To celebrate ten years of Taj Mahal Hotel’s iconic Varq restaurant, an elaborate sit down dinner was curated recently for select guests. The signature gourmet dining destination was started to dispel the myth that Indian cuisine has everything to do with heaviness. Traditional dishes were served in small portions like it is done internationally so that patrons could try more variety without overloading.
It came as no surprise that the menu at the dinner demonstrated that desi food can be made exciting with little innovation and technique. It had a long list of ingenuous dishes from across the country, but they all, barring one of the main course, came in small yet adequate portions. Executive Chef Arun Sundararaj used all his experience and inventiveness in giving authentic flavours to each dish.
To start with, murg methi malai tikka souffle was simply lip smacking in its new avatar. One cannot believe that the French egg-based baked dish can taste like chicken tikka made in Punjabi style. Lightness of souffle was retained and it was judiciously combined with Indian Fenugreek.
Dish of the day
For me, sea bass was certainly the dish of the day. It would have done any gourmet proud as the Chilean fish and Goan spices gave right texture and aroma to this dish. Tirphal, a variety of Szechuan peppercorn grown in Goa, acted as a catalyst to give tangy flavour to the dish. The solitary piece was heavenly as every bite was delicious and the taste lingered long in the mouth. With mini chapati and salad dressing, it was adequate for a food connoisseur.
Sea bass
It was followed by duck roast. It was cooked in the way the Syrian Christians of Kerala make it. “This is a very Sunday dish which Syrian mothers cook for their families,” says Chef Sundararaj, who hails from Kerala.
Duck scored in quality as well as quantity. It was served in good proportions and I ate it with vegetarian biryani. Good food is all about blending ingredients while cooking and combining two distinct dishes while eating. Here the flavour of sweet tasting biryani, laced with raisins complemented the spicy roasted duck to create magic for taste buds.
Painstaking preparation was required as duck was cooked for five hours in fat. This made the meat tender and chewable. Chillies, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves provided different flavours. These are the spices for which Arab traders had come to God’s own country.
“Even now people from all corners of the globe come to Kerala specially to get their share of pepper, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves,” informs Chef Sundararaj.
Normally duck is eaten with rice but here the chef brought khinua, millet, which was cooked with ghee, brown onions in the way chawal is cooked.
But I skipped khinua for vegetarian biryani where chana dal, potatoes, raisins were used generously.
Bharwan bhindi
On persuasion by host, I tried bharwan bhindi with roti. I did not regret trying it as bhindi was crispy and taste of ladies’ fingers was enhanced with cashew nut and gravy of salan. The chef had made it entirely with veggies.
Pathar ka gosh was made in such a way that lamb was suitably soft. Trick was that meat pieces were marinated for 48 hours. It had flavour of kebab chini, spice used in Mughlai cuisine. Similarly, Gilawat mutton cigars were as tender as chicken.
In desserts, palm jaggery, banana split and badam angoor halwa were the perfect way to end the sumptuous dinner where delectable bites mattered as much as conversations around the table.
