💬 Harees at Barkas, have you tried it?

Everyone in this city talks about biryani and haleem. Harees hardly gets a mention. That's my complaint. I had it at Barkas for the first time on a cold evening, with my friend Rehan. I expected haleem. It isn't haleem. It's softer, smoother, almost creamy, and the wheat and meat are mixed so well you can't tell where one stops and the other starts. What I look for is the texture. It shouldn't be watery and it shouldn't be dry. Good harees sits on the spoon and stays there for a second before it slides off. If it runs off the spoon, they added too much water. If it clumps, it's been sitting too long. The place I went to got it right, and I finished my bowl before Rehan finished his tea. Eat it hot. I mean really hot, straight from the pot. Cold harees is a different and sadder dish. I had mine with naan, tore it into pieces and dipped them in. That's a full meal for me. The lanes around Barkas help too. The crowd, the smell, men standing outside holding their bowls and talking. A restaurant with AC and a menu card can't give you that, however nice the plates are. It's a simple dish. Not many spices, no tricks. Just meat, wheat and somebody patient stirring the pot. My grandmother used to say the best food has the fewest things in it. I didn't get it then. I do now. Every time I see a dish with 15 ingredients, I think of that bowl. Sometimes simple just tastes better, and I'm not going to argue with my own stomach. My younger cousins only want burgers and fried chicken now. I'm not against that, I eat it too. But I took 2 of them to Barkas last week. One said it tasted like nothing. The other one had a second bowl and asked when we're going again. So that's 1 win for me. Is there another place in the city that makes it well? Tell me where.

Does anyone have the real recipe for the Barkas style? I've tried making it at home 3 times.

Had a bowl near Koti 2 days ago. One bowl and I was done, barely able to move. The Barkas version is different. I've seen people there go for 3 bowls and still talk about dessert. Both are good, but they're not the same dish really. One is lighter and the other is heavy and rich. Prefer the heavy one in cold weather. In summer I'd skip both and drink water.

I've been eating this exact harees since I was eleven years old, and even now, all these years later, I still make sure to go and have it regularly during the week without fail. Back in those days, a plate used to cost just five rupees, and now the same plate costs a hundred and twenty rupees, which shows how much prices have changed over the years, though the taste has stayed just as good despite the price increase.

That photo is dangerous. I looked at it before lunch and now nothing in my tiffin looks good. Hulk, if you ever do a harees meetup, tell us the day and I'll take leave. People say biryani is the whole city, but a hot bowl of this in winter beats it for me. Which stall did you go to? Is it open late, or do you need to reach before 9?