Drive down Chanakyapuri to discover India Bistro that explores the new trend of fusion food. Ankita Jain reports
They’ve been called several things; hybrid foods, food portmanteaus, hipster foods and more inventively, mutant munchies; whatever the collective noun, the season’s trend in food, is to mix it up, innovate and abandon the box altogether. While dishes like the pav bhaji fondue, cheesy broccoli tandoor grilled and the ghee roast mutton boti dared to mix around some flavours and ingredients, these new dishes were all about hooking up two completely different dishes in one. While some of these were carefully thought out innovations, others were simply accidental discoveries that struck a chord.
Giant wheels and warrior shields add a touch of funk to the place. Tables are laid out in the breezy open air space under the shade of a tree decorated with colourful bird cages all around. India Bistro at Hotel Diplomat is a place where not only the food but also the interiors talk about Indian culture. When asked about their USP in fusion food as the bistro is close to Connaught Place which has a number of cafés and eateries falling under the same genre, the chef said,
“We serve authentic Indian food which has only the desi flavours. We aren’t mixing Indian and western flavours together. And even most of our presentation is in bamboo basket.”
Since most of the dishes were in the list of our favourites, we were at a loss regarding what to order. Realising our dilemma, the chef suggested that we try out a little each of the bistro’s popular dishes, which we happily accepted. Within no time, the chef came with a plate of paani puri served with two injections of sweet and sour water respectively. Though we prefer street foods in the street itself, this presentation gave us a sophisticated feel. Well, the puri, injected with the spicy green water filled to its brim, is stuffed with potatoes and chana dal. We gulped it down; the spicy pani created a delightfully warm sensation in our throat. And, we barely had time to breathe before we were served with one more puri; this time filled with the sweet red pani. “The secret of good pani puri lies in the flavour of the water and the right balance of masalas. It varies from one city to the other”, explained the chef. Moving next to the cocktail menu, we ordered turmeric martini which had the base of vodka with Indian ingredients. “We have infused turmeric and saffron with a touch of pineapple in this vodka based cocktail. This is our innovation,” smiled the bar tender. The drink really hit the right chord with a sweet taste.
The main course came with the northern delight, pav bhaji. The buns perfectly cut into small cubes which were buttery, light, soft and just warm enough; they looked like little brown moons on the plate. And the bhaji was smooth with a flavour of cheese and cream added to it. When slathered with the green chutney and the tangy, cardamom-laced sweet chutney made of aamchur (not the powder, but sun-dried mango flown down from Mumbai), this dish is something you’ll not forget in a hurry. In between, the ice gola margarita was brought to the table. The kala khatta, made of jamun syrup, is tart and served with ice slush and a sprig of mint in a salt-rimmed serving bowl. The ice is not grated or shaved, but ground in the mixer, and there’s a lovely smoothness to it. This was followed by the soft and crispy bhatura which tasted well with the paneer makhni. We simply could not have enough of the soft paneer chunks. The dahi bhalla was as good as it could get, like the creamy yoghurt with an interesting medley of mint and tamarind sauces. For the sweet toothed, the bistro did not disappoint. The chef played around with familiar tastes and flavours to create unexpected combinations. The cold rabri in a steel container with lychee chunks made it taste a bit sweeter. We chose to eat only the rabri part which was creamy and soft and it tingled our taste buds just the right way.