Keep yourself warm this winter with a hint of lemongrass and Kerala spices. By Ankita Jain
Stepping into The Spice Route at The Imperial is like entering an ancient archaeological site where pillars from the 16th century heavy with woodwork crowd the entrance while stone sculptures and murals depicting mythological gods and goddesses fill the walls. Uncharacteristic of an entrance, far less a restaurant entrance, this one is extremely cluttered in its arrangement of the beautifully bedecked columns allowing you to enter only single file. And that’s precisely the idea behind placing the pillars so close, because in the journey of life you enter the world alone and exit alone.
In a restaurant known for its soothing calm, we quietly settle down and flip the menu while talking to Chef Veena Arora, Chef de Cuisine at The Spice Route. She comes up with a special winter and summer collection every year, there’s always a new twist to her interpretation. While discussing wonderful food-filled stories, we come to know that the chef specialises in the cuisine of Southeast Asia, having grown up in Thailand.
The Winter Collection is an extension to the regular a la carte menu and we sampled quite a few dishes from it. Churning out a plethora of South-east Asian dishes, Chef Arora bases her menu around the use of fresh Thai spices with a predominance of lemongrass and galangal along with bits of Thai kaffir leaves and Thai ginger (krashai) thrown in. There are also some influences of Kerala which just adds to the spicy warmth of menu.
Housed in the resplendent Spice route where Chef Arora has been handling the kitchens since its inception two decades ago, the winter menu is filled with dishes that warm you up in the Delhi winter.
We start off with Yera Aravat Anjj and luk Shin Pla. Yera Aravat Anjj which takes its origin from Chicken 65 is twisted with tiger prawns along with hints of lemongrass and Kerala spices. It goes like a dream with a sweet chili sauce. The luk Shin Pla is a game of textures with the prawns imparting a spongy texture to the dumplings. Next in line is the sinus opening Tom Yum Thalay soup. One of Bangkok street food epitomes, this mixture of spicy Tom Yum sauce along with the lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime plays a dance of fire on your palate. Add some seafood, mushrooms and vegetables, it is a perfect bowl full which will have you sweating.
For the mains, we go for Malu Curry and Phad Pla Merk along with Meen Rassam and Mee Goreng. The Malu curry incorporates the Sri lankan chili curry with some sole, coral mushrooms and water chestnuts. A beautiful creamy texture envelops the fish with a spicy taste. We combine it with some Kerala style tomato rice with some prawns and squids thrown in for good measure. The next combo pertains a bit more towards traditional South Asia. A Malaysian style noodle served with squid rings with a distinct hit of the krashai. Meen rassam is mixed seafood rassam that infuses the best of whole spices of Kerala. The major taste is that of pepper along with a dash of tomatoes. “Rasam is not necessarily a vegetarian broth, as many believe. The meen rasam had all kinds of goodies in it – little shrimps, squid, fish fillet pieces and so on,” explains the chef.
We finish off with the silky bean curd ice cream. “No dairy has been used in the making,” chef tells us. The ice cream comes in various flavours: green tea, coconut, corn and vanilla, cocoa and cinnamon. Delicate flavours with a rich creamy texture to take the heat off the meal.
So this winter, look no further than the majestic Imperial. Try out some of Chef Arora’s exploding flavours. The menu is on till the mid of January.