Smoked Biryani House ; authentic Hyderabadi biryani?

The mention of authentic Hyderabadi biryani is what lured us to a far flung restaurant in NOIDA (sector 18) and we were very kicked about it when we planned the day after a couple of months of almost constant travel. I crave for home cooked simpler food when I am back from travel but this Smoked Biryani House that claimed to serve Hyderabadi biryani made us plan for a long drive just to eat good Hyderabadi food. It is another story that we ended up being a bit baffled by the end.

We were looking around sector 18 to locate the restaurant when we spotted a few home delivery vehicles with Smoked Biryani House carrier boxes, climbed up the stairs to enter a quite restaurant with comfortable seating, quaint ambiance. It was during Navratras and we were late for a weekend lunch, a good time if you want to avoid the rush hour.

Seeing a constant stream of the delivery boys carrying home delivery packages downstairs and black and white pictures form the old city of Hyderabad on the walls had piqued up our interest as well as appetite as we waited for our orders to arrive. The restaurant manager came to talk to us and kept telling us stories about how the 'smoked biryani' came into being and how the Chefs are flown in from Hyderabad, we felt like eager hungry kids to dig into a cauldron of spicy Hyderabadi biryani.

But we had to order a few starters before that and thank God we did so. The starters were all good.
The best was Apollo fish, a new preparation for us, grilled fish smeared with minced ginger-chilly-coriander greens and bits of cashew, hint of tamarind and nice balancing of flavours, well done fish.

We liked the Chicken 65 too, the Indo-Chinese of the southern variety, we have had a few versions of Chicken 65 and this one did not disappoint. Good amalgamation of textures and flavours that we liked. The Chennai version of Chicken 65 is different but we don't mind eating a hybrid dish changed a bit if it is still tasty.

Veg Mancurian is another Indo Chinese fusion that surprised us, it was well made. We also ordered Shami kababs and Tandoori fish and found both of these good. Shami kabab can be found in many many variations as this is the most common kabab on every menu, this one was done well. Tandoori fish was succulent, well marinated Basa fish grilled perfectly. The red coloured onion rings served with the kababs and tandoori fish are good too.

Note that there is no superlative goodness about these starters but each of these we tried were well done, good food at this price point (ranging from 200-300 Rs).

But the story took a turn when we ordered the main course. The Andhra Mutton curry was a sad concoction that lacked flavours although it looked creamy and rich. We tried the Veg Biryani, the Chicken Biryani and the Mutton Biryani and ended up looking at each other. Biryanis are presented well here, with a smoking piece of charcoal placed over each potful of biryani but the biryani doesn't taste smoked nor it brings the Hyderabad taste to your palate. Why this biryani is named as Hyderabadi biryani?

But to be honest, the biryani is not bad. The rice is long grained, well cooked and not greasy that I like in a biryani, the meat is well done, tastes good but there is no communication between the meat and the rice. I mean the rice grains have no flavour of the meat at all. A well made kachhe gosht ki biryani is much more flavourful.

The veg biryani was good, actually better than we expected.

But then again I was so happy with the Mirchi ka salan that comes with the Biryani and the Baghara Baingan that we had ordered. Both these were well made, true to their roots. I loved these so much I was thinking of ordering only Mirchi ka Salan and Baghara Baingan from this place the other day. Both are my favourite dishes and both were done so well.

Clearly this restaurant is a new establishment that has become popular for home deliveries. But they have not been able to fix a few things although Chef Bilal from Hyderabad supposedly has worked at Paradise (the famous Hydrabad Biryani place). He probably made salan and baghara baingan at Paradise we concluded :-) He definitely needs to fix the biryani and the desserts.

Oh I am yet to tell you about the desserts. DO NOT order desserts here is my humble advise.

The Lauki ki kheer is loaded with nuts but excessively sweet and lacks any flavour. Khubani ka meetha is just too meetha to get any flavour of khubani, even the texture is bad. Double ka meetha is a suspicious piece of dense fudge that is drowned in synthetic colour and loads of sugar like the other counterparts. In fact all three desserts were made using synthetic colours.

I gave my feedback to the chef and the manager and am hoping they will fix the desserts and the rest of the things soon. The staff is humble and courteous I must add. Service is good.

I tasted a few few really good things here and a few of the worst too. The bigger concern I have here is the claim to be a Hyderabadi Biryani place and there is nothing remotely Hyderabadi in anything we tasted, apart from the mirchi ka salan and baghara baingan.

There are better Hyderabadi biryanis in town, one is very close to our place in Old Rajinder Nagar opposite Rapid Flour Mill.

Shahjahanabad ki sair ; a food festival of old Delhi's cuisine at Ssense, The Surya Hotel

It is always a privilege to be talking to someone who has raised foodie kids. That means you are talking to someone who has been foodie as a kid and has imbibed a lot of flavours since childhood, has adapted old cooking techniques with new ingredients and also has infused flavours of the past into the present day food. Albeit with a little complaint about the quality of meat and fish and everything else that we get in today's world, they whip up magic in their food day after day. Keeping a bit of history alive through food and flavours.

We met Mrs. Nazish Jalali the day before and was completely floored by the way she told stories of her childhood spent in the royal state of Rampur where she got to taste and replicate food cooked in the erstwhile royal kitchens. Brought those recipes to her marital home and learnt Old Delhi food here in the tutelage of her mother-in-law. She loves sharing these stories with whoever is interested in them.

Her son Osama Jalali, is a well known food critique and is compiling recipes of Rampur into a book these days, trying to revive the dying art of cooking slowly with love and real spices, treating the spices the way they are intended for the season. He talks elaborately about the meat cuts to be used in a particular kabab or curry and what would be the test of a wrong cut being used in kachhe gosht ka kabab etc and his mother chips in the with the little story about how he was enamored by a live tandoor in a family wedding and has been photographed peeping inside the tandoor, all at a ripe age of four. Yes, barely walking and smitten by food and it's making, that is Osama for you.

This 'Shahjahanabad ki sair' is a food festival on the lines of a pop up event where Osama and Nazish, the mother-son duo have curated the menu and have been cooking everyday along with the hotel staff to bring the accurate flavours of home cooked food from Old Delhi. Delhi in older times was known as Shahjahanabad and we did take a walk through the lanes hearing stories of a 24 hr clinic of Osama's father and how all the khansamas of old Delhi were his patients and often the gratitude used to come in the form of Korma or Nihari.

The first question I asked the Jalalis was about the difference between the street food of old Delhi served famously at Karim's and Al Jawahar and the home cooked food in the same lanes of the city. Pat came the reply clearing all my doubts. The street food was meant for the worker class that slogged hard during the day and needed a robust rich meal to nourish themselves. The worker class had little time and resources to cook for themselves and had almost no finesse to appreciate delicate flavours and light cooking. They relished the hot spicy and robust curries slow cooked by these khandani khansamas and found good nourishment too. That doesn't mean that the old Delhi street food is any less in it's popularity, we have been going there to relish the robust richness quite often ourselves.

On the other hand home cooked food has always been lighter and a delicate blend of spices differentiates it from the food we find on the streets. Many of these meat curries are cooked with vegetables and those Bhidi Gosht, Arbi Gosht, Lauki Gosht, Shalgam Gosht etc we wouldn't find anywhere in the old Delhi shops.

The vegetables cooked in old Delhi homes would never be served on the street shops. This Parval ki subzi was so good I ate it like a salad. Tomato infused masala with mild spices and the parval cooked just right.

We got to taste this Alu Gosht that was so good it felt like potatoes were born to fall for this slow cooked meat curry. We had very small portions to taste because we had to taste a lot of food, else I would have loved this curry on it's own as a full meal.

But before that we had a taste of the Kabab platter that had chicken and mutton seekh along with a Kachhe Gosht ka Kabab that was a class apart. Made using 'raan ka gosht' (meat from the thighs) this kabab was all meat infused with cardamoms and light garam masala. The seekhs also had prominent notes of Badi elaichi but very balanced spicing.

Then came the Nihari that was enriched with the bone marrow from goat shank and we could taste the richness imparted by the marrow. Nazish starts cooking Nihari first thing in the morning and slow cooks this meat for 6-7 hours so that you get the gelatinous gravy and melt in the mouth meat.

We loved the Mutton Korma and the Hari mirch ka Keema which is richly infused with the chilly flavours of the thick skinned fat chillies from Rajasthan but you wouldn't find any chilly heat in it. It was quite different from the Lasun Mirch wala keema that I cook.

Biryani was well done with meat cooked to perfection and the grains of rice infused with the flavours of meat and spices, just as it should be. The Biryani in old Delhi is served with a red chilly chutney that I liked a lot, even after being partial to Awadhi Biryanis cooked with basmati rice.

Desserts were Zarda and Sewaiyyan. Both done well though I don't eat desserts much.

We all had a paan and enjoyed it to the last bit. This was one shahi dawat that felt like being served in a cozy private dining room in heirloom 'tin plated' copper ware, even water being poured out of antique jugs. See how I am chewing pan even in the picture we got clicked to call it a day.

More than the momentary pleasure of the sensory faculties, this dawat was an education that will be with us forever. Thanks to Osama and Nazish Jalali for hosting us and treating us with the stories to remember.

Soda Bottle Opener Wala, the Irani cafe in NCR and my tryst with Parsi food

We have such diverse culture of cuisines, some foods we eat have had a history deeply rooted in our own land and some others came travelling across the mountains or sailing across oceans. All our regional foods have had influences from the travelers and traders coming to India and many new ingredients have been added to our repertoire of vegetables and fruits. So the cuisine of the land kept getting richer and richer as as we welcomed the potatoes and tomatoes of the world with open arms. The chillies of various hues and shapes became as Indian as the black peppers. I love the way we have so many shades of foods and cuisines spread lavishly all over our country. We make new discoveries now and then, the beauty of living in abundance.

Parsi food was a new discovery of sorts amidst the quirky decor and witty one liners strewn all over a quaint little place called Soda bottle opener wala. Yes even the name of a restaurant is quirky, just like the Parsis are.

I have not known Parsi food much, I wish I had known the nuances better. I have tried a few recipes from the magazines I have been rummaging since ages. Even before internet there were these magazines and I learnt the lagan nu custard, popatji (a Parsi version of small fried pancakes of Dutch origin called Poffertjes), patrani machhi and salli boti. My Parsi repertoire was limited to these and I never questioned myself on how authentic Parsi my dishes tasted as I have never had them in a Parsi household.

And then I heard of this new restaurant in Cyberhub named as Sodabottleopenerwala, an enterprise of the famous restaurateur A.D. Singh and the menu conceptualized by Chef Sabyasachi Gorai. A Parsi restaurant that resonates with the Irani cafes of old Bombay, it was a much needed space to be filled in the Punjabi heartland. The reviews kept pouring in, I saw the pictures that friends shared and the place kept calling me. I was meaning to go there since the very beginning but something or the other kept me from it. It was Ruchira who suggested we meet there and the plan was made within minutes, Deeba reached early, I had to ask for directions and Cyberhub took our breath away by it's vibrant young crowd, an art exhibition going on and fancy eateries all around.

The menu cards are so quirky you would hold them for a while and smile wide.
Iranis don't feast with their eyes, but their nose. One of the 'statements' on the menu card says.

Did I tell you how we loved the food and stuffed ourselves to the gills. Literally. I felt as if I had known Parsi food for ever, easy on the palate, homely and served with so much warmth.

Raspberry soda was phenomenal, lightly sweet and tart drink with soda that includes the pulp and crunchy seeds of raspberry. They say 'Nothing comes between an Irani and his egg, except Raspberry'. No wonder :-)

The Masala Soda was good, the sweetest of the lot as expected, but good. The muddled Shikanjbin with crushed plums was wonderful. Good drinks to wash down the ample amount of food we had.

We tried the Goan Sausage Pao, the Kheema Pao, Tameta Papeta per Eeda, Aloo Aunty's Vegetable Cutlet, Bhendi Bazar Sheek Paratha and the Vada Pav. Each one was better than the other and even the chutneys and onion rings were perfect.

Aloo Aunty's Vegetable Cutlet was panko crusted mixed vegetable cutlet, one of the best vegetables cutlet that I have tasted, very good texture. The tamarind chutney served with it was perfect too.

The Vada Pao was just like we had at a Linking Road shop at Bombay, yummy to the core. The Keema Pao was lipsmackingly  good. The keema subtly spiced and the Pao soft and spongy, FRESH. The portions are so suitable for my kind of eating, you can have 2 nibbles of bread with all the keema, the way I like it.

Tameta Pateta per Eeda is totally my kind of food, those who follow me on my facebook page, would know why. It felt like comfort food :-)

The Bhendi Bazar Sheek Paratha is yet another classic, though I don't like any roti of this kind now, but the taste and textures in this were something I would have loved 2 decades back. It reminded me of a few favourites from the past. This one thing I wont order when I go back to SBOW again but I know many who would be content with only this kind of sheek paratha.

The Parsi special Patra-ni Machhi was done using Basa fillets, small parcel of coconut soaked fish with flavours of coriander greens. Done perfectly I must say, though I like it with Pomfret or Bhetki fillets better. But Basa is becoming popular with Delhi folks as most of them don't like a fishy fish.

Nicely done, good flavours.

By now, I was eyeing the Berry pulao. Yes I was. It looked so good and the server told us to mix it well so the flavors seep into the rice, Ruchira mixed it well and we took several helpings of this delectable Berry pulao with boneless chicken.

One of the best pulaos that I have had. I want to recreate it at home definitely.

 Oh I want to cook it next week. Can't wait for this berry pulao, or I might go to SBOW again. This is addictive stuff.

This Kolmi vada is a Prawns fritter that is nested within rings of onion, battered lightly and deep fried. The sinful indulgence that makes you feel guilty. I stopped myself at one, but it was done perfectly.

Salli Boti was a known flavour. This is the only dish that is made using mutton on bone as Arunava (Manager at SBOW) informed us and it does full justice.

 I loved the way almost everything is served in baking pans and tins. It adds the feel of home cooked food, served in a homely manner. The only place I know that serves food in baking pans is The pizzeria at Banaras, that is in its own league.

The desserts were good too. The Five Star Brownie kept Ruchira amused. It was good indulgence of dark chocolate and bits of five star chocolate in it, oozing the salted caramel.

The Toblerone Mousse was good too.  I am not too find of chocolate so took a bite from each. Both were well made.

 I found the Mawa Cake really good. Might bake it myself sometime soon. A rich, slightly dense cake that is tastes great by itself. Would be a good accompaniment to tea or coffee. Loved the presentation, slightly quirky, totally classy I must add.

The reason I like all our traditional foods is, the food is real. Not factory produced uniform shapes of this and that assembled in a front kitchen that tastes boring even though the food is addictive sometimes, thanks to additives and taste enhancers. Not the case with real food served by passionate Chefs working in real kitchens. This was the thought when I dug into the Tameta Papeta per Eeda and found it as good as home cooked. And the story unfolded into even better flavours, you witnessed it with me right now.

It really felt like sitting with a Parsi family and the icing on the cake was when Anahita Dhondy suggested a lemongrass ginger brewed tea to wash down the crumbs of Mawa Cake. It was just perfect.

The only thing I would never order is that stupid Falooda. I hate falooda even though it has one of my favourite things in it. The subza seeds. Subza seeds (Basil seeds) are wasted in Falooda I feel.

Okay I wont crib about falooda now. I didn't take a sip from the glass and I loved loved every single thing we tried at SBOW. That is incredible by any means

I never knew Lemongrass and ginger brewed tea was a staple in Parsi Households. It has been my favourite for ages. I told you I felt at home, I felt like eating in a Parsi household.

Wanted to tell you one more thing, I always get the idea about an eatery by the kind of people it attracts, that is when we travel and look for places to eat. Here at Soda Bottle Openerwala you would see many Parsis frequenting the place, many of them senior citizens and that makes you trust the place even more.

I was talking about history that is deeply rooted in the food culture. Sodabottleopenerwala keeps the promise.

purani Dilli Al Karam Kebab House : a piece of the walled city in the heart of Millennium city

We have been in love with the food from purani dilli already. That ishtoo from Al Jawahar is legendary, Korma from Karim's and those small hole in the wall shops that sell wonderful kababs, kheer, halwa and many such foods from the past. Matia Mahal in purani dilli is a place well preserved in time as the aromas, the sights and sounds remind you of older cities, the smaller towns and food from your grandmother's homes.

There are many old nuggets to find every time you are there and that is how Varun Veigas, a young pharmacist happened to be dining at Afsar's Al Karam and he struck a chord with the owner Umez bhai, who came across a friendly person and pointed him to other places of interest around Matia Mahal. Varun asked Umez bhai why he was not taking his food outside the walled city and that is when he felt that these people want to showcase their talent but lack of opportunities and may be a lack of business acumen too, is holding them back. He invited them to Gurgaon, Umez bhai and his team followed suit and the rest is making ripples in the food world of the millennium city, that is Gurgaon. Purani dilli Al Karam Kebab house is located at DLF phase 4 market amongst many nice eateries around, we found it jam packed when we arrived and this was just after a week of its existence. You know what I mean.

Very basic interiors, reminding of the eateries of purani Dilli, a kabab grill at the entrance completes the picture for you. I was there for a private tasting session and the array of kababs (or kebabs) and curries from the walled city was just perfect for the onset of winters. The grilling of kababs over charcoal is such a winter thing and one is awestruck by the way they painstakingly prepare the meat, tenderising it with raw papaya, spicing it right, wrapping it around the skewers and grilling them perfect before you dig in.

 We tasted the Seekh kababs, Kakori kababs, Gilafi kababs, Dhaga kabab and Shami kababs. You would find chicken tikka and malai tikka etc as well.

Seekh kababs are succulent and soft, meaty and robustly spiced. The green boorani chutney and onion rings that are served ont he side do absolute justice with these delicate textured kababs.

Kakori kababs are a bit milder in spicing with bits of  cashew nuts strewn in. These are the kababs you can have anytime. They would make a nice meal by itself wrapped in roomali rotis along with onion rings and that chutney.

Gilafi kabab came in a white creamy sauce. Buttery, creamy and delicious. Bits of vegetables and a rich sauce makes it suitable for all those who love milder spicing as all the fats tone down the spices.

Shami kababs were a bit more robust on spices than I like normally, but good taste nevertheless. This would be lovely with a ulte tawe ka paratha may be, or roomali roti. I can't eat much rotis or parathas, just a few bites and I feel full. But kababs I can eat on their own, the onion rings and chutney for company.

Dhaga kabab was a threaded seekh kabab, delicate meat sausage secured with a string. More of a drama than taste I think, taste wise all kababs were great.

And then there was this Achari biryani. I had never had a biryani made with pickling spices, this one was a good surprise. The good thing is, they serve biryani in a quarter portion as well, priced really affordable even for students. The biryani is served with a generous helping of fresh yogurt and makes a nice meal in itself.

Loved the Haleem with a generous layer of ghee floating on it. Rich with nut paste, the haleem doesn't miss the taste of lentils in it, the way I like it. I recommend the haleem strongly if you want another main dish after you order the kababs and Nihari.

Nihari is a slow cooked dish that originated in the walled city of old Delhi and at Al Karam kebab house, this will be another bestseller I feel. Well done.

The Ishtoo (mutton stew) was good but I like the Al Jawahar Ishtoo better. Korma was nice and well balanced, both of us loved it.

 
What surprised me after having these robustly spiced kormas and ishtoo, was a white chicken curry they named Kashmiri chicken.  The curry is milky, lot of cream and nut paste in it and raw khoya sprinkled on top along with ginger julienne and coriander greens. The flavors were not Kashmiri at all, but reminded me of the curries of my own Banaras. Khoya, milk and aromatic spices dominate the kormas and curries of Banaras and this one had a hint of that mildness. A yummy chicken curry with khameeri roti, just don't look for anything Kashmiri in it.

The chicken Badami was another surprise. I had never eaten anything made with just the gizzards and hearts of chicken and this curry was a milky creamy stir fry of sorts made just with those. Surprisingly good, I recommend if you like gizzards just like Arvind does.

We tasted everything in small bits and were full by this time. I requested Varun to get really tiny portions of Kulfi when he insisted we have to taste all 4 flavours. These are Kuremal ki kulfi sourced directly from purani Dilli so there was never a doubt about the goodness. Anjeer kulfi is yummy, kesar pista is not a favorite but still I loved it. But the best was Pan kulfi which had a whole betel leaf in it. The best paan I have ever had, in any form I must say. Orange kulfi is something I wont order when there are such good options to choose from. These kulfis are the best money can buy, a result of generations of kulfi making.

I have always loved the way our traditional khansamas cook, the almost religious faith they have in food and it's powers of winning hearts. The wisdom and knowledge that is passed on to generations, the cooking techniques that are perfected so much they don't need to check temperatures and cooking time, it becomes instinctive for them. I love it how they watch people eating their food with a great satisfaction, taking all the praise with a faint smile always. There is a hint of pride in the food they cook and we could see how the Al Karam team was glad to see we liked their food.

Enough to get smitten by the old world charm.

a culinary demonstration at Indian Accent and interacting with Chef Manish Mehrotra over lunch

Indian Accent is a place I have been planning to go for sometime. And then I chanced upon tasting the food supervised by Chef Manish Mehrotra at the launch of the book First Food by CSE held at India Habitat Center. That was traditional Indian food from rural India served at the launch of First Food, all the recipes were from the book but the way the food was executed in it's absolute glory, left me spellbound. Indian food is versatile and a little bit of creativity in serving and combining flavors, adding a few garnishes and a bit of finesse in plating makes it a pleasure to experience. That pleasure awaits you at Indian Accent, located a bit in the maze of huge bungalows and clubs around Friends colony (west), look for number 77, The Manor.

Very peaceful green surroundings, and a quite serene charm inside, you are enveloped with the magic of the gorgeous trees, bird chirping and the little knick knacks that are placed strategically. I loved the location being a nature lover, something like finding a treasure far from the urban jungle.

A few journalists and bloggers were invited for a culinary demonstration by Chef Manish Mehrotra, which was preceded by an elaborate lunch planned by the Chef himself. We got to taste small servings of many of his creations that left us speechless.

Interestingly, when I introduced Banaras ka Khana to Chef Manish Mehrotra, I was pleasantly surprised to know he had already read this blog while researching for Banaras food and wanted to recreate the Tamatar ki chaat. I promised him a good tamatar ki chaat some day.

It's always nice to meet people with similar interests over good food, especially when an immensely talented chef has taken care of what all you eat. Manish Mehrotra told us about how the blue cheese naans are a hot favorite and how they make sure the boneless Basa fish fillet get a little fish flavor by added shrimp crackers on top. There were many innovative ideas to be witnessed that afternoon.

I would recommend pepper prawns which came with lightly stir fried kundru with them. I am impressed with this inclusion of such a frugal vegetable. It tasted great and texture was just right. The pao bhaji with cute little paos, the rawa fry fish, the achari spare ribs, the desi tacos are all impressive flavors. Among starters you would see some chaat flavors to die for.

The morel (guchhi, the Kashmir mushrooms) in a cheese sauce served with a parmesan cracker is a strong recommendation if you like mushrooms. The plumpest morels with superbly cheesy flavors. Loved it. The baked king scallops with moilee reduction is to die for. We learned this baked king scallops recipe from Chef along with a tofu kofta with gourd sauce and a dessert of jaggery and coconut creme brulee.

What impressed me more that they had great vegetarian options as well, and they brought excellent options for gluten intolerant people too. Someone on our table was gluten intolerant and Chef Manish had enough options to serve her. Kudos for such versatility.

The palate cleansers were served in innovative containers. Frozen sorbets were served in miniature ironing press and a miniature pressure cooker, a superb conversation piece. A frozen treat in a container that stands for heat. Lovely idea. It was a yummy pomegranate and kala namak sorbet, much loved flavors from our childhood chooran ki goli as Chef Manish says.

Desserts were even more fun but I can't have much sweet so a tsp each was good enough for me. A besan ka laddoo tart and coconut jaggery brulee was good. I loved the presentation but I am not the right person to judge a dessert as I am not much into sweets. Everyone else loved them all.

The culinary demo was a complete hands down experience of watching a creative person playing with his instruments and ingredients. The kitchen and the classroom has been designed very nicely so one can see the Chef cooking even in a mirror placed strategically.

He cooked silken tofu kofta, squash curry sauce served over wok tossed quinoa first. I like how Chef included lauki in this sauce.

The next thing to be cooked was a beautiful baked king scallops, thalassery pepper butter with moilee reduction. The recipe is here.

The dessert was flambeed with all the drama after making the custard and chilling it in an earthen bowl. It was a coconut and jaggery custard, bruleed to give it a hard caramelised crust. I love this kind of desserts, especially with coconut. Brulee or no brulee, coconut and jaggery make a dessert great for me.

This culinary demo costs 2700 for a day, including a demonstration of 3 dishes, a 3 course meal and a recipe booklet. There is a 2 day culinary demo with 3 dishes each day and there is one more 3 day demonstration priced a bit higher but complete value for money. Try them if you want to learn nuances of making Indian food look great and taste like your grandmothers cooking.

Talking to Chef Mehrotra leaves you touched with the magic, he is a passionate foodie who recalls forgotten flavors from his childhood and brings them to Indian Accent. His travels all across the world have enriched his repertoire. I would want to learn more and share more with the chef any day.

Truck along the trunk | a dhaba at The Claridges...

Dhaba is a small highway eatery that serves freshly cooked meals to truckers and roadies of all ilk. The food is always local, freshly cooked and served on minimalist plates, seating is always rustic. Most of them are open air, although we see many air conditioned dhabas on the highways these days but none of them match to the local smoky whiff of real food the small dhabas serve.

Dhabas, however small, do roaring business in the north India and I know many many people who plan their road trips based on which dhaba to encounter on the way by mealtimes. And then there will be some dhabas popping up in the middle of nowhere while you drive. You settle down, have your tea, fill your water bottles and a delicious daal roti, baingan ka bharta, saag paneer  type meal will be ready on the sly. All smoky with freshly fired wood, the meals are done from scratch right in front of your eyes in most of those quaint dhabas. I am reminded of one past Lucknow on the way to Banaras where we had the best naturally smoked daal once, the taste is imprinted in my memory.

The recent experience of a dhaba was at The Claridges  where Truck along the Trunk is the ongoing festival of dhaba cuisine. The grand trunk road is the longest highway and numerous dhabas dot the entire length of it. You see a truck when you enter The Dhaba at The Claridges.

When a star hotel does dhaba cuisine, you trudge with caution and order a pineapple juice first to settle down. Pineapple juice makes me feel calmer after a hectic work day. Aishwarya and Sushmita were good company while others at CAL bloggers table missed this dhaba.

Warm, rustic interiors welcome you when you are ushered into the dhaba of The Cladridges. The first impression is that of a cramped space with worn out tables and charpoy type seats. A hand written menu on a black board, cane roofing, lanterns and all those detailings so perfectly done. Old Hindi songs playing in the background and you get transported to a new place in the heart of Delhi.

A bit of struggle to settle is, the seating isn't very comfortable but you would forget all discomfort once you start with the food. The pineapple juice that I ordered came out in the form of sweet lime juice, I don't mind as long as the food keeps promise.

Errr..but please folks, it should be either un-cushioned chairs just like dhaba or the cushions need to be comfy. I don't want to keep struggling with the cushion while I eat good food.

There is a radio perched on a wooden shelf, the menu looks like a number plate of a giant truck and there are pickle martbans and old copper utensils placed all over the walls. I loved these elements.

Some kitsch art, some more rural elements here and there..

You get the drift. I wont blame the uncomfortable seats. The food was great. Well, the most of it. I shall tell you what all to choose.

The chaamp tawa kabab is a large thin and crisp kabab that is made of mutton mince, and a breast bone is stuck into it to give it a chaamp look. Perfect textures, meatiness and spicing in a dhaba style kabab. I loved it.

The seekh kabab had coarser meat texture, perfectly succulent and redolent with coriander greens freshness. These are huge kababs so order judiciously and share the portions I would say.

The tawa fish (named Surjeet de dhabe di tali machhi) was ajwaini type fried fish with besan coating, this is not my favorite preparations of fish so I wont say much about it, the fish was flavorful and succulent though, well made and those who like amritsari fish would enjoy it to the core..

 What surprised me in the starters, was a Jalandhari paneer tikka that looked like any red paneer tikka. I have never liked paneer tikka much, but this one was huge and still made me finish the whole thing. Soft, succulent paneer, perfectly marinated and lightly charred.

Pudina akhrot ki tikki looked like just another tikki but packed nice walnut flavors, a good surprise. The pyaz aur makai ki seekh is just avoidable, it was doughy and flavorless. The chutneys provided with the starters are not something I liked, though I didn't need any chutney with all of these really good kababs and tikkas. The sliced onion sprinkled with chaat masala and lime was perfect accompaniment.

Among the main course, a few of my favorite dishes appeared to my delight. My all time favorite langar wali daal which was done right (though not the best I have had), the sookhi mung ki daal was just perfect. Dry but moist and delicately spiced, dhaniya patta et al.  Kesar de dhabe da baingan bharta and bheja curry would take you back to Punjab. Bheja curry is just like an egg scramble with mild flavorings of ginger, chilly and coriander greens, minimal spicing, great flavors. Nicely done I must say. The soya nuggets masala curry named rehdi wala soyabean masala was also good, more because I like soy nuggets with Indian spices.

The Dhaba team actually went to kesar da dhaba and other dhabas around Amritsar to taste the real dhaba food of north India to recreate the most authentic taste. They did a great job.

The balti meat was wonderfully soft, falling off the bone and definitely slow cooked in rustic spices. No oil floating on top, no cream or butter topping and yet the curry was so nicely rich and tasty.

Two types of flat breads were served, one was announced keema kulcha while it turned out to be aloo kulcha. Was nicely made. Another was a onion topped whole wheat missi roti. I don't dig much into breads so that was conveniently ignored.

Among the desserts we loved the rooh do kheer and pinni. Both were really really nice. Kheer rich and creamy, cooked in sugarcane juice and not refined sugar, a delight for me. The pinni was shaped like a cuboid burfi (usually pinni is round) topped with chopped nuts, I loved it. The chewiness of fried gond (gum Acacia), perfectly fried besan and mild sweet. I was reminded of how long it has been since I made any pinni. This was really really nostalgic having pinni though I was so full I just kept nibbling into a small piece for some 5 minutes.

The food was really really good, a nice wholesome meal that you would love to come back to. One odd dish that doesn't suit your taste would be forgotten quickly while you would relish the balti meat and the tikka and kababs here. Avoid the pyaz aur makki ki seekh and the missi roti may be and watch for the more dhaba style foods, you will be good. The desserts win hands down.

One thing I wanted to mention separately in this review, that is all the drinks and mocktails we loved so much. The Jeeratini, the coconut lassi, the pudina chhach and the thandai. All of them perfectly flavored, I was particularly floored by the coconut lassi.

I wish I could go to this dhaba just for these drinks. You know such drinks one can have anytime. I might make the coconut lassi very very soon.

This Dhaba cuisine festival is going on till September 15th at The Claridges.