Ring in Thingyan in Hyderabad with Burmese cuisine

Burmese Thingyan in Hyderabad at Burma Burma

Choosing what to eat without wasting tummy space — or calories — is always a smart way to spend on food. If your choice of dining leans towards vegetarian fare then Burma Burma at Knowledge City in Hyderabad offers a timely detour with Thingyan, a limited-edition menu to celebrate the Burmese New Year.

The festive menu is compact, beginning with three fruity drinks. Avoid the musk lemon with thyme, unless bland is your thing. It drinks more like a cucumber cooler with an overpowering thyme note. What redeems the drinks section is the plum sour —a tangy, ruby-red refresher balanced beautifully in sweetness and acidity, topped with a tart berry leather sheet that is equal parts garnish and treat.

Burma’s answer to chaat comes in the form of the Hawker Noodles Salad — a cold noodle dish packed with punch. Think four kinds of noodles tossed with 18 condiments, from chopped chillies and garlic oil to tamarind juice, chickpea tofu, fried potatoes, and more. Like chaat, it is addictive and layered, offering a burst of flavour with every bite.

Next up is fragrant jasmine rice served with a dry, spicy white pea and soybean curry. Cooked in a slow-reduced caramelised onion-tomato base, this dish is a rice lover’s dream. There is also palata (a Burmese-style paratha made with amaranth seed flour) served with a mock meatball curry — a satisfying combo.

A pumpkin and bok choy stir-fry provides a homey note for those from East India, reminiscent of labra bhaja or vegetable sorse. On the other hand, the bottle gourd and tofu gravy may be best skipped. Even after three tries, it remained a puzzling dish lacking appeal or balance.

But where the savoury stumbles, the Burmese desserts shine. The lineup — Banana Sanwin Makin, Tropical Jelly, Sago Delight, and Black Rice Custard — makes it hard to pick a favourite.

The Banana Sanwin Makin is like a cross between an Assamese kol pitha and pazham pori. The Tropical Jelly, with slivers of ripe mango suspended in coconut water jelly, is a dream for mango lovers. The Sago Delight is mellow and textural, while the Black Rice Custard will remind many of black rice payasam from the Northeast. All four are gently sweet and distinctly flavoured.