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The Great Food Guide A restaurant is not just an eatery anymore. It is a
place of entertainment, a temple Not too long ago, India entertained at home. there were a handful of good restaurants, and people who dined there were considered aiyyaash--degenerate idle rich. Today, the nation is self-confident and suffers no misplaced qualms about enjoying life. The culinary wheel seems to have come full circle. The '70s and '80s saw the growth of nightclubs and strip joints where razzle-dazzle and sleaze, respectively, flourished at the expense of good food. Interest in serious dining returned with the '90s. Today, one does not necessarily have to go to a deluxe hotel for a good meal. There are restaurants mushrooming all over to cater to the demand for fine dining. Millions are discovering the pleasures of dining out. In the process, we are witnessing the revival of India's grand cuisine, encountering exciting ethnic culinary streams from many parts of the world and, above all, the rebirth of the Indian gourmet. With double incomes, more disposable income and many tasty offers, dining out is not aiyyaashi--it is, for many, a zaroorat (necessity). To be sure, we are just beginning to evolve as a 'dining-out nation'. To grab the lion's share of this food-spend, restaurants are investing mind-boggling sums of money on concept, design, decor, hi-tech equipment and exotic ingredients. Matters of taste, appearance and style have assumed prime importance. Consequently, the dividing line between showbiz and foodbiz is blurring. As culinary chroniclers, we are privileged to be participant witnesses to this fascinating phenomenon. We have seen some restaurants sweep across like a meteor, a flash in the pan of what is still quite a lean gastronomic sky. Some keep twinkling, their radiance inexplicably fluctuating. Only a few have established themselves as shining stars in this slowly expanding galaxy. Here's our selection. Bukhara, New Delhi
With its rustic, craggy, stone walls made beautiful with a fine collection of Bukhara rugs and a plethora of copper vessels, Bukhara, nearly two decades since it opened, continues to be the most famous Indian restaurant in the world. Mere mention of Bukhara makes the carnivores salivate. We have witnessed, in awe, people devour a raan--whole leg of kid--and platterful of other kabab replicating a Roman orgy or a wild Mongol feast. Thirty-five kg of shelled jumbo prawns. Twenty-five kg of pomfret. 120 whole chickens for the ubiquitous Murgh Tandoori. Plus eight kg boned, for other chicken kabab . One hundred leg of kid of the Sikandari Raan, and 50 kg boned, for the other kid kabab . Fifty kg of paneer. And 90 litres, yes, all of 90 litres of Daal Bukhara, 50 kg of potatoes and 25 kg of bell peppers. The plethora of roti requires 100 kg of flour and 50 of atta. Doubtless, a fairly impressive weekly order sheet for any restaurant! Wonder is that at Bukhara, this is the daily requirement! The "can't miss'' kabab is Tandoori Jheenga. A more succulent grilled crustacean would be hard to find in any genre of cooking. Draped in a creamy yoghurt marinade and imbued with all the goodness of carom--ajwain to Bharatwasis--every bite is worth its price. Raan-e-Sikandari is the roast that rules the roost. "Massaged'' with a chilli-led melange of exotica and marinated in dark rum, this is the greatest leg show of any restaurant. For the vegetarian, the must-eat kabab is Tandoori Paneer, where cottage cheese is steeped in a saffron-enriched multiflour batter and glazed golden. And, Tandoori Phool, the delightful 'bouquet' of cauliflower, dipped in creamy besan, deep fried and then finished in the hot tandoor, created by Jaiswal in an inspired moment. Then there is the daal. The mere fact that the generic Daal Makhani or Maah di Daal, a 'fixture' on every single menu of a restaurant serving Indian food, is now better known as the Daal Bukhara, is eloquent testimony to its tomato puree-garlic-makhan-cream sumptuousness. Fort Cochin, Kochi
Their food influenced and in turn was influenced by the indigenous cuisine. The original inhabitants adopted--and adapted--the rich diversity of influences to suit their taste and meet their requirements. Today, we encounter a wonderful harmony of all these gourmet streams at Fort Cochin in The Casino Hotel. Arguably, the nation's finest seafood restaurant, the place is packed from gill to gill. This is a rare restaurant--in a near mini-metro, that is--where it would be foolhardy to walk in without a reservation. The place is booked. Period! The only solace: if you're willing to wait, it promises to serve the catch of the day. If you are ready for seafood, that is freshly grilled, broiled, stuffed, scampied, popcorned, steamed, Rockefellered, fettucinied, stir-fried, baked, iced, Creoled, garlicked, pestoed, linguinied, gumboed, fried, or oh! so fresh, then you have come to the right place. Be it rock lobster, crab, scampi, tiger prawns, mussels, squid, pearl fish, baby mullet, pomfret, red snapper or sole, Amin Ali and his brigade do it with panache. It is impossible to single out a delicacy for recommendation and while we suggest repeated visits, do try the Butterfly Prawns (so delectably peppery and fresh-coconut crumbed) for starters. And, Seafood Moiley (a medley of mussels, tiger prawns, sea crab, squid and baby mullet, simmered in creamy coconut milk and tempered with kari leaves and mustard seeds) for the main course. Dum Pukht, Hyderabad
Subsequently, wherever it has opened--Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and now Hyderabad--the event has been sensational. This is old-style fine dining and gracious entertaining. This pleasure requires leisure. We have chosen the Hyderabad Dum Pukht for this review because it showcases the delicate diversity of this cuisine better than its Delhi kin does, which, until recently, concentrated exclusively on the Avadh stream. Expecting a replica of the Delhi restaurant, we were more than deliciously surprised to discover that the Hyderabad Dum Pukht has restored the Deccan delicacies of the dum genre to their rightful place. The eatery's quiet elegance enhances the enjoyment of one of the subtlest pleasures of Indian cuisine--the khwan. The khwan traces its 'ancestry' to Turkish and Persian 'parentage'. Hyderabad is inheritor to both influences, which were continuously reinforced during the Asaf Jahi dynasties. The khwan itself is a flat-bottomed, round wooden 'plate', commonly used by the Muslim citizenry of Hyderabad when they send food to one another--on celebratory occasions. The basis of the khwan is balance. Balance between palate and aroma. Balance between texture and eye appeal. Balance between the traditional and the contemporary. The overriding concern is to blend nutrition with aesthetic enjoyment. This fine tradition has been revived at Dum Pukht, Hyderabad's spanking new eatery at the Grand Kakatiya Hotel by Habib Rehman and Javed Akbar, who have created a contemporary khwan, akin to a thali, in silver. Mohammed Farrukh preserves the Avadh element. His father, Haji Fakre Alam, who died a few of years ago, at the ripe old age of 104, was regarded as the greatest cook of his generation. Farrukh's repertoire preserves the priceless recipes of his illustrious father--and more. The high spot of the menu, though, is the wonderful array of Hyderabadi classics. The vegetarians can feast on Tamate ka Saalan, a piquant delicacy combining cottage cheese 'eggs' and stuffed tomatoes in a sweet 'n' sour gravy. Or Dakhani Saag, which goes one better than most spinach delicacies as it incorporates all the seasonal leafies in one dish. Or Daal Saat Nizam, a rare dish incorporating seven lentils--wheat grain being co-opted as the seventh--tempered seven times in tribute to the seven scions of the Asaf Jahi dynasty and, arguably, the finest daal in the land. The selection for the meat-eaters is more plentiful, albeit prodigiously red meat, perhaps in deference to the Dakhani predilection for the bakra. From Kabab Habibia's delicate kid pasanda tenderised in an aromatic marinade redolent with all spice, and charbroiled. To the kid mince of the Dolma, cooked on dum with coriander, mint and green chillies and served with egg yolks. To Sainak Gosht, which is boneless tikka of kid, marinated in coconut, yoghurt and the ubiquitous pathar ke phool, sealed and simmered in virgin clay pots. © Living Media India Ltd |
Chajju da chaubara, na balak na
bukhara. To this day, the ancient Punjabi saying implies that there is no place like home.
Then, as now, the city of Bukhara in Uzbekistan has had an astonishing hold on the Indian
imagination. Then for its priceless rugs, now for the matchless food served at the
restaurant named after it at the Welcomgroup Maurya Sheraton in Delhi. This is where the
legacy of the legendary Madan Lal Jaiswal is tastefully preserved. 
Kochi--better known as Cochin--is a
city that has welcomed visitors from time immemorial. The Arab, Portuguese and Dutch
seafarers left their impress on this archipelago, as also others who carried on commerce
with Kubla Khan's China. It is they who brought back the cantilevered fishing nets that
have become synonymous with this city. There isn't a more beautiful sight than these nets
against the backdrop of the setting sun. This is also the coast that witnessed the advent
of Christianity, Judaism and Islam over the centuries. These peoples, of different faiths,
brought with them their unique culinary preferences and cooking methods. They didn't
probably know at the time that they were coming to God's spice garden. 
This is one of those stellar
restaurants that have described a dazzling journey across the country's culinary
firmament. The launch of Dum Pukht, in 1988, created a stir. What warmed the cockles of
our hearts was the wide acceptance of the style of food and service alike. Our stand stood
vindicated. It seemed that the renaissance of Indian cuisine had finally begun. In the
intervening five years, Dum Pukht has always led the pack. What is heartening, though, is
that, after overcoming their initial reluctance, others are joining the race to improve
and excel.