From vegetable haleem to rara meat, hotels and restaurants in the Capital have crafted their unique iftar menu. Chefs have taken every care to make sure that all the preparations are healthy and easy on the stomach. By Team Viva
Every year during Ramadan, after a long grueling day of observing roza Asif Khan Dehlvi looks for a place where he can get healthy iftar food. The kebabs from Karim’s and the aroma of fish surmai with butter and chicken haleem from Anwar Food Corner in the Jama Masjid area tempt him considerably but he chooses not to give into them. Dehlvi likes to remain fit and does not feel comfortable breaking his fast with rick, spicy and heavy food.
For the many Asif’s out there, hotels and restaurants in and around the city have introduced a special iftar menu. Chefs have tried their best to prepare the traditional iftar dishes keeping in mind the requirements of the health conscious customers.
The all day diner Machan at Taj Mahal Hotel is offering a special iftar menu. Crafted by Executive chef Arun Sunderaraj and his sous chef Nilesh Dey, the menu boasts of the quintessential iftar dishes, “sans the richness,” as they claim it. There are a few tweaks and turns that they have employed in the preparations that have made the food not only healthy, but more delicious as well.
“The menu is small because we want to stick to the traditional iftar course,” explained chef Nilesh. The chef told us that when people break their fast, the first thing that they have, they tend to take in a larger amount. “They end up taking in one big glass of sherbet and a handful of dates. Ideally, the food that one should have after breaking a fast should be heavy but not complicated. Too much of milk and dates in an empty stomach is not good because the body takes a lot to time to process milk,” he explained. That is why he offers two dates and rose sharbat served in a shot glass. But instead of serving Dubai dates, he serves Iranian dates. “Iranian dates are fleshier and have good calories. Also they are of consistent quality,” he said.
The menu then moves on to akhtari chicken tikka and zaitooni paneer tikka. Chef Nilesh prepares the chicken with a marination of cashew paste, brown onions, elaichi powder and a dash of garam masala. Therefore it is not very spicy. He told us that too much of spices in a single dish make it difficult for the body to simplify it. The paneer on the other hand is marinated with crushed olives and olive paste which lends it a tangy sweet flavour. “Tikka is generally associated with lots of oil and spice. But that becomes very heavy on the stomach. It makes you feel bloated up but we use simple spices which are easily digestible,” added the chef.
Chef Sunderaraj has been the executive chef of the Taj Falaknuma, Hyderabad and one might expect traditional Hyderabadi biryani from him for the main course but the menu serves biryani prepared in the Awadhi style. Chef Nilesh explained that Delhi is more inclined to the Awadhi gharana of food that the lucknowi style. So one can either pick from zafarani subz dum chawal or mutton biryani.
When the menu was finalised, there was a dish called subz skilongi (vegetable made with onion seeds) but it was replaced because customers found the skalongi bitter. “So we now have subz ajwaini,” said chef Nilesh. One dish that stands out in the main course for its sheer innovation is the vegetable haleem. And this is the only preparation in the entire menu which is cooked in the original way — “with lots of ghee,” chef pointed out. The paneer korma will look like butter paneer with thick gravy but is very light and savoury. The only strong flavour that one will find will be that of cinnamon. Chef Nilesh told us how it is prepared. “It is cooked with bay leaf and small elaichi. The flavour that you get is the combination of the two spices. But we remove the bay leaf before serving,” he said.
Restaurant Gastronomica, too, is offering an iftar menu special and a healthy one at that. Chef Raminder Bakshi has prepared a new dish called rara meat for the occasion. The dish is made of thick meaty chunks of lamb cooked in spiced up gravy which contains an overwhelming amount of minced lamb. “People want their iftar meal to be heavy. They believe that heavy food is fulfilling. So I have come up with this dish. And I chose lamb because it can be digested faster than mutton and is also more healthy,” the chef explained.
There is also gourmet kulcha which is stuffed with chicken, pimento chillies, jalapenos, roasted garlic and mushrooms. The chef told us that the kulcha, in itself, is very filling and nutritious.
If these are the healthy alternatives that one can look forward to, there are always places like Al-Jawahar and Karim’s to counter them. Abhishek Basu, executive chef of The Park hotel is of the opinion it is in the gullys of the Jama Masjid vicinity that a person can truly break their fast. “From the nihari korma, chicken burrah and mutton sheikh kebab from iconic Karim’s to the savoury sevaiya from Haji Tea Point, the place will never lose its charm,” he said.
photos Mukul Gola