The truth about Chettinad

One of the few south Indian cuisines to be really exposed to us all over the country is, of course, Chettinad — or more correctly, the cuisine of the Nattukotai Chettiar community of Tamil Nadu. Speak of south Indian non-vegetarian food (at least outside the four peninsular states) and nine out of 10 people are likely to nod their heads in understanding and say, “Chettinad chicken” (CC).

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There’s a truck in this restaurant!

Despite being a smallish restaurant really, The Dhaba at the Claridges, Delhi, has always enjoyed immense popularity. Like Bukhara, the ITC brand, it has proved to be an evergreen concept, revolving around the simple theme of a highway eatery (or dhaba) and dishing out such staples as balti meat (which arrives on your tables in mini brass buckets) and tandoori items in a quaint setting, reminiscent of far humbler pleasures than dining out in a pricey five-star involve.

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Hilton comes calling in Janakpuri…

… but it’s strictly average—except for the staff

By Anoothi Vishal

The determined onslaught by foreign hospitality chains into the Indian market means that the industry is currently abuzz with who is moving where. Amongst the biggest players to have entered Delhi this year is the Hilton—the US-based brand founded by Conrad Hilton (whose great granddaughter Paris Hilton is someone you may be more familiar with) and it is in news not just because of the famous surname but because of the unlikely location it has chosen for itself: Janakpuri.

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Kebabs from Tanjore

By Anoothi Vishal

Stunned to discover a south-Indian repertoire of kebabs

You’d associate it with the Brihadeshwara temple, the magnificent Chola prayer-in-rock to Shiva, with Bharat Natyam, with the opulence of its gold-foiled embellished art work, with even sambhar (believed to have originated here after king Sambhoji substituted the Konkani kokum with tamarind in the daal)… but kebabs?

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Monsoon cuisines of India

Curating a monsoon food and art festival at The Park New Delhi has been fun and a good learning experience. I discovered the importance of seasonal foods in our cooking traditions…

Seasonal diets have always been an intrinsic part of Indian regional cuisine(s). While we may not have had codified “kitchen literature”, and recipes and methods of cooking may have been passed down generations simply through word of mouth, Ayurveda, the “science of medicine” and food, undoubtedly played a significant role in how Indian families across the country cooked and ate.

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Wine bar, bread bar, Baluchi bar bar

An old Delhi restaurant gets a spanking new makeover— successfully

By Anoothi Vishal

Growing up in Delhi, one restaurant that I frequented more than any other was Baluchi at the then hotel Intercontinental. Part of an older genre of “Indian” restaurants, this was a family favourite, as much for its tikkas and curries as for live musical performances; more Bollywood than ghazals.

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Potboiler…gone wrong

Bollywood cafe Chalchitra falters on its execution

Bollywood and spicy Indian street food can be a potent mix, which is why it is wonder that no one really thought of bringing these two together – before Chalchitra. A new restaurant-lounge in GK II, Chalchitra (meaning “moving, or motion pictures”, to translate it literally) was a concept waiting to happen.

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Street food binging in Amritsar

Amritsar’s street specialities keep alive its foodie reputation but I manage to have the best thin-crust pizza in India in this chicken tikka town

Almost the first bite that I have in Amristar, fabled city of food and worship, is strangely enough from a thin-crust pizza. But what a bite!

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Dining in Gurgaon

Anoothi Vishal checks out three new suburban restaurants in two days

I don’t think much of Gurgaon restaurants that tend to be in soulless malls or in glass and steel office complexes hoping to tap into an essentially corporate clientele. If you drive by night, past its glittering towers, zipping on the expressway (except on either sides of the toll bridge where you’ll be crawling, if you are lucky), this satellite town will remind you of Shanghai or Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road.

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Scaling up China Garden

After a hectic week of cooking in a professional kitchen, I finally took a break with, what else, but Indian Chinese…

By Anoothi Vishal

It may not have the mandatory red lanterns synonymous with Indian-Chinese restaurants of yore. But it does have red, runway-type, floor bulbs in the loo lighting up the throne!

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