Hotel Imperial is hosting its famous summer mango collection menu once more. Neeti Nigam enjoyed delicacies prepared with a South-Eastern twist
Blame mangoes for the aromatic sweetness emanating from Imperial’s Spice Route Kitchen. For 17 years, Chef Veena Arora has been creating innovative mango menus where she fuses herbs with ripe and raw mangoes. I’m crazy about mangoes myself. So the scorching heat and tiring walk from the metro to the dusty road outside the hotel wasn’t that problematic.
It is not everyday that you get to savour interesting mango recipes. And it was my first visit to Spice Route Kitchen, which has won awards for its elegant interiors and delicious South Eastern cuisine. It was like entering a South Indian temple. The ambience was so peaceful, that my photographer friend Pankaj Kumar and I quickly recovered from our draining walk. As we took our seats, appreciating the murals, the waiter served an iced tea-raw mango drink tasting like aam panna. Chef Arora came over in her uniform and took charge.
She reminisced that as a kid, she would wait for the hawker selling pla-e-saan, a snack of raw mango with spicy palm sugar sauce. “I was born in Thailand and their street food was my staple diet. Thai mangoes are as big as Indian ones. I brought my childhood favourite dish to this year’s menu by clubbing sole fish with raw mango and spicy palm sugar sauce.”
She indicated that the waiters serve starters, and they appeared with a Yum Mamuang (spicy and tangy fresh grated raw mango salad) and Yum Kung Heng Mamuang (crispy prawns, dry shrimps and raw mango salad). In addition to this was Yera Masala (Kerala style prawns stir fried with black tamarind and dices of raw mango) and Yum Woon Sen Mamuang (Thai vegetable, ripe and raw mango bean vermicelli salad garnished with mint, onion and peanut dressing).
Each dish was different and had a tangy, sugary taste. Though prawn is not preferred in summer, the vegetables and sauces balanced the heat. Chef sipped on a diet coke and remarked that although some dishes are spicy, she used ingredients to help digest the fare. She also expressed satisfaction that global travellers are moving away from the ‘same messed-up-vegetables-spicy dishes’ to more subtle versions.
“When I got married during 1980, I prepared lady finger using mild spices. My brother-in-law made a comment on the lines of, ‘has the cooking gas got overIJ’ later my husband explained that his family has a habit of eating bharwa bhindi.”
Chef Arora’s summer menu is a hit with foodies. She said he got the idea from a designer friend. “I was told just as ramps have summer and winter collection, chefs too should experiment with menus. Because some ingredients are seasonal, I thought there should be a separate menu. I’ve used mangos with vegetables, herbs, spices and sauces.”
The menu varies each time, favourites like Pla-e-saan, Yum Mamuang and Amba curry are a permanent fixture. We switch to the main course featuring a mango flavoured Mangai rasam, followed by mouth-watering Gaxao Hot Dieli (stir-fried chicken with fresh mangoes and cashew nuts Vietnamese style) and Amba curry (Sri lankan spicy raw mango curry). They also have Maambalam appams, Maangai Katrikai (small brinjal and water chestnut curry flavoured with coconut and raw mango paste). Chef’s special is jasmine rice with ripe mango cooked in coconut. She got the idea from her mother who enjoyed a meal while eating fruit with dinner. “I felt I should prepare rice, coconut milk and mango together. It is like an ode to my mother’s tastebuds.” This menu will be on from May 15 till July 30.