Pizza is the ultimate bonding food. At Business Standard, the newspaper I used to work for, we would order pizzas for birthdays and farewells, because someone had forgotten lunch, because we had had a stressful day or in anticipation of one, because the Indian cricket team or Federer or some obscure football league had won, [...]
Cuisines
A Fine Balance: Choosing Wines for Indian Food
Indian food is hugely varied, and it is often easier to order a beer than to try to pair a wine with your Indian dish. With a kaleidoscope of vibrant flavours, what wines won’t be overpowered by the flavour of the food? Some red wines can actually alter the taste of Indian food and make [...]
Contemporarise, don’t cardboardise!
Why are chefs at Amarata, the Oberoi’s contemporary coastal restaurant shying away from the soul of Indian cooking? By Anoothi Vishal What is the future of Indian food in India? This is a question that is often debated by chefs, restaurateurs and foodies. And clearly, looking at the spate of big launches in the last [...]
Mughalai meets Bengali: The story of a heritage cuisine
By Anoothi Vishal The Mughals undoubtedly had the biggest impact on the cuisines of northern Indian (as also the Deccan) and even though “Mughlai” food is a generic term today, usually standing for a hodge podge of commercially-constructed dishes, some of our most interesting heritage cuisines have Mughal roots. So what are these heritage cuisines [...]
Roti chanai, dim sums and an “anti-cafe ”
Fu In Chinese, it means “good luck” and indeed Fu marks a great turning point in the business of restaurants in Delhi—at least, when it comes to Chinese food. Unlike the “family-style”, Indian-Chinese places of yore, this is an anti café with nothing stereotypical about it. So abandon all old-fashioned expectations of how a Chinese restaurant [...]
The Hyderabad Eatathon: It’s not just about biryani
By Anoothi Vishal An old immersion myth tells the story of Narada asking to be shown “maya”, that illusory, creative force driving life, according to Hindu philosophy. It’s not an easy concept to understand — much less to accept. But the sage gets a “test drive” one day when he takes a dip in the [...]
The truth about Chettinad
One of the few south Indian cuisines to be really exposed to us all over the country is, of course, Chettinad — or more correctly, the cuisine of the Nattukotai Chettiar community of Tamil Nadu. Speak of south Indian non-vegetarian food (at least outside the four peninsular states) and nine out of 10 people are [...]
Mathur food festival at Fire, The Park, New Delhi
Often labeled “sharabi-kebabi” or “adhe Mussalman” (half Muslim) because of their gastronomic adventurousness, the Mathur-Kayasthas have always considered themselves to be sophisticates, well versed in matters cultural—and culinary. Often, in a household, the passion for music (or dramatics and urdu poetry) would only be overshadowed by an interest in food, with dining room conversations routinely [...]