India on my Plate at Fortune Select Hotel, Gurgaon, makes some strained artisanal attempts at offering regional flavours. By Jigyasu Joshi
Serving cuisines from different states in the country, India on My Plate is definitely an apt name. The décor, also by virtue of its name, has the classic Indian touchy-feely to it. Think paintings and peacock feathers, rubbing on your nostalgia. As if all this isn’t enough, the restaurant also has Sufi singer Nizam Khan crooning out ghazals and classic Hindi numbers to keep you entertained while you dig into the delicacies from across India.
We started with ulte tawe ka parantha served with the basic mint and tomato garlic chutney. Along came neer mor or spiced buttermilk, a drink from South India. It hit us hard and well. Next up was a round of starters ranging from crispy Ram laddu of our very own Dilli to the velvety galoutis of lucknow. The Rajma galouti kebab was so soft and delicate that it almost lost its shape while being served. Murgh malai Siya mirch was chicken wrapped in a mixture of spices and cream. The tenderness of the chicken mixed with mushiness of cream was nice. Dahi kebab made a pretty picture but didn’t fare that well.
Our expectations were reduced to nothing after the not so exciting start and for the mains we were again served the known. We savoured Chicken Chettinad, Purani Dilli Mutton curry, Hyderabadi salan and Dal-e-Fortune. Novelty anyoneIJ We thought so. The chicken and mutton were average; salan was a little more than average. About the Dal-e-Fortune, well it did taste a tad different from the regular dal makhani but then something was missing.
For desserts we decided to go for ras malai, paan flavoured gulab jamun and paneer jalebi. Ras malai and gulab jamun were sweet, alright. Jalebi was better. We were also served the pan at the end of the meal for that rounded attempt.