There’s no greater joy than eating comfort food that you don’t have to cook. If that food is Assamese and you are in Hyderabad, its impact is different. The same thing happened to me when a common friend – who is also a distant cousin – shared a social media page with this message: “This will remind you of home.”
Akhol, which means kitchen in Assamese, is a cloud kitchen run in Kokapet by Alpaxi Kashyap, who shifted to Hyderabad from Delhi in 2019. She runs Cloud Kitchen with her grandmother-turned-co-chef Jinti Rajbongshi. Its limited but thoughtful menu offers much more than just alu pitika (mashed potatoes) and pork – defying the internet perception that Assam runs on just these two ingredients.
A take away platter of Assamese food by Akhol_Hyderabad | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The idea of Akhol was born out of many shared meals, as Alpaxi and Jinti recreated the taste of home with whatever ingredients they could find locally. Encouraged by the response from their community, they launched Akhol in April. To prepare for the transition from home cooking to a bigger kitchen, Jinti trained for some time at the family resort of Alpaxi in Assam.
Now fully operational and delivering through online platforms, Akhol offers seasonal menus when ingredients can be sourced from Assam – including leafy greens such as fiddlehead fern, maan dhoni (sawtooth coriander), ou tenga (elephant apple), and kosu thur (Colocasia stalks). His regular thali includes a sweet, a dal, a pakoda, vegetarian and non-vegetarian curries – often including dang bodi (yardlong beans) and potatoes. Having family in Assam helps him with sourcing. When someone comes to meet him, materials are brought.
Alpaxi with Jinthi | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Having lived and studied in Delhi after her college life, Alpaxi felt that there was a dearth of places serving Assamese cuisine in Hyderabad.
Typical dishes include bora tenga (lentil dumplings in sour gravy), Assamese-style fish and pork curries, and chicken cooked in regional styles. I was particularly attracted by the fish curry with bamboo shoots – more Naga than Assamese, but still a welcome flavor of the Northeast. Their tomato fish curry and its vegetarian counterpart with fried lentil dumplings was also excellent. Other highlights were the banana flower stir fry and khar.
The food is clearly home-made: no oiliness, no over-spicy gravies. Instead, mild heat from green chilies or black pepper and moderation bring clarity of flavor. Even the famous black sesame chicken – a little thin on the day I tasted it – still captured the essence of the dish, and Alpaxi warmly welcomed the feedback.
Black Rice Kheer Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Akhol’s menu is available on Instagram (Akhol_Hyderabad), and pork lovers will be pleased to know it features on the menu.
A thali of food for two is ₹800 (non-veg); Pre-booking one day in advance is required.
