I love the way Delhi is growing. I remember the time when the city only knew its butter chicken and chilli chicken leg piece. Then it got to enjoy pastas and Parmas, and was soon talking about tapas and teppanyaki. But while it opened its doors to world cuisine most enthusiastically, the city took its time to embrace regional cuisine.
But there again we have moved on. From southern fare, which is now available in every nook and corner, to Bengali, again available here and there, we have been introduced to different kinds of regional food. And I am really happy to see that the city is now opening up to the food of the Northeast, too.
I have been in love with the food of the region ever since I visited parts of the Northeast as a young lad in the ’70s. Of course, north-eastern food is different from region to region, and from tribe to tribe. But the very fact that there are restaurants that serve not just Assamese food, but Naga, Mizo and Manipuri food as well is something that really makes me happy.
Delhi’s introduction to Naga food was through a small restaurant called Naga Aunty that opened in the University area to cater to students from the Northeast. Then, of course, there was Nagaland House in Aurangzeb Road, where you could get the most delicious pork curry cooked in chilli oil. And I remember a superb pork and spinach dish that I ate at the Naga stall at Dilli Haat some years ago.
But since then, north-eastern cuisine has really caught on in the city. There are quite a few good restaurants serving food from the region. I went to one of the restaurants for lunch on Bhai Dooj last week — for the brother–in-law had been raving about it. And the meal at Dzukou The Tribal Kitchen in the Hauz Khas Market
(E-22, 3rd Floor, Main Market, phone nos: 08447703774 and 011-26516958) was excellent.
The first thing that strikes you about Dzukou is the décor. It’s spacious and well-lit, and has been tastefully done up with long tables and morhas. We went through the menu card and asked for some vegetable momos, boiled vegetables (Rs.149), fried fish, pork ribs (Rs.349), smoked pork akhuni (fermented soybean — Rs.319)), fish with bamboo shoots, Naga sticky rice ( Rs.159) and plain steamed rice (Rs.99). We wanted to try out some of the buff dishes, but were told that the meat had just come in and would take a while to cook.
I enjoyed the food immensely. I particularly liked the pork ribs and the very light smoked pork dish. The sticky Naga red rice went very well with the dishes. The boiled vegetables were just that — plain boiled — but complemented the red hot chutneys that the dishes came with.
The fried fish (one of the appetisers) was fatty and delicious, but I found the fish with bamboo shoots a little difficult to handle. The server said the fish was rohu, but I thought it was a bit too bony.
We asked for some dessert, but were told that there was nothing sweet.
But overall the meal was really good. And it’s quite a pleasure to sit there and eat, for the surroundings are very nice. I am told they have music on some special evenings, too. I’ll go back there for a musical evening.
And I hope to encounter the buff that deftly evaded us this time.
( Rahul Verma is a seasoned street food connoisseur)
