If you want to enjoy the food at Best Western Premier La Marvella's new, all-vegetarian restaurant Saarangi, make sure your stomach is empty.
That's because, first, they have over a hundred dishes of the rare Awadhi cuisine and second, if you're remotely aware of north Indian food, especially around Lucknow (think biryani) you would know that it is heavy.
Now, getting down to business, kebabs and paneer excite me. So I was thrilled when the platter of starters was brought. There was bhaduni paneer, a paneer tikka seasoned with Awadhi herbs, sabzi badami sheek made with vegetables and peanuts, tandoori bilayati subzi — vegetables cooked with spices and cheese, and tandoori bhutta — spiced baby corn.
What was nice was that the paneer was soft (I've had softer, but this was good too), and you could taste the herbs, which is quite the point.
The paneer is made in-house by the restaurant. The tandoori vegetables were delectable, with a nice flavour of melting cheese and the baby corn was tangy and appetising.
For the main course, I had chilli and olive naan, nooni Afghani and ulta tawa ki paratha. I'm not quite sure if olive goes with rotis, but the nooni Afghani, a flatbread made of milk, flour and shahi jeera was refreshingly different.
So was the ulta tawa ki paratha made of saffron, milk and refined flour on the underside of a pan. Though the roti was a little hard, the saffron added a sweetish richness to the roti.
Dumplings wrapped in papad
Along with the breads, I was served some palak with rasagollas made of paneer. The palak was the best I've ever tasted. Then there was the vegetable Patiala — vegetable dumplings wrapped in papad and cooked in an onion gravy and the kadai aloo ka bharta.
The gravies were lighter than the rotis and I found myself lapping them up without any breads. The main course also included a fluffly tarkari biryani.
But the desert of pyaz ki kheer, made of thrice-blanched onions in khoa-infused milk tasted nothing like onions. It was a nice kheer that could be had alongside a helping of hot moong dal halwa.
Since we're talking of sweet somethings, a visit to Saarangi must include sips of some lovely habiba or mango-flavoured yogurt, which remained my faithful companion through all three courses.
Best Western Premier La Marvella is located at 1, 14th cross, South End circle, 2nd block, Jayanagar. Call 43335333 for details.
