From Chattisgarhi Bamboo Chicken to a re-jigged version of Malai Golda Chingri, adaptations from dishes across India are now part of a new, seasonal menu at a Lower Parel restaurant
Those who’ve visited Chhattisgarh might have heard of the central Indian rustic preparation called Bamboo Chicken, where the meat, marinated in spices and herbs, is packed into the hollow of a bamboo stalk, sealed and slow-cooked over wood or charcoal fire. In case you wish to try a version of the dish right here in Mumbai, head to Lower Parel’s Café Haqq Se, which has added an adaptation to a new, seasonal menu launched last week. “For practical purposes, we pre-prep the dish in such a way that the final cooking and presentation is in a specially crafted bamboo tube, which goes straight from the lava stone fire grill to the guest’s table. The aroma of bamboo and steaming hot chicken entices you as the server opens the casing,” explains chef Milan Gupta, who comes armed with over two decades of experience in the F&B industry, including stints at Orchid and Marriott hotel groups.
Chhattisgarhi Bamboo Chicken
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From Kundapur to Kashmir
Besides retaining a few signatures from the original menu, the seasonal avatar — with 70 per cent new dishes — charts a culinary map from different regions like Kashmir, Haryana, Coorg and Kundapur in Karna-taka, Bihar, Malwan and Awadh. “Indian cuisine is like a bottomless ocean. I have not only represented rare preparations from various culinary destinations but also added a progressive take to popular dishes, without indulging in mindless fusion. We solely enhance a recipe through use of a cut, cooking technique or an ingredient,” informs Gupta. For instance, Bihar’s popular Litti Chokha makes it to the menu as Litti And Mash, featuring traditional sattu (chickpea flour)-filled, dough balls with a new-age roasted aubergine mash cooked in extra virgin olive oil and Indian herbs, instead of mustard oil and pungent garlic. Meanwhile, prawn lovers can tuck into the fresh catch filled in soft, semolina bars in a dish called Upma And Kardi Jam Gratin, representing Maharashtra. “Kardi, which means prawn in the language of the fisherfolk, is sandwiched between freshly made semolina upma. In this version, we grill it with soft French
Brie cheese, made of cow’s milk,” he adds.
Upma and Kardi Jam Gratin
Finding Jimbu in Northeast
While Gupta sourced most ingredients locally from neighbourhood shops (“Trephal or Sichuan Pepper Corn used in Bhuney Chicken Wings comes from a small shop in Malad, one of the few still selling the forgotten spice”), he also relied on his friends to bring back herbs and spices from their sojourns to different parts of India.
Chef Milan Gupta
“I asked a friend, travelling to the Northeast, to get me a bag full of Jimbu, a rare herb used to cook Jimbu Lemon Keftey Wrap (a rice paper wrap with poached chicken dumplings), which is only available in the hilly region. The kasundi mustard paste used as a dressing for a salad accompanying Murg Tikka Parmigiana is sourced from a small shop in Kolkata,” says Gupta. The chef has also started collecting Ratanjog, a spice from a bark of a tree found in Kashmir, which is a key ingredient in the popular Gosht Roganjosh. “I intend to use it in a recipe for the next seasonal menu, in November,” he signs off.
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