Indians would be surprised to know that many of our indigenous mithais have their origin in Turkey. Navneet Mendiratta sampled the Turkish fare at the Hyatt and found out more facts
The chef here is serving one of the best doner kebab,” a Turkish guest’s recommendation made my wait at a very busy kebab/shwarma counter worthwhile. It was almost as if he had sensed my impatience that was edging me to move on and try the other delicacies. True to his word, I was not disappointed. I watched the chef expertly flip open a pita bread and stuff it neatly with lamb shwarma chippings and finely sliced tomatoes and onion topped with special Turkish sauces. The doner just melted in the mouth.
And this only set the mood for the rest of the delicacies that had been put up as part of the lavish spread. The event was a special dinner hosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in association with the Turkish Airlines and Hyatt Regency, Delhi to announce the opening of a week-long Turkish fair for gourmet lovers in Delhi.
Food and wine flowed as the guest of honour, Dr Burak Akcapar, the Ambassador from the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey and Ozgur Ayturk, counsellor, culture and tourism, Republic of Turkey in India played gracious hosts at the hotel. A team of four chefs led by executive chef Koray Turk flown in specially from the country. They explained the food connect with India. Thankfully, this was not a one night affair. The festival continues as a special promotion buffet at Café at Hyatt Regency Delhi from March 21 to 26 for lunch and dinner.
The food matched the flavour of the evening, sort of a sampler to what is on offer during the festival. The Turkish flavours are very close to the Indian palate given that our forefathers had connected down the famed Spice Route in the ancient days. I had learnt of the interesting similarities upon my visit there — the exchange of ingredients that form an inherent part of the either of our cuisines. So we got the seekh and other kebabs from Turkey, they loved our spices from down south and included them in their daily cooking. Dum is the other technique I found that is strikingly similar (if not same) lending incredible flavours. And interesting dish I sampled was Urus Kapamasi (a rice and meat dish where meat is cooked in a hollow pitcher used for cooking kapama) at a Beypazari restaurant Zindancik.
But Delhi has a special menu with dishes like sauted lamb stew (Goban Kavurma), stuffed chicken roll (Sehzade Pilic Sarma), rice chickpea (Nohutlu Pilav), casserole vegetable (Sabze Goveg) making up for main course for lunch and Turkish style fish (Bogaz Usulu Balik), tomato rice (Domazesli Pilav), sauted button mushroom (Mantar Sote) as dinner main menu.
The high point of the mains is that you would find a lot of similarities with the Indian tastes in terms of the use of onions and potatoes in the food. A special salt lends a distinct flavour to the food and use of sesame seeds in some dishes sets the other dishes apart.
Turkish food is incomplete without its selection of salads. A traditional Turkish meal comes with a big neat bowl of fresh green veggies for starters before you dig into your main course. So you have a choice of eggplant salad (Patlican Salatasi), chicken salad with walnut (Aerkez Tavugu), amongst others making up for appetiser selection.
Kebab or kebap specialities include lamb doner kebab and chicken kebab for lunch and chicken doner kebab and farmer kebab (Ciftlik Kebap) for dinner.
Finally, the indulgence for the sweet tooth: Turkey boasts of the maximum number of sweets in the world. Find that unbelievable, check them out for yourself. The Indians would be surprised to know that many of their indigenous mithais have the origin in Turkey. Say Khunafa for instance. It is what we know here are sewaian minus the milk and then the semolina or sooji ka halwa. The Karachi halwa is dusted with light dry finely powdered sugar cut in small cubes and is known as lokma. For those who are familiar Turkey is synonymous with Baklava. You get the best here at the festival. But if there is something I really missed, it was Ayran a salty drink made from creamy yogurt, akin to the buttermilk we find here. Perhaps another time. The festival is a must visit.