It's raining Indian spices

TRADITIONAL TOUCH

It’s a spiced monsoon at Le Jardin, The Oberoi, as the restaurant presents a number of flavours from various parts of the country.

 Be it mustard from Bengal or ‘kacham puli’ from Coorg, the robust peppers of Andhra Pradesh or the Punjabi ‘garam masala’, you can be sure to satiate your craving for authentic Indian food at the restaurant.  

Indian food is known for its spice and the sheer variety and texture of spices that are available in India would leave even the Indians amazed. Their use in local cuisines is a marvel to discover and Chef Santhosh Kumar from The Oberoi agrees. “Something as basic as the ‘garam masala’ has so many variations. But not many know that. I even have a special ‘garam masala’ for the ‘biryani’. So our appetiser ‘bhatti da murg’ is an authentic Punjabi dish that’s consists of chicken marinated with Punjabi ‘garam masala’ and hung curd and cooked in the Indian clay oven,” he explains. “Another starter is the ‘prawn ajadina’ which consists of praws cooked in Badige chillies and grated coconut.

These chillies are spicier and add more tang to the dish,” he adds.

The other starters one can opt for are ‘Mandi boti kebab’ (boneless lamb marinated in red chilli paste, coriander seeds, Indian spices and cooked) from Himachal Pradesh, ‘beetroot chops’ from West Bengal (deep-fried beetroot mince with Indian spices), ‘tandoori anjeer’ (figs marinated with Indian spices and hung yoghurt cooked) and ‘paneer vepudu’ from Andhra Pradesh, which is deep-fried Indian cottage cheese marinated with Indian spices and curry leaves. 

Chef Santhosh has left no stone unturned for the main course as well as he presents ‘murgh rizala’, a Kashmiri preparation of chicken cooked in cashew-based gravy and the traditional Rajasthani ‘laal maas’. While those who love South Indian non vegetarian preparations can opt for the delicious Malabari fish curry and the traditional Coorgi style ‘pandi curry’, the vegetarians can feast ‘bagare baingan’ and ‘dum aloo Kashmiri’. “Our ‘pandi curry’ is made with ‘kacham puli’, which is a ‘kokum’ vinegar that’s available only in Coorg. When you mention pork, most people only think of Goan dishes and most restaurants serve pork vindaloo as well. But in very few places, you get good ‘pandi’ curry. So our idea is to showcase that and see the response of the people,” says Santhosh.  

A unique item for the vegetarians is the ‘gucchi kaju phool makhana’, which consists of Kashmiri morel, lotus seeds and cashewnuts cooked in a cashewnut-based gravy. Those with a sweet tooth can go for ‘elaneer payasam’ (tender coconut water cooked in coconut milk and flavoured with cardamom powder), ‘kulfi’ platter and ‘malai’ sandwich.

This ala carte menu is available everyday for dinner from July 14 to 30 at The Oberoi’s all-day dining restaurant Le Jardin.