Desi food has had a European makeover. A French-looking dish arrives straight from the tandoor in Delhi, two brand new Mumbai restaurants are serving non-messy pre-plated meals, and a Malvani Sunday brunch is coming soon. Nouvelle Indian khana just left the five-stars and is yours to taste on a budget, finds Janaki Viswanathan
Desi food has had a European makeover. A French-looking dish arrives straight from the tandoor in Delhi, two brand new Mumbai restaurants are serving non-messy pre-plated meals, and a Malvani Sunday brunch is coming soon. Nouvelle Indian khana just left the five-stars and is yours to taste on a budget, finds Janaki Viswanathan
The loaded banana leaf has been upgraded to a plate; not round but hexagonal. The dishes have rid themselves of the mandatory tadka. A drizzle of tamarind sauce criss-crossed by a toothpick into a dainty squiggle circles the porcelain China. The fresh lime soda that sat smugly beside a Chicken Tandoori-half was nudged off the table a while ago by Sauvignon Blanc. 
Chef Siddharth sets up thalis for lunch at Maya. The thali is seen as the
original Indian pre-plated meal, and is served at The Trident Bandra-Kurla
to corporates for Rs 1,050. Pic/Vikas Munipalle
And we are not even talking five-star. The latest lot of contemporary standalone eateries across India are serving Mughlai and Malvani dishes that look European. But dig in (with fork-n-knife), and you know you are home.
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India on my pre-plate
The first lesson in nouvelle Indian food? It's not fusion. Nouvelle refers to a method of cooking and presentation, in which ingredients are left raw or only slightly cooked with light flavouring and interesting garnishes.
The second? Learn to un-share.
At Indian Harvest, a month-old restaurant co-owned by Satyen and Meher Dasondi, most of the dishes are portioned before they reach the table. The menu is contemporary Indian but it skips staples like Palak Paneer and Kadhai Chicken. Their Biryanis don't come in copper handis. "Other than three base gravies, everything is made from scratch depending on what's ordered," says Satyen, while the 40 year-old restaurateur's wife says she excited at presenting Indian food in an appetising avatar. 
Two drumsticks outline a single serving of Kerala's signature vegetable
dish Avial,u00a0 served at Indian Harvest in Chembur. Pic/Sameer Markande
One portion of Paneer Makhanwala at Indian Harvest, priced at a modest Rs 180, has four pieces of cottage cheese freshly grilled in the tandoor, placed in a precariously attractive arrangement on a plate layered with sauce (gravy), with pickle on the side.u00a0
The Dasondis aren't the only ones. Pre-plated meals are coming up at Anupam Mayekar's seafood lounge, Amboli Bar & Kitchen that opened doors to its guests yesterday. And it's within the average foodie's reach. A meal at this standalone Andheri restaurant won't cost you more than Rs 500.
When Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia set up Azok at Oakwood Premiere in Juhu, and Ziya, the new Indian restaurant at The Oberoi, he knew he wanted to do away with dishing out portions at the table. The concept of pre-plating is targetted at corporates. "At business lunches and dinners, you can hardly have a serious discussion if you have to keep passing around the dal on request," he smiles. 
Meetha Achar Canadian Spare Ribs topped with sun-dried mango and kalonji
seeds goes perfectly with cherry beer, say sommelier Charles Metcalfe and Chef
Mehrhotra of Indian Accent, New Delhi
Meetha Achar Canadian Spare Ribs topped with sun-dried mango and kalonji seeds goes perfectly with cherry beer, say sommelier Charles Metcalfe and Chef Mehrhotra of Indian Accent,
New Delhi
The man who is credited with giving the curry bag a top-table place across the world, says the popular perception about Indian food is that most of it looks like brown stew. "Pre-plating presents it in an attractive manner; it's a lot more elegant."
On a more practical note, single portions minimise wastage, though it does obviously mean much more labour.
"Which is why only the five-stars or high-end eateries have afforded to do it, at least so far," he says.
Maya, The Trident, doesn't pre-plate but tweaks presentation. "We elevate say, a plate of kebabs with a banana leaf and also use modern serving dishes," says chef Rohit Gambhir.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
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Restaurants at five-stars like the JW Marriott, and eateries at the Renaissance Hotel & Convention Center have been at it for a while. The ITC group of hotels has 'ghar-ka-khana' for in-room guests; a pre-plated meal that holds miniature portions of several dishes.
A pre-plated portion of Suji-coated Pan-grilled Pomfret on a bed of Aloo
Tikki with a Coconut Sauce and Crispy Bhindi on the side. It's chef Vineet
Bhatia's creation served at Azok in Mumbai. Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi
Capital meals
Indian Accent and Punjabi by Nature restaurants in the capital have been pre-plating their food for over a year now. "Apart from the Britons, Americans and Australians, Indian food is still new for the rest of the world. Pre-plating helps expats relate to our food better," is the explanation provided by chef Manish Mehrhotra.
But Punjab Grill, the fine-dining north-Indian restaurant at the Palladium, Lower Parel, Mumbai, has no such plans. Proprietor Zorawar Kalra says they like their guests to be served robust and hearty meals.
Original Indian pre-plated
The mother of all pre-plating is of course, the classic Indian thali ufffd the big steel plate packed with vegetables, meat, rotis, rice, dal, papad and dessert. It's still served at several five-stars not to mention scores of restaurants littered across the country. Think of the pre-plated dish as the macro version of one of the items in a thali.
Less is more... authentic
In fact, that's lesson number two to be learnt from the nouvelle Indian food movement: minimisation. Shrink the menu, so you can offer authentic food. Ananda Solomon, executive chef at Taj President in Mumbai, recalls how earlier, Indian restaurant menus ran into 24 pages. "Then they were cut down to half, and now they end after just three pages."
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According to Solomon, nouvelle Indian is also a pointer to pan-Indian cuisine. Indian food is getting regionalised, he says. "It's no longer just Chicken Tikka. There are now restaurants serving only Oriya or Assamese cuisine."u00a0
Chef Mehrhotra agrees, although he says it's still a work in progress. "Regional food is gaining prominence, no doubt. But it will take time. I come from Bihar where even today, south Indian food means just idli, dosa and sambar."
Will dine with wine
Aside from prettifying Indian food and concentrating on different states, it's also become cool to pair desi dishes with high-end alcohol. So, a spicy Chicken Tikka is washed down with a crisp fruity red wine. Five-stars like the Renaissance recommend wines with certain festival menus, while Punjab Grill plans to have an in-house sommelier who will recommend wines to guests with various items they pick off the menu.
UK-based wine sommelier and writer Charles Metcalfe formulated an entire pairing menu with chef Mehrhotra for Indian Accent. It was no easy task. "There are so many subtle combinations of spices that you have to go almost dish-by-dish, but it's the most enjoyable challenge." His nemesis was the predominating 'chilli'. "Chilli doesn't interfere with flavour. It just distracts one from enjoying the wine," he laughs.
Strangely, chef Mehrhotra says wine-pairing is already going out of fashion, with some restaurants offering scotch with Chicken Tikka, and even vodka shots. Bhatia chooses to disagree. "You can't drink scotch with your meal. It's 40 per cent alcohol! Wine washes the palate, accentuates your meal; scotch is way too overpowering."u00a0
What next?
Bhatia agrees that so far, nouvelle Indian is predominantly a domain of high-end eateries. "I give it another three years for it to filter down to mass eateries. And I think it will. The younger lot of chefs is an enthusiastic and determined bunch, as is the younger lot of hotel-goers. Each is willing to experiment."u00a0
Kalra rounds it off with a note of caution: "As long as you don't lose the essence of Indianness, you can experiment as much as you like."
The handbook
How to pair desi food and wine
Spicy food: Opt for crisp fresh whites with good acidity, that aren't too old. Choose wines made from the Sauvignon, Chenin and Riesling grapes.u00a0
Bland dishes: Gently-flavoured whites from northern Spain and northern Italy match perfectly. Pinot Grigio and Albarino are names to look for.
Lamb, mutton and other red meats: Light, low-tannin red wines are best suited for red meats. Wines such as Beaujolais and light Pinot Noirs.
What's nouvelle cuisine?
[French : nouvelle, new + cuisine, cuisine.]
A contemporary school of French cooking that seeks to bring out the natural flavours of foods and substitutes light, low-calorie sauces and stocks for the traditional heavy butter-based and cream-based preparations.
Chef speak
Ananda Solomon
Taj President, Mumbai
How we butcher our meats, what cuts we use, how we chop our vegetables, what kind of spices we add ufffd all this will tell in the final product.
Matthew Cooper
GM Courtyard by Marriott, Gurgaon
The young Indian couple is also watching Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver on television, and cooking new age Indian food at their at-home dinner parties.
Vineet Bhatia
Azok and Ziya, Mumbai
At business lunches and dinners, pre-plated meals work. You can hardly have a serious discussion if you have to keep passing around the dal on request.
Manish Mehrhotrau00a0
Indian Accent, New Delhi
The method of cooking makes all the difference, and at Indian Accent, it's inspired by techniques used in the West and the Orient.
Fusion:The bad word in cooking
Meetha Achaar Spare Ribs, Salmon Tikka marinated in red wine, Tandoori Duck, and Punjabi Penne. Fusion has been a part of global cuisine forever, though some years ago, it was still a bad word, muttered with disdain. "It was established the day we started eating vegetable Manchurian," laughs chef Mehrhotra of Indian Accent. Meher Dasondi of Indian Harvest says there's nothing wrong in spicing up desi food a bit, even if to make it more popular among Westerners. "Our Mutton do Pyaza has orange liqueur in it, while the Palak Shorba has a wee bit of coconut liquer for added flavour," she shares. Vineet Bhatia, a pioneer of fusion Indian cooking, enjoys experimenting with flavours. "If this makes Indian food popular in India and abroad, I say let's go ahead with it," says a defiant Mehrhotra.
Just opened, and not five-star
Live Jazz music with desi khana
Anupam Mayekar of just-opened Amboli Bar & Kitchen plans to launch a malvani Sunday brunch, and introduce a 2-piece jazz band to entertain guests. Pic/Rane Ashish
They decide your portions
Satyen and Meher Dasondi, co-owners of month-old Indian Harvest in Chembur, pre-plate most items on their menu and portion out dishes before they reach the table.
What they are serving in London, NY, Toronto
The popular perception is that Indian food abroad is far better than Indian food served in the country. The UK has been quite the pioneer of nouvelle Indian cuisine though for most part, these eateries are frequented by Britons. Apparently, desi restaurants in the UK host more than 2.5 million British guests every week. Amaya, Cinnamon Club and Zaika are most popular.
In America, Tabla and Devi are frequented for the best in nouvelle Indian.
Away in Canada, Debu's Nouvelle Indian Cuisine in Toronto opened a couple of years ago and offers vegetarian and non-vegetarian tasting menus.
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