Bring home the Restaurant Week

For those who have not booked their table at one of the restaurants taking part in the festival of culinary delights from September 23 to October 2, Phorum Dalal cajoles chefs to share recipes from their set menus to try at home

Starting tomorrow, the city will witness a gastronomic storm as Restaurant Week India enters its seventh round from September 23 to October 2 in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi. While some of you will have already booked a table or two at select restaurants to savour a meal at a fraction of the à la carte rates, others may still be choosing their pick.

Rahul Akerkar, owner and head chef, Indigo says the Restaurant Week is a time to welcome new guests who are likely to sample their food for the first time. “With the prices slashed, customers who have not had the opportunity to eat at our restaurant earlier, will walk in for the experience. We work out a menu that fits the price and does justice to the variety and quantity ofu00a0each dish.”

Around 24 restaurants from Mumbai will participate in this festival. Three chefs share a recipe each from their set menu.

Bisi Bela Chicken
Satbir Bakshi, executive sous chef at Oberoi, Mumbai, says, “We want to see the guests, who book a table at Ziya during the Restaurant Week, visit again. Though we can’t put an expensive meats such as New Zealand Lamb on the menu, the effort is to offer the very essence of Ziya in the special menu. The menu is an introduction to the food we serve round the year. We’ve planned a set menu of spinach soup, our famous Lamb Duo and Tikki Pe Tikka served with dahi and aubergine salad as starters and for dessert we have Gulabi Gulab, a Rose Petal Cheese Cake. One of our popular main course is the Chicken Bisi Bela, rich in Mangalorean flavours.“

Pics/Sameer Sayed Abedi

Ingredients for rice
>> 200 g Basmati rice
>> 100 g Arhar or toor dal
>> 30 g carrots
>> 30 g beans
>> 30 g cauliflower
>> 2 g cinnamon
>> 2 g cardamom
>> 2 g cloves
>> 2 g coriander seeds
>> 2 g cumin seeds
>> 3 g red chillies, dry
>> 2 g peppercorn
>> 2 g turmeric powder
>> 20 g garlic paste
>> 20 g ginger paste
>> 30 ml vegetable oil
>> 4 g curry leaves
>> 1 g mustard seeds
>> 50 g onions, sliced
>> 5 g salt
>> 8 g corriander leaves
>> 30 ml tamarind pulp
>> 50 g coconut, grated

Method
>> Boil the dal and keep aside
>> Roast the spices and mix them with coconut, turmeric powder, garlic and ginger and grind into a thick paste
>> Heat oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. >> Allow them to crackle and add onions. Cook till they are translucent
>> Add tamarind pulp and little water and bring to a boil. Add the rice, vegetables, boiled dal, paste masala and salt to taste and cook till everything is well cooked
>> Add freshly cut coriander leaves in the bisi bela bhat.

Ingredients for sauce
>> 30 g oil
>> 100 g onion
>> 6 g garlic
>> 2 g corriander powder
>> 2 g ginger garlic paste
>> 12 g red chilli paste
>> 15 g sesame paste
>> 2 g turmeric
>> 3 g red chilli powder
>> 80 g coconut milk

Method
>> Heat oil, add chopped onions and fry till it turns light brown. Add chopped garlic.
>> Add ginger garlic paste, red chilli paste, coriander powder, sesame paste, turmeric and red chilli powder
>> Add little water and cook well
Finish with chopped coriander leaf and coconut milk

Ingredients foru00a0mustard chicken
>> 2 chicken breast, boneless
>> 80 g hung yogurt
>> 18 g ginger garlic paste
>> 15 g red chilli paste
>> 6 green chillies, chopped
>> 1 g mustard seeds
>> 2 g curry leaves
>> 2 g garam masala
>> 1 g turmeric
>> 5 g salt
>> 6 ml oil

Method
>> Marinate the chicken with salt and ginger-garlic paste
>> Whisk the hung curd and add ginger-garlic paste, red-chilli paste and garam masala
>> Heat oil, add chopped green chilli and curry leaf. Add turmeric powder and add this to the curd mixture
>> Apply this marinade on the chicken breast and allow it to marinate for four hours.
>> Cook the chicken breast in tandoor

Ingredients foru00a0aubergine steaks
>> 1 aubergine
>> 15 g red chilli paste
>> 15 g ginger garlic paste
>> 3 g salt
>> 3 g cumin powder
>> Chat masala to sprinkle

Method
>> Cut the aubergines in slices
>> Make a marination with ginger-garlic paste, red-chilli paste, salt and cumin powder.
>> Marinate the aubergines
>> Pan fry the steaks till the aubergine is soft and cooked
>> Sprinkle chat masala on it
>> Place the aubergines steaks on the plate. Put chicken breast on the steaks and cover it with the sauce. In a separate bowl, place bisi bela bhat and serve with garlic raita

Som Tam salad
Executive sous chef of Trident Hotel, Nariman Point, Joy Bhattacharya, is excited to showcase the popular dishes at India Jones. “We have to ensure the flavours are balanced and the experience is satisfactory during the Restaurant Week. We’ve planned a mix of different sections, including Chinese stir-fried starters, soups and main course of rice or noodles with Malaysian Thai Curry. Our specialty is the Som Tam Greek Salad. For desserts, I have planned an assiette (serving) of two or three popular dishes, including the Green Tea Cake and Walnut Ice Cream.”

Ingredients
>> 100 ml water
>> 100 g palm sugar
>> 1 Thai red chilli, coarsely ground
>> 3 bird-eye chillies
>> 10 g garlic, coarsely ground
>> 40 ml lemon juice
>> 8 g salt
>> 200 g raw papaya, grated
>> 25 g runner beans, cut in long batons
>> 6-7 pieces of cherry tomatoes
>> 30 g peanuts, crushed

Method
>> For the dressing, reduce the water and palm sugar to 100 ml by boiling both the ingredients together
>> Keep aside to cool
>> Mix rest of the ingredients for final dressing
>> To assemble, crush the beans, tomato and peanuts with a mortar and pestle
>> Add 50 ml of the dressing to the grated papaya. Muddle the ingredients evenly
>> Transfer to a bowl and serve with garnish of crushed peanuts
>> Serve cold

Prawns and peas
Kelvin Cheung of Ellipsis, Colaba, says, “It’s time to welcome foodies across the city, and bowl them over with our flavours. Today, we eat world food and are not restricted to one cuisine.” Prawns and Peas, one of the dishes on the menu, has a French and Asian influence with a Japanese technique of cooking.

Ingredients for prawn
>> 90 g prawns
>> 15 g soya sauce
>> 20 g home-made chili oil
>> 5 g sesame oil

For pea puree
>> 3 cups of fresh
spring peas
>> 1 small onion
>> 3 garlic cloves, sliced
>> 2 cups vegetable stock
>> 3 bunches parsley
>> 1 sprig of thyme
>> 1 bunch of mint
>> 1 bunch spring onion
>> 30 g butter

To assemble
>> Crostini
>> Parmesan shards

Method
>> Cryovac or sous vide the prawns, that is, seal in airtight plastic bags in a water bath at 63 °C for 25 minutes and shock (dip in ice bath)
>> Saute the onions and garlic, add peas and cook
>> Add herbs and vegetable stock and bring to a boil
>> Puree and pass through a chinois and shock in a ice bath till time to serve
>> To serve, heat puree and before plating, spread on crostini and place prawn
on it
>> Garnish with pickles, Parmesan and microgreens u00a0

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