DINING OUT: Rosang Serves the Seven Sisters on One Platter

QUICK BITES

WHERE: S-20, Ground Floor, Near Uphaar Cinema, Green Park Extension Market

WHEN: Open from 12 noon to 12 midnight

DIAL: 8447963810 (M); 011-65544411

WEB: www.rosangsoulfood.com

AVG MEAL FOR TWO: Rs 800 plus VAT, Service Tax and 10% Service Charge. No alcohol.

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

MARY LALBOI, a Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher, and Muan Tonsing, a village postmaster, left their home and careers at Churachandpur, Manipur's largest, ethnically diverse and economically better off district, and came to Delhi in 2003 so that their three children could get a "well- rounded" education and improve their English-language skills. Without jobs or contacts, Mary and Muan teamed up to open a restaurant in Munirka to cater to the growing Manipuri community in the neighbourhood.

A former Kendriya Vidyalaya
teacher from Churachandpur,
Manipur, Mary Lalboi, is the
face of Rosang Cafe. Image:
Arupjyoti Gogoi

It didn't take long for Rosang ('God's Gift') Cafe to become the hangout of the north-eastern diaspora -- mostly young people who come to Delhi to pursue higher education or careers in the hospitality and retail sectors, which would come to a grinding halt without them. Real estate issues saw Mary and Muan move out of Munirka and shift to Hauz Khas Village, where they had to shut shop again because the building from where they operated fell way short of the standards set by the bye-laws.

Rosang Cafe's present address, where it moved this year on January 15, is an unpretentious 850 sq. ft. space, enough to seat 20 people, at the Green Park Extension Market on Aurobindo Marg, in the shadow of the burnt-out shell of Uphaar cinema, opposite the ever-popular Drums of Heaven, and not even 100m from Delhi's other must-visit north-eastern restaurant, Nagaland's Kitchen. The restaurant's menu is a savoury showcase of the cuisines of the Seven Sisters and its whitewashed walls are tastefully decorated with north-eastern artifacts. It has a mezzanine floor as well and it can seat 32 people, but when I went there some time back, this section wasn't yet operational (nor did the restaurant have a liquor licence).

I started my meal with the most refreshing organic passion fruit drink I have had in a long time. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that passion fruit grows in plenty in Churachandpur between April and June. Tender passion fruit leaves are also a part of the unique repertoire of herbs and spices used for cooking across the North-East, the others being bamboo shoots (ideally, they should be wet), black and brown sesame seeds, sun-dried basil seeds, aromatic roots such as onion root, yam and mustard leaves, pith of the banana trunk, and of course, the fiery bhoot jholakia (or raja mircha) chillies.

The Manipuri thali is a no-brainer for those
who don't want to spent too much time
ordering. Image: Arupjyoti Gogoi

Every week, Mary and Muan have these ingredients flown in from Manipur, along with the addictively aromatic wild red rice of the state. Mary's only regret is that she can't serve her home-made beer brewed from this species of rice, but I was happy to have the wild rice 'tea' with a squeeze of lemon, which dramatically deepened the colour of the drink, with the standard accompaniment of jaggery.

Rosang Cafe's pork spare ribs served with the raja mircha chutney are without doubt the best, but I had a point to prove to those who labour under the misapprehension that north-eastern food is all about pork, more pork, and some unmentionable animals. To show the hollowness of this belief, I had the Maron Bora (vegetable pakodas from Manipur that tasted divinely different because of the mix of spices and herbs); chicken liver sauteed with herbs in the Arunachali style; the yummy masoor dal; the no-oil fish curry, Ngatok, which makes you wonder why you need oil in cooking; and yet another no-oil preparation, Aksa Dol, which is essentially chicken prepared with dried yam paste. And yes, how can one forget the accompaniment named Jatilau (lauki) Bengena (baigan) Khaar (filtered banana stem ash)!

Mary explained the preponderance of no-oil preparations in north-eastern cuisines. "Our forefathers would spend two to three days at a stretch hunting in jungles," she said, "so they perfected the art of cooking meats in bamboo hollows using aromatic herbs that grow in plenty in the wild." Talking about the wild, you mustn't leave Rosang without digging the wild red rice kheer cooked with milk, ghee and jaggery. It's a dish you'd serve the gods.

NOTE: This review first appeared in the June 6, 2014, edition of Mail Today. Copyright: Mail Today Newspapers.

Indigo Deli Wows Delhi in its Opening Weekend; Its Wafer Thin Pizzas are the Show Stoppers

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

No-nonsense comfort food: Indigo Deli's
Eggs Benedict comes sitting on two
generously proportioned slices of ham

I WAS at Delhi's first Indigo Deli on the opening night with a young man who has spent a considerable length of time in America. It was a night when a freak dust storm had wreaked havoc on the city, turning trees and street lights into mangled skeletons. At Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, where Indigo Deli is located on the third floor, one of the three air-conditioning plants had broken down because of the storm and the roof above Kylin Premier's popular Sky Bar had blown away. Indigo Deli had arrived with a storm in its wake, and as we were to find out later, it has taken Delhi by storm.

My young dinner-mate had said he would judge Indigo Deli by the standards of New York. At the end of the meal, he declared with a little touch of drama: "Indigo Deli has brought New York to New Delhi." I agreed. Like the minestrone soup, which I polished off with the hungry passion of Oliver Twist, Indigo Deli owes its reputation to its ability to serve the simple joys of life without compromising on authenticity.

The pastrami in its Reuben sandwich (the original recipe has corned beef) is cured at the restaurant for 21 days and is teamed up with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese, and then grilled in rye bread with Thousand Island dressing and gherkins. It's a New York specialty, though there's also a theory that it was invented by a German immigrant in Omaha, Nebraska.

The bagel and lox is prepared just
the way it is served in New York
 

I was reading a delightful article on this subject by Craig Claiborne of The New York Times, when I realised that the famous food critic of his generation named his column De Gustibus, which is also the name of the company created by Indigo Deli's first couple, the gregarious Rahul and Malini Akerkar. It reminds us of the famous Latin maxim, "De gustibus non est disputandum" (In matters of taste, there can be no disputes). All gourmets must make this the motto of their life so that they just enjoy food and not split hairs about it!

That's what Indigo Deli lets you do. There's a congeniality about the place that draws you in. It lets you engage in a meaningful conversation with friends as the warm yet unobtrusive waiters, whose smiles come naturally, serve you your order. It is comfort food that you get, but done with care and affection.

The Eggs Benedict sit on a pair of fat slices of ham and nicely toasted English muffins, bathed in a generous dollop of hollandaise. The juicy BBQ chicken in the Seriously Sloppy Joe, which comes in a baguette, complements the molten cheddar and the Deli's priceless mustard -- diverse tastes and textures make a great tag team in each of the Deli's top-sellers. The BBQ sauce works its magic on your taste buds one more time when you order the spare ribs and the meat just melts in your mouth -- perfect with the warm and welcoming corn bread it comes with. Talking about the condiments, each sandwich or burger comes with a little pot of honey mustard on the side that'll make you want to buy the entire stock. Yes, you can buy breads, and more, after you've had a meal at Indigo Deli.

But the show stoppers, without doubt, are the wafer thin pizzas. We ordered the Deli carbonara with crispy sage and molten parmesan and we just couldn't stop drooling over it. At another table, people were behaving in the same way with their pizza topped up with Parma ham, asparagus and scamorza. The menu has been engineered in a way that it gives you multiple reasons to keep coming back -- one time for breakfast, the next time for sandwiches, then for the pizzas and ice-cream, and then for the more serious stuff, like the 250gm chunk of char-grilled filet mignon with red wine sauce.

Akerkar will be flying in and out to inspire his Delhi team ("I'll be busy collecting frequent flyer miles," he says); his A-team from Mumbai is here to ensure that we are not denied the original Indigo Deli experience, so there are more waiters and the service is super-efficient; and Jaydeep Mukherjee, a Taj product who has been with Akerkar for 13 years, has come down to help the kitchen tide over its startup issues. Indeed, Indigo Deli is indulging Delhi. Let's savour our special position while we can, and give Akerkar the rousing welcome he deserves.

DINING OUT: Sunday Brunch Gets A New Twist at Chez Nini

This review first appeared in Mail Today on May 23, 2013.
Copyright: Mail Today Newspapers

QUICK BITES

WHAT: Sunday Brunch @ Chez Nini

WHERE: 79 & 80, Meher Chand Market, Fourth Avenue Road, Lodi Colony

WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

HOW MUCH: Rs 2,500+++ (unlimited cocktails from the menu);

Rs 2,000+++ (without cocktails) per person

CALL: +91- 9650257451

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

Chez Nini's first floor, with its
wall display of ink sketches

of backs of people's heads,

is where the Sunday brunch

is served. (Below) Each

item, like the fish burger,

is cooked a la minute

and served at your table.

Images: Azra Sadr

NOT MANY chefs around the world get invited to serve a meal at James Beard House, New York's gastronomic pilgrimage at the town house that once belonged to the man who defined American Cookery. Nira Singh of Chez Nini just recently earned her entry into that exclusive club and immediately on her return, in an inspired move, unveiled a Sunday brunch that may just re-write the rules of the institution as it has transmogrified in Delhi.

We have gotten used to a brunch design that deifies excess. Just about everything a hotel or a restaurant has to offer is laid out on buffet counters for guests to dig in, with endless accompanying pours of bubbly and martinis, and the dishes keep getting replenished as they get consumed. That's quite industrial, though no one minds, because all of us believe we are getting our money's worth.

By going against the paisa vasool mindset, Chez Nini's Sunday brunch has shown how this institution was supposed to have evolved. Each guest gets to order one dish at a time from the special menu, which in effect means you can have an endless a la carte meal delivered at your table. There's an abundance of sangrias and smoothies, spiked with dates and honey, to keep everyone pleasantly high in between orders, and the pianist, Sahil Vasudeva, despite his Devdas looks and overnight stubble, plays just the kind of tunes that would get you to tap your feet and drum your table.

Your mind blanks out and you wonder why the neighbouring Lodi Colony appears to be in a state of slumber from the window beside your table. Shouldn't the occupants of the World War II-vintage apartments, which house government functionaries of all kinds, wake up and smell the Blue Tokai coffee from Coorg roasted exclusively for Chez Nini?

That's exactly the tantalising aroma that will greet you as you enter the first floor of the restaurant after a rather steep yet rejuvenating climb. The warm and welcoming fragrance of freshly baked breads and tarts will compete with it for your attention.

You can hear your stomach rumbling in anticipation, and as soon as your red wine sangria gives you an early afternoon alcohol rush, ask for the Watermelon Salad, drenched with citrus vinaigrette and loaded with creamy feta and grated hazelnuts to deliver a multi-textured sensation, then move on the French Onion Soup that comes with a blob of Himalayan gouda sitting on a crispy toast, and call for the Soft Poached Eggs served on a bed of sauteed spinach, bay leaf foam and crispy onion. The portions are generous, so share and show you care.

With your hunger temporarily assuaged but not your curiosity, your next step should be to order the Eggs Benedict that come sitting on gluten-free brioche, generously lashed with hollandaise and accompanied by seared slices of pork belly (divine!). Go for the Rosemary Pumpkin Pasta Au Gratin, which is a tribute to the umami powers of parmesan. Have the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Escalope with waffles, peppercorn sauce and buttermilk gravy. Or settle from my favourite: Fish Burger served on a multi-grain sourdough bun with okra fries, tartare sauce and salsa verde. Each offering comes with a twist, on wooden platters that arrive in diverse shapes, cooked a la minute and served at carefully calibrated intervals. I was surprised by the precision with which food was being served to a full house, giving hunger or impatience not even a sneaking chance to get the better of conversations. The sangria, of course, played a part in turning time into a bullet train.

Then comes the cherry on the topping. And the dilemma. Do we have the Caramel Popcorn and Berry Sundae or the Fruit Gazpacho? Order both and share. Don't miss either, and you must not go without your mandatory shot of Blue Tokai espresso. Did someone say Sunday brunch offerings have become predictable? Not at Chez Nini, for sure!