Inventive chefs are seeing in the slowdown caused by the resurgence of the Covid-19 pandemic a huge opportunity for creative explorations. With international travel ruled out and marriages becoming less celebratory because of social distancing norms, and footfalls to restaurants still not picking up because of anxieties, chefs now have plenty of time, provided they choose to cash in on it, for thinking out of the box. Indian Accent’s Manish Mehrotra, who’s not the one to rest on past laurels, is one such chef who’s distilling the experience he has gained from his extensive travels into two delicious projects.
At Indian Accent, Mehrotra is celebrating the Chaats of India by elevating them to the fine-dining experience with a 10-course menu priced, by his restaurant’s high standards, at the throwaway rate of Rs 1,950 plus GST and Service Charge. At his other culinary theatre, the hugely successful Comorin, which is at Two Horizon Centre, Golf Course Road, Gurgaon, he’s cobbling together an ambitious menu featuring 101 Sandwiches from across India. Little do we realise that ours has been a nation of consummate sandwich eaters ever since the Portuguese introduced us to the joys of the pao (or the double roti, as we started calling it). From the vada pao to the bread pakoda, to Delhi’s bun samosa, Indore’s Johny Hot Dogs and Mumbai’s Jain Sandwich, for a chef as creative as Mehrotra, there’s a world out there to tickle his grey cells.
How does one elevate the humble chaat to the realm of fine dining? The tamatar chaat of Benaras, for instance, is uplifted by the accompaniment of parmesan foam. Similarly, the bhel gets reinvented by combining Himalayan red rice, Mizoram black rice and quinoa puffs using avocado paste, nuts, chutneys and spices, and adding a slice of the sweet, sour and seasonal kamrakh (starfruit) as garnish. Even the humble white pea (matra) tikki looks as if it is straight out a piece of art because of the way it is juxtaposed with sashimi-like slivers of pickled kachalu (tapioca). Maradona had immortalised the ‘Hand of God’; Mehrotra lets his ‘Hand of Genius’ express itself in myriad ways.
The creative bursts just don’t stop. The dahi vada comes with ber, redcurrants and water chestnut (singhara) to give it an additional layer of texture. Delhi’s famous moonglet (an ‘omelette’ made with moong dal batter) is garnished with smoked paneer and gari, the sweetish Japanese pickled ginger. The gol gappas come with four different sweet-and-spicy liquid accompaniments. The aloo aur methi ki launji (sautéed potatoes layered with methi ki launji – dried fenugreek chutney) is as much a textbook case of perfect plating as the matra tikki. And the finale has to be Dal Moradabadi.
Mehrotra can rightfully claim to have put Dal Moradabadi on the culinary map of the country. He says he was inspired by the dal he used to have at his maternal grandmother’s home in Moradabad. It consisted of boiled moong dal flavoured with smoked cloves (laung), with an assortment of chutneys added to it, spiked with the local duknu masala, and served with ajwain (carom seed)-sprinkled puff pastry. It’s like one umami smart bomb—a seamless interplay of flavours and textures!
As the sign-off offering, Mehrotra has Purani Dilli’s famous desi ghee-laden Nagori halwa (the name suggests it originated in the historic Rajasthani town of Nagaur located between Jodhpur and Bikaner). The halwa is usually served with a tangy aloo sabzi and crispy pooris. To add a dollop of drama, Mehrotra garnishes the halwa with a Monaco biscuit crumble. So, the next time you get chatty about chaat, you must not forget that it has just been elevated to fine-dining heaven.
The Chaat Tasting Menu is served during lunch at Indian Accent, The Lodhi. For reservations, call +91 9871117968 or 011-66175151, or email reservations.del@indianaccent.com.