhere across Delhi within 20 kilometers' radius and charges rupees 150 if the distance goes beyond 20 kilometers. The order with rupees 499 and more will be given 25% off till September 30.

Khansaama is closed on Tuesday.