Why sizzlers are perfect for Hyderabad's winter evenings

Hyderabad: The sizzler is cooked and served on a hot metal plate placed on a wooden holder when taken to the customer’s table. The dish is inspired by the Japanese Teppanyaki in which vegetables and meat are soft inside and crunchy outside.

History of Sizzlers

In India, the sizzler was invented in Mumbai in 1963, by Firoze Irani and his restaurant near Excelsior cinema was called ‘Sizzler’. Firoz's wife Tachiko was Japanese. In 1975, a businessman named Vazir Rizvi started his own restaurant (and later a food chain) called ‘Kobe Sizzlers’ in Mumbai. Other restaurants such as Yoko Sizzlers and Fountain Sizzlers soon followed suit in Mumbai. Most large cities in India now have restaurants that specialize in sizzlers.

Single Dish Meal

A sizzler is essentially a single-dish meal, in which meats and vegetables are cooked in a sauce on a hot metal plate. The dish has been described as a roasted, grilled or shallow fried piece of meat, chicken, fish, paneer or vegetable patty, served on a hot plate, and kept on a wooden base. It is called ‘sizzler’ as the word describes the sizzle that one hears after heating the dish under a grill. The metal plate is heated and when the vegetables and steak are placed on it, it sizzles and the smoky flavour makes the dish more enticing. In terms of preparation, the equipment and method for all sizzlers are the same, despite the large variety of ingredients and sauces.

“Hyderabadis have hearty appetites nurtured over generous portions of biryani. Sizzlers are popular for the hissing drama the platter creates and the fairly large portion of food,” says Supriya Bedi, food connoisseur.

Types of sizzlers in Hyderabad

In Hyderabad, there are several popular sizzler places from restaurants to clubs to stand-alone sizzler places like Yoko’s and Kobe’s. Sizzlers are served with dinner rolls, a generous helping of butter, noodles or rice. There are too many choices of meats, seafood, vegetables, and side dishes to enumerate. Some like their sizzlers topped with a fried egg or cheese.

The sauces that are served with sizzlers are pepper, mushroom or barbecue sauces. The mix grill sizzlers as well as the paneer, lamb and chicken steak ones seem to be the most popular. Grilled pineapple with ice cream, apple pie, tiramisu and caramel custard are some of the desserts served later if one still has room for these.