Udit Maheshwari invited us over to try the wares of his delivery kitchen. Locked down at home, Christy Varghese projectd his soul to the chef’s base to interact with him and try some delectable dishes, while following COVID-19 restrictions
Chef Udit Maheshwari always wanted to open a restaurant, right from the moment he started training at the Le Cordon Bleu, London. And he was finally able to do so amid a raging pandemic. Not waiting for a more convenient time, he launched Pitaara Kitchen as a delivery kitchen around Diwali, 2020. He plans on converting it into a full-fledged restaurant as soon as the COVID-19 situation subsides.
We decided to project our consciousness to his kitchen with some ahead-of-its-time fictional technology so that we could interact with him while tasting some choice dishes from Pitaara Kitchen. And his offerings were anything but simple.
Right off the bat, the chef presented a set of what looked like purple tinted kebabs. Since we were famished, we did not wait on customary chit chat and simply picked one up to bite into it. Right from the first bite, we are hooked and we can’t help but marvel out loud, “What is this deliciousness?!”
The chef laughed and told us this is a starter called the Purple shikhampuri. These grated beetroot kebabs were stuffed with hung curd and just melted in our mouth. We were tempted to bite into one, as it tickled our taste buds, and found out that it was better to let the kebab work its magic as it slowly melted and revealed some subtle flavours between our tongue and palate. Along with the creamy, slightly sweet taste there was the slight hint of an intriguing earthy flavour to the kebabs.
Seeing us rubbing our tummy, chef Udit produced a platter of kulchas with a flourish. He announced that these are the Bacon and Kalimpong cheese kulchas. As we munch on one, we catch a whiff of the smoky flavour of the kulchas which were stuffed with desi bacon and indigenous Kalimpong cheese. While serving us a heap of their spicy tomato chutney along with some pudina chutney, the chef shared that these were cooked in the tandoor. We finished them off in a jiffy, and couldn’t wait to see what’s next in store.
The chef is running a tight ship, and we couldn't help but feel that the Pitaara Kitchen is an extremely successful venture as he seemed to be on his toes all the time. However, for the next dish, he sat down with us and served us some Dogri meat curry and asked his staff to pass on some bajra rotis. He explained that this is a traditional meat curry from the Dogri community of Jammu. The mutton was cooked with some choice spices and had a somewhat sweet taste to it, on account of the sour-dried mango powder it has been finished in, which also lended some viscosity to the gravy.
In between some bites, chef Udit shared, “With the pandemic in full swing, everyone in the food industry has been forced to focus on delivering. Let’s see what the future has in store for us. However, one good thing that has come out of this mess is that everyone is innovating these days.”
And we had to agree when we were served the next dish. Aptly, and quite simply, named Tinda!, it comprised tindas (or the Indian squash) stuffed to the brim with cottage cheese and dry fruits. As we dug into the dish with some garlic and kalonji naans, we were thinking that we would never have guessed that this was the humble tinda if the chef had not told us. Cooked well in the tandoor, the slight sourness of the vegetable combined well with the stuffing. He encouraged us to try it with the two chutneys and we were overwhelmed by this rich, wholesome dish.
As we smacked our lips, we caught a glimpse of the staff packing some ready to be delivered orders. Spotting us trying to spy, the chef guided us inside and explained that they only use eco-friendly packaging. He further elaborated, “Right from the preparation of the food with ingredients sourced from across India to the delivery, this is our source of innovation. We spare no effort to ensure the wholesome experience of each customer. All members of my staff have been vaccinated, including the people who deliver. And that’s right, we don’t rely on third parties for deliveries so as to not risk contact with someone who is infected; these are uncertain times after all.”
As the chef led us back to our table, we saw the next dish already set in place. We helped ourselves to the Chemmeen manga (literally tranlates as ‘prawn with mangoes’ in Malayalam) curry as he served us some of their in-house Malabar parotta. The prawns cooked in coconut milk curry with pearl onions and raw mangoes brought back some vivid memories of Kerala backwaters. The parottas were not as lumpy as the usual ones served in malayali hotels across Delhi and we delightfully finished the dish. Biting into a soft pearl onion, we couldn’t help but wonder whether this was better than Tinda! before we remembered the wise man who said that ‘Comparison is the root of all misery…’
We were rubbing our tummies in contentment when the chef unveiled the mango tart. And we were left wishing that we should not have scarfed down as much. The thick, luscious mango curd, topped with roasted pistachios, was complemented by the bajra tart shell it was served in.
We stifled several burps as we bid adieu to the chef. We hope that last bit is enough to convey that you should give the Pitaara Kitchen a chance if you would like to treat yourself to some tweaked regional specialties.
(The delivery kitchen caters in and around South Delhi and you can order from https://pitaarakitchen.in.)