With Jaypee Vasant Continental’s Paatra restaurant going vegetarian during the Navratra festival till October 21, the place is a delight for the vegetarians who besides the Navratra thali have a menu which is satvik, bereft of garlic and onions thus providing ample variety even for those not fasting. Respecting the religious sentiments of the devotees, all non-vegetarians items are off the menu with the entire kitchen becoming vegetarian. Being one, I was treated to exciting new dishes introduced for the festival besides the existing ones. “The focus is to innovate with cooking of satvik food and presenting it in a new style – continental,” explains Avinash Jha, Executive Chef of Jaypee Group of hotels.
The new drinks, mawe wali mango lassi and chandan sherbet with kesar and a touch of silver work, accompanied by a pre-starter of paneer kofte, potato and makhane (roasted), give a royal start to the proceedings.
“Instead of the traditional fare like aloo-puri, sitaphal and paneer, we have experimented and tweaked to introduce many new dishes. The cooking style is Rajasthani with emphasis on readily available raw ingredients and earthy cooking,” comments Avinash.
New starters, arbi aur moongphali and shakarkandi, nariyal aur kheere chaats are laid out. The peanuts give crunchy taste to nicely cooked arbi while the latter is a delight for those favouring a light start to the main course. Followed by palak aur akhrot ke kabab and dahi aur makhane ke modak, both were tasty. The kabab is made of kuttu and shingara atta and modak is made of hung yoghurt. The bharwan paneer tikka made of cottage cheese stuffed with mango dip marinated in pickle paste and yogurt has nice mixed taste. “Several of the new introductions will be moved to the regular menu after the festival as they have been immensely liked by the patrons,” reveals Avinash. A word of advice: Do not overindulge lest you miss out on the main course.
I am asked to start the main fare with singhaade aate ke dahi bhalle. Soft and suffused with flavour of curd and raisins there is a nice spread of khajur and dania chutney on it. I request for small portions. The broccoli kishmish kofta simmered in cashewnut based curry is an innovation of the usual kofta with crunchiness of broccoli sublimed by raisins. Tweaking the routine Navratra fare, sitaphal here we have the vegetable simmered in curd. Two new additions to satvik menu are subz pithod, a traditional Rajasthani delicacy in which dried yoghurt cakes are prepared with tomatoes. The other is shadras subziyan, an exceptional fusion dish made of broccoli, babycorn, mushrooms, bell peppers and asparagus. The usual Navratra fare, arhar dal, paneer lachha palak, dal tadka and aloo tamatari are also tasty. All this can be enjoyed with singhare aate ki poori and tawa roti – a new entrant for those wanting to avoid oil.
Saying no second helping I tasted three new desserts. “The cheena goli has small rasgullas cooked in cow milk in a way to retain the taste of the sweet,” explains Vaibhav Suri, Executive Sous Chef of Paatra. The lauki mawe ka halwa and singhare aate ke malpua aur rabdi too are interesting.
Winding up, Avinash sums the entire offering as a “balance of taste, skills and traditions served in style.” Considering the dishes and the service you have to agree.
