This Christmas, ditch your sausage and prune rolls and gorge on desi delights like fish cutlets and Parsi masala dal as restaurants in the capital curate a special menu only for the year-end. By Riya Sharma
Sausage and prune rolls on sides with chunky potatoes and roast turkey paired with a glass of white wine make a hearty delight for a Christmas meal. To may be end the lunch on a perfect note , one can imagine of chocolate chip or peanut butter cheesecake. But,what if we tell you that you can replace your turkey with lamb or Hong Kong kitchen and cheesecake with falooda. Restaurants, cafes and hotels in the capital have gone one step ahead and curated a special menu only for this festive season in their own unique way.
Whether it about introducing a special thali or replacing lamb with turkey, the foodies in town have a lot to choose from. The Bombay Irani cafe and bar, SodaBottleOpenerWala has curated a special menu only for this festive season as they are celebrating festive Bhonu which means food prepared on special occasions in Parsi. “We Parsis celebrate all festivals as we only have two festivals of our own. During Christmas, we make something like what we make at our homes. We have come up with a vegetarian and non vegetarian menu, served in the format of a thali,” shared chef Anahita Dhondy from the cafe.
She added that the customers have a lot to choose from. “In the menu, we have at least ten starters including our lip-smacking condiments like homemade brinjal pickle and tomato chutney. We are also serving bambaiyya potato fry which has fried potatoes tossed in Bombay style masala , fish cutlets and of course, saria- a traditional parsi rice papad which adds crunch to the meal. Try all of this with may be Parsi masala dal and rotlis or whole-wheat chappatis,” she shared.
To add cherry on the cake, you have the option of choosing from their three desserts. “We havefalooda made with milk and strawberry, or the zestful daruwala trifle which has soaked fruits, layered with jelly and custard. Or perhaps the matunga coffee cake which can make your stomach sing,” she said.
When we asked her the reason, why they chose a completely different menu ditching the traditional menu, she replied, “Turkey and wine did not correspond to our concept. The thought behind this was that we should rather use local ingredients, things that are made for Parsis on festivals and put them in a format where the general public can enjoy. It is complete with roti andrice and thus it is filling as well. This is what people look up to. They want to celebrate the festival with their family and spend good time and have delicious food so we have got all. And when it comes in the form of athali then you share it with your family so it actually gives the feeling of the festive season. We have not experimented with any of the usual christmas menus like putting turkey in the gravy at al. We are doing our own version, in the way that in India, we have got our regional dishes to showcase which give you a delicious festive platter.
On the other hand, executive sous chef of Taj Mahal Hotel, Ashish Ugal shared with us that all the restaurants in the hotel are offering their best delectables of different cuisines. “In Machan, you can try our Christmas brunch curated only for this festive season, We are giving people the option of roasted lamb and have also added grills to our menu. With this, we are also preparing desserts which are not the usual ones. We are preparing different kinds of mousse and cakes.”
He added that as the restaurants have their set menu, so if people wish to ditch the usual christmas meal then they can gorge in some authentic Chinese and Indian where they can have galouti kebabs, ganderi kebab et al.
Chef Vikram Khatri, Guppy by Ai are also doing a special menu for the Christmas but in a japanese way. “For the christmas, we are doing a special menu for two days, for the christmas eve and on the big day. We have a four course meal with a choice of vegetarian and non vegetarian followed by options in sushi,” he said.
“For appetizers, we have diver caught pan grilled scallop, miso mustard sauce and asparagus wrapped with zucchini and cream cheese. You can also choose from salmon, tuna and home smoked yellowtail nigiri sushi. For the mains, you can try our duck breast teriyaki which is quite popular,” he shared.
He further added, “Just to keep the festive mood alive, we have wine which you can think as an inspiration from the usual meal. We are preparing duck instead of chicken because it is eaten during this time and it is quite popular.”
My Christmas Story
PRAHlAD KAKKAR
Some like to hum carols while some bake plum cakes and there are others who celebrate their own way. This week we bring you cherished memories of noted people from every walk of life...because it’s Christmas
Childhood memories..
During my childhood, I never got what I wanted. I wanted a gun and they gave me a chocolate. I was always like, they gave me the wrong present. I used to write a long letter to my father Christmas. I would ask him - please give me a gun because I want to learn how to shoot but he used to give me chocolates.(laughs)
This year's celebration…
This year, I am going to Pune and will celebrate the festival with my dogs unless I get invited by any association for the celebration.
love for Christmas…
The food which I am not allowed to eat anymore because I had a bypass surgery. But I like all the Christmas puddings, the richness of the food, rum and everything. Though I can’t have all of it, I love to eat all of this.