Yes! It's sizzling hot

This one is for those who love having ‘hot’ food – really ‘sizzling’ food. Yes we are talking about sizzlers! This dish which has gained a lot of popularity in the Indian market is served sizzling on a thick cast iron dish with a wooden base.

A complete dish in itself, any sizzler - be it veg or non-veg is served on a heavy metal sizzler plate with lots of boiled vegetables or chicken, fish etc, and mostly on a bed of rice. The plate is heated to a very high temperature separately and cooked food is put on it and after that hot oil or liquor is poured on the top. The sizzling sound it makes has given this dish the name ‘sizzler’.

It comes with a combination of assorted vegetables – stir-fried, with french fries, a portion of chicken or cottage cheese or anything in the centre commonly with rice. Chef Ashish Massey of Aanch in Rajouri Garden, says, “The way they are prepared and presented have made the dish quite popular. You also get a lot of variety in one sizzler. Initially, it became popular as ‘chinese sizzler’, but now people are reinventing them in different cuisines.”

The best food items that can be served as sizzlers are Chinese and Indian and it takes just 20 minutes for the dish to get prepared and five minutes to heat the sizzler plate before serving.

Ashish further aads, “The best combo in sizzlers are Chinese chilly chicken with fried rice or grilled chicken or beef steak with pilaf and any of the sauces accompanied with baked potatoes and Tawa Murgh with kushk rice or ghee rice.”

Sizzlers are also an interesting variant to the theme of starters as it is served with greens. They not only keep the food warm for a longer period, but also add to the aroma and style of the presentation.

Chef Preetam Singh from Uber Lounge in GK, says, “Usually a sizzler with a big chunk of chicken or lamb along with grilled vegetables goes well with the Indian taste. Veg sizzlers with paneer, honey potatoes, red and green pepper and corn salad are quite popular.”