An unusual treat

FUSION FOOD

Zambar offered a variety of mouth-watering delicacies during the food festival.

Flavours that would make your tummy growl wafted through the Zambar at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj.

The restaurant offered East Indian delights at a recent food festival by serving a fusion of traditional Maharashtrian cuisine juxtaposed with authentic Portuguese. The recipes were culled from chef Micheal Swamy’s book titled The East Indian Kitchen.

Known for its coastal delicacies, Zambar ventured into another area with head chef Arun Kumar as he prepared culinary delights such as Portuguese style Bitter Gourd Crisps, Crumb Fried Chicken seasoned with Indian herbs and spices, Vegetable Foogath drizzled with a combination of 36 sun roasted spices, coastal Mutton Green Curry, Mutton Vindaloo spiked with red Kashmiri chilli, Chinchoni Fish Curry and Vegetable Green Curry accompanied with Arroz Pulao and Appam.

Arun says, “The Maharashtrian cuisine uses a type of masala called ‘bottle masala’ which comprises of around 36 ingredients. This masala and other such traditional ingredients are imported from the coastal belt to give the dishes an authentic taste.”

Describing the procedure of cooking popular dish Mutton Vindaloo, Arun says, “The gravy is cooked first and then meat is allowed to simmer in it for about 45 minutes to an hour till it absorbs all the flavours of the masala from the gravy.”

Shilpa Khurana, a Human Relation manager loved the Country Captain Chicken. She says, “The way the chicken was cooked is absolutely amazing because all the flavours create such a taste that can hardly be expressed in words. Even a starter like Crumb Fried Chicken tasted absolutely fantastic because of its herbs.”

Desserts such as Coastal Crème Caramel and Shingada Peethacha Sheera were no less mouth-watering.

While savouring the culinary delights, Himanshu Arora says, “It’s a treat to have a variety in terms of food by adding fusion to it. Especially the Arroz Pulao was fantastic with the flavour of caramelised onions and dry fruits in it.”

While the appetisers, main course and desserts all were enjoyed by the patrons, innovative drinks such as Cucumber Cooler and traditional Rasam, were also an instant hit.