-Shivani Mohan
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| Chef Abhijit Saha looks on lovingly at one of his creations |
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| Food that leaves you speechless! |
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Thursday, February 27, 2014
Caperberry Moves to U B City! Yippee!!
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2 Exclusive Recipes from Mughal-e-Azam, Daniell's Tavern
The Mughal-e-Azam food promotion at Daniell's Tavern that I wrote about yesterday has been culled out with dedicated research by Chef Prem Kumar Pogakula, Executive Sous Chef, The Imperial, New Delhi. Chef Pogakula hails from Hyderabad, another reservoir of fine Indian food. Chef Pogakula referred to many ancient Indian texts and hand written recipes that he has procured from authentic sources. Explaining that lamb or mutton was a preffered meat with Mughals, over the years their marination and cooking techniques have been applied to chicken, seafood and vegetables too. Any cuisine has to evolve and adapt to the changing scenarios but Mughlai is one cuisine that requires a certain amount of oil, ghee, butter and cream to be added to get the desired result.
The testament to this is the flaky Mughlai Paratha being served that tasted almost like a dessert. When prodded to tell the secret of it's softness, Chef Pogakula very sweetly said, " Well it has all of these-oil, ghee, butter, milk and cream!" While I would recommend everyone to go sample the fare first hand, Chef was kind enough to share two of his exclusive recipes with Tangy Sorbet.
Mughal food Menu
Danielle’s tavern
Starter
Murgh Nawabi Beda
Succulent chunks of boneless chicken flavored
with royal Indian spices and finished in
clay oven
Mutton Kakori kebab
Softest
preparation of Mace and saffron infused lamb kebab cooked on skewers
Tandoori nisha
Fresh
jumbo prawns marinated with yogurt, chilly and spices and charred in clay oven
Subz Shammi kebab
An
ancient preparation of assorted vegetable kebab enriched with dry fruit and
nuts
Soup
Paaya shorba with kofta
Flavorful
broth of slow braised lamb trotters infused with Indian spices and served with
meat dumplings
Main
course
Gosht
nalli Nihari
Popular preparation
of overnight braised lamb mildly spiced with cardamom and cinnamon
Akbari
Murgh masala
Traditional preparation of king’s taste has
been popular from the mughal period
Paneer musallam
Delicately
simmered cottage cheese in yogurt and cashewnut gravy, garnished with saffron
cream and coriander
Gobhi dolma
Dry preparation of garden fresh
cauliflower tempered with cumin, onion and green chilly
Firdausi pulao
Clove scented fragrant preparation of
Indian basmati rice with saffron, pistachio and brown onion
Mughlai paratha
Hot Griddle cooked layered flat Indian bread
Dessert
Sheer korma
Warm
vermicelli pudding with dates, milk and honey
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| Sheer Korma |
Mughlai Recipes
Tandoori
nisha
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| Tandoori Nisha |
Ingredients:
16 large raw prawns, shell
removed and cleaned
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons lime juice
Marinade
Marinade
10 ounces plain yogurt
1 Tablespoon ginger–garlic
paste
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons yellow chili
powder
1 teaspoon ajwaini seeds*,
lightly toasted
1 teaspoon sesame seeds,
lightly toasted
1 teaspoon Garam masala
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 Tablespoon toasted graham
flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 Tablespoons finely chopped
mint leaves
6 Tablespoons butter–oil
mixture for basting
1 teaspoon chat masala, for
garnish
1 Tablespoon chopped coriander
leaves, for garnish
Method:
Combine prawns with salt and 1
Tablespoon of the lime juice. Let sit 30 minutes. Meanwhile combine ingredients
for marinade. Let marinade sit 20 minutes to let flavors develop.
Add prawns to marinade.
Marinade 2 hours in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 4l. Remove prawns from
marinade and thread onto skewers, 2-3 prawns per skewer. Cook in the medium
heat Tandoor for about 8-12 minutes, basting from time to time with butter-oil
mixture. Remove from Tandoor after prawns are cooked, sprinkle with remaining
lime juice, chat masala and coriander leaves. Serve hot.
Subz Shammi
kebab
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1 cup potato mash.
½ cup black gram
1 onion - very finely
chopped.
1 tbsp oil.
1 tsp ginger paste.
½ tsp garlic paste.
2 slices bread -
grind in a mixer to get fresh crumbs.
Salt to taste.
¼ tsp dried mango powder.
Crush spices together
to a coarse powder.
¼ tsp Jeera.
1" cinnamon
stick
3-4 cloves
3-4 peppercorns
2 black cardamom.
1 dry, red chili.
Method
Soak
Black Gram in water for 6-8 hours or overnight.
Put
Black gram, onion and oil in a pressure cooker. Add powdered spices and 1½ cups
water also. Pressure cook to give 1 whistle. After the first whistle, keep on
slow fire for 20 minutes. Remove from fire and let the pressure drop by itself.
If
there is extra water, dry the Black Gram for sometime on fire. There should
just be a little water, enough to grind the Gram to a fine paste.
Grind
to a fine paste.
Now
add ginger-garlic paste, bread, salt, Potato mash, crushed spices and Dry Mango
Powder. Add about ½ cup water for the mixture to bind properly.
Make
a small flatten ball of kebab shape with the help of wet hands.
Fry
4-5 pieces in a pan on medium flame till golden on both sides.
Serve
Hot With Mint Chutney
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| Happy after my Mughlai discoveries at Daniell's Tavern |
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Mughal-e-Azam: A Feast Fit for Emperors
-Shivani Mohan
Daniell’s Tavern( Pan Indian Restaurant)
21st February – 2nd March 2014
Now I am one of those people who have to be literally cajoled into having Indian food (as in North Indian food) when eating out. I prefer home-cooked Indian food and always like to be adventurous with cuisines when eating out. Yet the very sound of this Mughal-e-Azam invite caught my attention. A delectable relic of 'Hindoostan', Daniell’s Tavern
at The Imperial is most unlike the typical ethnic attack you get to see in many an 'Indian Restaurant'!
It allures with a Live
Kitchen and a menu that revisits India from the eyes of Thomas
and William Daniell. This uncle and nephew team came to experience and paint
the rich culture and culinary tradition of India’s
picturesque locations in 1786, in the midst of colonial era to assist the
expanding British Empire. The restaurant menu seeks to define their gastronomic
expedition with unique old world specialties from all the cities they visited.
The restaurant
walls adorn the original lithographs by the Daniells with a brand new look.
Noteworthy among them is the lithograph of the Jantar Mantar monument painted
from the exact spot where the Daniell’s Tavern stands today. Also the Live Kitchen has
an intriguing coin story displayed with finely crafted brass coins placed on
the front side of the kitchen. The native Indian coins represent the
commemoration of the initiation of the first formal written peace alliance
between the Wampanoag tribe and the European settlers (WAMPANOAG TREATY
1621) in USA. It is also a mark of respect given to the natives by the
European settlers.
With art spread across the
restaurant revealing the beautiful journey
of Thomas and William Daniell, white hues, dark
blue cutlery, intricate wood work on the ceiling, together lend an elegant
feel.
This week Daniell’s Tavern brings you the iconic menu of Mughal spices, filled with unique aroma, richness and flavours, culled into intricate dishes. The choice of eclectic specialties tingle the taste-buds and pique the senses, offering an authentic and well-researched cuisine.
After all Mughlai cuisine is a part of our rich heritage. I was curious to find out more and played along and I was certainly not disappointed. Yes, it is supposed to be heavy food but one can always compensate by spending that extra hour at the gym and having a light dinner after a lunch like this.
The spread at Daniell's Tavern was truly rich and sumptuous but so authentic and flavorful, that it instantly made you conjure a decadent past. I could imagine how these Mughals won all the battles they won and came to rule India for centuries. With food like this consumed every day, it would be difficult to just lie back and be losers!
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| Subz Shammi Kebab |
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| Murg Nawabi Beda |
The starter menu features Murgh Nawabi Beda-An interesting cigar of boneless chicken, with an inner filling of royal Indian spices and finished in a clay oven. Tandoori Nisha are fresh jumbo prawns marinated with yogurt, chilly and spices and charred in clay oven.
Amongst other melt-in-the-mouth kebabs are Kakori Kebabs and a very delicious vegetarian Shammi Kebab, which even the non-vegetarians couldn't help relishing.
For soup there is the nutritious Paaya Shorba with Kofta- Flavorful broth of slow braised lamb trotters infused with Indian spices and served with meat dumplings. As two of my friends were recuperating from recent flu, there couldn't have been a better antidote for them. One could almost feel a healthier glow on them by the time the soup was devoured. Vegetarians had the Mulligatawny, a Daniell's Tavern special, which is not exactly Mughal, more like East India Company, but delicious nevertheless!
The main course impresses the connoisseur with the divine Akbari Murgh Masala- Traditional preparation of royal taste popular from the Mughal period and Gosht Nalli Nihari, preparation of overnight braised lamb mildly spiced with cardamom and cinnamon. I was having Nihari for the first time but I must admit I have never had a better lamb dish. It was not oily, not overtly heavy, not spicy unlike the perception about most 'Mughlai-Come-Lately'! Easily my favourite dish of this meal.
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| Gobhi Dolma |
For the vegetarians a sheer delight is Gobhi Dolma- dry preparation of garden fresh cauliflower tempered with ajwain or carom seeds, onion and green chilly. This dish is way beyond regular cauliflower preparations in Indian cuisine and scores high on flavours as its extremely light on palette and prepared with simple but delectably put ingredients.
We quipped probably this gobhi was what Nurjehan had when on a diet!
All this went well with Firdausi Pulao, clove scented fragrant preparation of
Indian basmati rice with saffron, pistachio and brown onion and Mughlai Paratha.
For dessert there is Sheer Korma, vermicelli like you would have never had before, with chunks of fig and dry fruits served in an earthenware sakora.
I had once read somewhere that Akbar used to have just one major meal in a day. Trust me, so did I today !
Open for Dinner only; Timings:
6:30pm to 11:45pm
Meal for two: INR 4000 + taxes
without alcohol
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Fuss-Free French : Le Bistro Du Parc
-Shivani Mohan
One of the reasons I love writing about food is the fact that the
creation of good food always has some interesting human story linked to it. You
cannot create great food out of a vacuum. It requires a whole lot of nurturing,
a solid base, fresh ingredients, exciting influences and reliable recipes. Much
like relationships that need to be nurtured, kept fresh, exciting and yet solid
and reliable.
Le Bistro Du Parc in Delhi would easily be the capital’s best kept liaison
with France. I chanced upon it through a small Facebook Ad. Now I started my
career working at undoubtedly the best French restaurant in Delhi in the 90s,
The Orient Express. Let’s just say that I cut my teeth into the best French nouvelle
cuisine pretty early on. Later one was
lured into far too many flavours from Asia namely Far East to ever really go
looking for French food, one reason being that it always came in a stuffy 5
star hotel environment. I mean you’ve got to dress up for those things, maybe
even visit a salon and get your hair done. Then wait for a marriage proposal or an
anniversary or something like a break-up party even! Moreover the kind of money
these places charged, even an anniversary celebration starts feeling like a
break-up dinner by the time the check arrives!
But what about chilled out, no fuss bistro-like French food? Isn’t the
reason why no one forgets their first visit to Paris, the beautiful road-side
bistros that dot the city like little islands of joy and abandon. The city is
undoubtedly beautiful and elegant but it is the bistros that pump life and soul
into Paris.
Which brings me back to ‘Le Bistro Du Parc’. Nestled in Delhi’s Defence
Colony, this unabashedly simple and chic place is the brain child of Naina de
Bois-Juzan. Now this is where the beautiful story unfolds. I had communicated
with Naina over email expressing an interest in visiting the place. Due to her
prompt, well phrased, professional answers I was expecting an elderly, meticulous
almost matronly figure. When I reached Le Bistro Du Parc, a stunningly
beautiful French mademoiselle who looked like a model greeted us at the gate.
She guided us to our table on the top. Then she carted the menu, neatly chalked
out on a black board to us. All this while, I was practicing my French to ask
her if I could meet Naina de Bois-Juzan. The young lady gave me a bewitching
grin and in a delightful French accent said, “I am Naina!”
Phew! Naina kind of lights up the place with her warmth and personal
touch, almost like an elegant cultural Ambassador for France right in our
midst.
But there’s none of that so-called French snobbery.
I am still trying to decode the mystery. I come to know soon enough that
Naina’s mother is a theth Punjaban and her father a French fashion designer. It was an
alliance made in heaven and their endearing story is another column. But Naina
is the embodiment of that delicious Punjabi-French connection.
The tables are small and tightly packed, making you instantly remove
your stuffy coat and hang it somewhere. You can peep into your neighbouring
table and strike up a conversation regarding any dish they would like to
recommend. It’s a Wednesday and it is a regular Jazz night here. I think my
luck just peaks as I notice, playing at the piano, none other than author Rana
Dasgupta, accompanied by Anita Roy. Friends such as Parvati La Cantante often
drop in to sing impromptu and play some nice music. There is much laughter and
revelry.
With so much happening all around, food is almost secondary, except for
the fact that it is not!
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| Pan-fried Calamari |
Taking Naina’s involved suggestions, for starters we try the highly
recommended Pan-fried Calamari, which is flavourful and light on the palate
with tomatoes and a burst of aromatics.
Home-made Porc Rilettes is a popular French starter, served with
pickled gherkins and onion and toasted bread and has a rustic charm.
Vegetarians could have the Danish Bleu Cheese and Walnut Souffle which comes
with a gooey cheese sauce and fresh green salad, truly a classic almalgamation
of flavour, taste and textures.
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| Chicken Fricasse with Garlic Mash and Greens |
For the Main Couse or ‘Les Plats’, we try the Chicken Fricasse with Garlic Mash and Greens. The chicken is succulent while the skin on top is a rich golden brown and oozing with flavour. The beans are just the way I like, crunchy and very green. The Duck Breast with Fondant Potato comes on a bed of red cabbage that has been caramelised to perfection and carrot puree. This is a relatively heavy dish but delicious, a hearty, meaty dish. Other popular dishes are Steak Tartare and Steak Frites.
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| Steak Tartare |
Vegetarians can enjoy Stuffed Tomatoes with Goat’s Cheese and Rice Pilaf or a Potato and Brie Gratin with Green Salad and Apple.
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| Stuffed Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Rice Pilaf |
We take a breather to soak in the music which is now reaching its
crescendo. By now Naina has joined one of the tables and is enjoying a much
needed breather. Everyone seems to know everyone here. What else do you want
when you have Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra classics emanating one after
the other!
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| Galette De Almande |
In dessert, Valrhona Chocolate Mousse with pomegranates is
refreshing and different. There is Pain Perdu with Fresh Fruit on the menu. But
we are lucky enough to get the Galette, which is a cherry and almond tart that
is traditionally made only in the month of January, which is exquisite.
Naina talks of major crowd pullers to the restaurant, “Apéro is a very
traditional concept in France that ALL French people practise! An apéro is a
drink (or two!) that we have before dinner, to get in the mood and stimulate
the appetite. We have apéro from 6pm to 8pm every day at the bistro with 2
drinks for the price of one (full bar included). The lunch fixed meal @500 INR
++ for a 2 course and 650++ for a 3 course is something we have started
recently. People do not necessarily want to spend a lot of time and money on
lunch hours, so this is a good option.”
As Naina was smitten with bistronomie and travelled all over France to
meet Bistro owners, she developed a keen interest to introduce bistronomie to
India. A small menu in a restaurant is a mark of quality is her firm belief. Le
Bistro Du Parc fills that very big gap in Delhi of a place where you can have
great food at not so astronomical prices. This is the trend even in
post-recession France today. As François Simon, a leading food critic for Le
Figaro, says that bistros have become ‘the principle axis of gastronomy’ in
France.
Ten years ago things were different. Michelin starred French restaurants
had hit the ceiling with their showiness and overpriced food. Today people want
a connection and comfort, at a price that makes you want to keep coming back
for more.
Well known celebrity French Chef such as Yves Camdeborde gave up his
enviable career in the kitchens of Paris's Ritz and Tour d'Argent to launch an
entirely new genre of restaurant in 1992 with Paris's La Régalade, serving top
cuisine at unprecedented low prices. It was an instant hit.
Naina mirrors my reflections as she tells me, “I have grown up loving
food, cooking and the ‘art de la table’. I am living in Delhi since seven years and
I always felt like there was a small little French bistro missing in the city.
I was fed up of going to big restaurants, which I find lack personality and
intimacy. One fine day I decided if no one was going to open that kind of
restaurant in Delhi, I would do it myself. And that’s exactly what I did. I
opened Le Bistro Du Parc!”
I guess that’s where the entrepreneurial Punjabi genes kick in!
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