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New Delhi:
Food for Tingling Palates
NEW DELHI --Sometimes food can arrive as a revolution and a revelation.
IS there is better way to experience and fall in love with a food
than to be blown away by the experience, new flavors, textures, concepts?
I must admit that the earth shook over a recent lunch at the popular
New Delhi restaurant Bukhara, a cave-like,
restaurant dedicated to the cuisine of mughals, a nomadic people
who were big, with huge appetites, and in love with meat. So meat
we ate, in many versions, in many variations. Seated on low tables,
we were surrounded by rock walls, wooden pillars, and copper cooking
vessels.
The restaurant has been there since 1977, and the food arrives from
an open kitchen, where almost everything is cooked in clay tandoori
ovens. Quite simply, the cuisine as offered here is some of the most
intense, dramatic, and pleasing food I have sampled in a long time.
It is also, in its own way, very subtle.
Forget the mish-mash menus we are used to with much Indian food.
Here, each creation is there for its own sake, not to be doused with
sauce or yogurt, pickles or breads. It is pure and it is simple.
We were encouraged to eat with our hands (“there is something
in the fingers that give to the flavor,” suggested our Indian
host), devouring with passion kababs of lamb and chicken, mutton
and prawns, river sole as well as tender mutton chops. We wore bib-like
aprons around our necks, because as the locals like to say, this
is a very messy cuisine. Each delicacy had its own character, its
own history, offering a specific pleasure. Out of the medley my favorite
for sure was the chicken, served in two delicate kebabs, one stuffed
with a fiery green chili, another milder version stuffed with a gooey,
soothing bit of cheese. Lamb appeared in all different manners, from
a tender tiny mutton chop that was marinated and black pepper and
figs, then pan grilled and finished in a covered pot sealed with
dough, with a slow charcoal fire applied from the top, and a slow
live fire from the bottom, making for a dish that is juicy, full-flavored,
aromatic, satisfying. I laughed just a bit at the long cylinder of
Kakori Kabab, a delicate blend of very very finely minced mutton,
cloves, and cinnamon, carefully skewered, char grilled and drizzled
with saffron. This was the specialty created for toothless emperors,
who could no longer choose to chew their tender delicacies! Looking
back, I also fell in love with the gorgeous, bright green discs of
Pan Kabab, dainty patties of spiced, finely minced mutton, wrapped
with beatle leaves and pan grilled. The result was as refined as
it was rustic, mouth filling, amazing, satisfying. River fish arrived
minced, in little paupiettes, stuffed with cheese and onions, flavored
with garam Masala and pan-grilled.
I was intrigued by the digestive drink – jal jeera – made
of tamarind water, roasted black pepper, cumin seeds, fresh mint,
black salt, and lemon juice. The “neat” version is delicious,
as is the same enlivened with a touch of vodka.
When you go, be sure to stand at the kitchen window for a bit, to
gaze upon the dozens of soft, spicy kababs as they are drawn from
the ovens. Ask Chef G. Sultan Mohideen to create a special menu.
And do sample the amazing cool drink of mint and black pepper, one
that will surely pacify any fiery palates. You won’t regret
it.
Chor Bizarre, the
perfect spot for dining after a whirlwind rickshaw
ride through the market streets of Old Delhi, lives
up to its name, Bizarre. But that’s just
the décor: Imagine a 1927 Fiat Roadster
that serves as a buffet “table.” All
the china is intentionally worn and mismatched,
none of the chairs are the same, and walls are
loaded with photos of Elvis and Marilyn, and there
is a gorgeous spiral staircase that goes to nowhere.
This is because the word “chor” is
thief, and this is an attempt to be a thieves bazaar.
Thank goodness the kitsch stops there, for the
food was welcoming and fiery, and varied and sure
to please any lover of Indian food. I most adored,
and could not get enough of their spinach specialty,
palak patta chat, or spinach leaves coated with
flour and topped with tamarind chutney and blended
yogurt. The dish was totally balanced, a blend
of bitter and sweet, some crunch some smoothness,
creating a very satisfying blend.
Equally distinctive was the Punjabi tandoor chaat,
seasoned vegetables – here a mix of cubed
potatoes and green peppers with pineapple for a
touch of sweetness – here marinated in spiced
and yogurt, grilled in the tandoori oven and sprinkled
with spicy chaat Masala. The mirchi kerma, lamb
cooked in hot gravy with kashmiri chilies, cardamom
and cloves, was evenly spiced if a bit on the heavy
side. The mouth-tingling flat, lentil papadam were
crisp, delicate, delicious.
If you’re in the mood for some sure-footed,
totally traditional Indian foot with no fancy footwork,
just solid, clear-flavored fare, try the warm,
cozy, Haveli. Here – amid
classic Indian dancers and live piano music in
the evening – you’ll find some of plumpest,
most succulent shrimp, marinated in a traditional
tandoori Masala, then grilled over the glowing
embers of he tandoori oven. Another worthy starter
is chef Irshad Ahmed Qureshi’s chicken tikka,
moist tandoori-roasted chunks of chicken breast,
soft, gently spiced, and satisfying (and much preferable
to the generally dried-out whole chicken breast.)
The restaurant is decorated like an old royal
home, filled with elegant chandeliers, Indian artwork,
wood carvings and lamps. The cuisine is that of
the royal Mughals, yet here one can request the
chef update and lighten some of the fare, so such
as a fine, light yellow dal, prepared with yellow
lentils and extra virgin olive oil, as well as
a colorful vegetable medley – khara Masala – that
combines button mushrooms, baby corn and bright
green broccoli in a tomato gravy. Save room for
the deliciously moist biryiani, a fine-flavored
rice dish loaded with giant chunks of top-quality
lamb carefully seasoned with saffron and mace.
Bukhara
Maurya Sheraton & Towers
Diplomatic Enclave
New Delhi 110 021, India
Telephone 6112233
Fax: 6113333
Open daily. All major credit cards. About
20 euros per person, not including service or
beverage.
Chor Bizarre
Hotel Broadway
4/15 A Asif Ali Road
Old Delhi, India
Telephone 11/327 3821
Open daily. All major credit cards. About
9 euros per person, not including service or
beverage.
Haveli
The Taj Mahal Hotel
Number One, Mansing Road
New Delhi 110-011
Telephone: 91 11 5551 3587
Fax: 91 11 2302 6070
web: tajhotels.com
Open daily. All major credit cards. About
20 euros per person, not including service or
beverage.
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