Iftar delights at Mumtaz Mahal

It is often said that the Royals of India dined on some of the finest foods found in the known world. Oman’s very own Mumtaz Mahal – named after the royal lineage of ancient India – brings Indian fine dining to this corner of the Gulf in no small measure.

As we start our Holy Month of Ramadan, we break our fast this time at Mumtaz Mahal for an Indian Mughlai Iftar buffet. The place was buzzing with a lot of activity as people had gathered there to have their first drink after a day of fasting. There was a mix of locals, Indians and Europeans who had come to break their fast.

We started with the juices of kerkade, qamar al dean, rooh afza, laban, which are usually served during Ramadan. Fresh fruit platters and dates accompanied our drinks.

After quenching our thirst, we started with the appetisers: baked, grilled or fried. Chicken lajawab tikka, vegetable samosas, mutton seekh kebabs, mint and spinach vegetable pakoras, which were very crispy, and corn and green peas tikkis took care of our appetisers. We had a choice of mulligatawny soup or sweet corn chicken soup, which were simple, healthy and comforting.

We had the usual Arabic mezze of hummus, muttabel, ful madame, tomato lettuce salad, corn and anardana salad, beans-sprout-tomato salad and Greek salad.

For our main course we had til wali macchhi tandoori – hammour fish marinated with tandoori masala and til, grilled to perfection in tandoor; murgh maharaja; and Punjabi style rara mutton, a very unique mutton recipe that combines mutton pieces along with mutton keema or mutton mince in it. This recipe is absolutely lip smacking. The real trick in cooking this dish is that it requires lot of patience and time for the bhuno process, which is a must in all Punjabi dishes.

Lamb saloona, fried fish Amritsari, a fried fish snack coated in gram flour batter and served with mint and coriander chutney, some vegetable dishes and assorted breads to go with the food were also part of the fare. The special chicken dum biryani, which is slow-cooked to obtain the beautiful fragrance of the basmati rice and spices, is worth a mention. The buffet spread is complemented with a wide selection of desserts: traditional Indian desserts such as gulab jamun, rasgulla, rice kheer and famous Arabic sweets and umali.

For corporate Iftar parties and large groups, special packages have been created so that families, friends and colleagues can enjoy a memorable Iftar meal at Mumtaz Mahal.