Ranna Ghar at Spice Haat, Hyatt Regency Chennai

Anyone living along the Bay of Bengal must have had this thought - if you sit in a boat and set sail, you should reach your destination... right? In this case, if you point the bow sort of north north east from Chennai and sail away, you should eventually reach the Hoogly river and from there Kolkata is just a hop, skip and jump away! I wonder if anyone has done it!


The reason for the hypothetical journey is that I suddenly have this craving for Bengali food. Fell in love with it on my last trip to Kolkata, in fact, have been invited to live there permanently by my sister in law as she has relocated to that city. But not as yet because "Ranna Ghar" has come to Chennai, to Hyatt Regency Chennai to be specific.

Executive Chef Subrata Debnath has curated  an absolutely delicious menu to celebrate home style cooking in a five star setting. The aromas and flavours of Bengal have been lovingly recreated at Spice Haat, one of HRC's specialty restaurants. One could make out his total involvement in bringing this festival to the city as he enthusiastically took us around the buffet service and told us about the specialties on offer that night.

Rice and fish, in fact, seafood, is the mainstay of Bengali cuisine. Along with other spices, the essential spice blend used in this cuisine is panchphoron, a mix of mustard, fenugreek, cumin/aniseed, nigella and ajmoda seeds. Mustard is used extensively, not only in cooking but also as a condiment.

Panchphoron. Pic courtesy HRC

I was there with a friend to review Ranna Ghar (I'm told this means kitchen), and we were joined for dinner by Chef Subrata and PR Manager Aully. So keen is the Chef to give diners the total Bengali experience that the ingredients for the fest, including seafood, is flown in every day from Kolkata.

Kolkata is well known for chaat so of course there is a separate section for chaats, manned by 2 chefs. In front of them was a great, big, flat tava and the most amazing aromas wafted from it -Kolkata ghugni!

Made with white peas and myriad spices, we asked for tiny portions which were topped with chopped onions, diced tomatoes and a sprinkle of chopped coriander.

The chaat counter; jhuri allo bhajaj; aloo kabli, dahi bora

There was also jhuri allo bhajaj - puffed rice with potato and spices, aloo kabli - potato cubes with chickpeas and dahi bora - curd vadas.

Aloor chop; paneer tikka; rosemary murgh malai tikki; tawa fried fish

Soft and flavourful paneer tikka and  crisp aloor chop - potato croquettes stuffed with beetroot were the vegetarian starters. Non veg appetisers included tender rosemary murgh malai tikki and tawa fried fish. We couldn't decide which we liked the best, they were all so good.

There was also topse bhaja - a variety of small fish that is coated with chickpea flour and spices and then deep fried. The bones are soft enough to munch through. The fish tasted fresh and with the coating of spiced chickpea flour, it was somewhat reminiscent of eating a bhajji. It looked like one too.

Narkeli cholar dal; chingri malai curry; potel dorma;kochi pathar jhol; mochar ghonto; rosogollar dalna; aloo phulofor tarkari; posto murghi 

The best way to experience a Bengali meal is to try a thali - on a large plate, a mound of pulao rotna - flavoured rice studded with nuts and raisins surrounded by 8 side dishes. Each one of the dishes was delicious on its own as well as with the rice. Posto murghi is chicken cooked in poppy seed gravy. The potel or pointed gourd is one of my favourite vegetables, this one been cooked in a mild gravy. Another interesting dish was the rosogollar dalna - rosogollars are spongy sugar syrup laden balls of deliciousness but here, they had been cooked in a curry. Uber soft and not at all sweet, it just melted in the mouth. Another favourite was the banana flower - mochar ghonto - we loved the texture. Also loved the absolutely tender lamb in a dark gravy that was perfect with the flavoured rice.

With the narkeli cholar dal, we were served loochis - thinly rolled out flour discs and fried till puffy.

We were told to sprinkle some deep fried potato sticks on the dal and scoop up the combination with the loochi. Wow, what a combination of coconut based dal, crisp potato and the loochi itself.

Most delicious of all was the chingri malai curry - river prawns cooked in a mellow tender coconut based creamy gravy. We tried the mangshor biryani too. Bengali biryani not only has meat but also potato cubes and egg. Fragrant with rose water, the dual coloured rice was cooked perfectly.

Mangshor biryani; posto murghi; kochi pathar jhol; chingri malai curry

Narkeli cholar dal; rosogollar dalna; potel dorma;  mochar ghonto; aloo phulofor tarkari

What's a Bengali meal without the famous smoked bhappa elish? This is Chef's speciality and it was presented to us with a flourish.

A slice of hilsa coated with mustard sauce and steamed to perfection. The beautiful soft white flesh of the fish was the perfect foil to the slightly pungent mustard coat. The only thing that detracted were the little bones, in fact, we were warned to be careful while eating the fish. Still, what's a minor thing like fish bones when all that flavour was just waiting to be enjoyed?

Pepyer chutney;tomato kejurer

 And if you must have a bit of chutney to go with your meal, there are 2 on offer.

From top: malpua,rasmalai; baked yoghurt, mishti doi; rosogolla

We had to have dessert but decided to share it 3 ways. Loved the malpua with the added tick of flavour from the aniseed, loved also the rosogolla and rasmalai. Baked yoghurt is not a Bengali dessert but I simply had to have it and it was delicious. The only thing that didn't work was the mishti doi that tasted like sweetened yoghurt.

The festival is on till August 2nd. It's a dinner service, both as a buffet and a thali. The buffet is priced at 1500/++, veg thali at 1000/++, non veg thali at 1200/++. It is also on offer as Sunday brunch at 1850/++.

For reservations, do call +91 44 6100 1234.

No need for that boat ride to Kolkata as yet!!

Read more »

Bicycles and memories at Ciclo Cafe

Ciclo Cafe on Gandhi Mandapam Road, Kotturpuram has a pretty facade - big bay windows and bicycles hanging from them. Finally I got around to going there last week with a couple of charming ladies. As one enters the cafe, the cycle store is to the left and on the right is an interesting rustic seating area. However, we were told it was closed for service and were directed upstairs instead.

Cycles and cycle parts hung all around, cycle wheels replaced the legs of some tables, a clock with a cycle wheel face. Uber attentive staff with earphones led us to seats near a large window overlooking the main road and a cycle hung from the window. The space was quite cosy, wooden tables and chairs with colourful upholstered seats and at one end were display cases that held savoury pies, tarts and lasagna and delectable desserts.

Lasagna and quiches

We placed our orders - hot chocolate, Americano and a latte machiatto. The chocolate was good but the machiatto seemed to have an identity crisis - it was the colour of milky chocolate but had no flavour of coffee. However it was steaming hot and just right for the cool setting of the cafe.

Latte macchiato

Waiting for the appetisers, my eyes went back to the bicycle on the window and I remembered the time when my brother tried to teach me to ride one. I must have been about 6 years old. Dad was a doctor in government service and we lived in a huge house with a huge garden spread over 3 levels, the house sitting squat in the middle level. All my previous attempts to learn cycling ended in failure but fed up of being called a coward, I finally agreed to be taught one last time.

We got onto the cycle, he behind me and we did a kind of a slow pedal from the top of the driveway to the front of the house, or rather he pedalled while I stuck out my legs. We took a curve around the side of the house, and that's when I realised his intentions. By then we had picked up speed and as we turned the corner, the steeper back slope came into view. I tried to jump off but too late - we flew over the top of the slope and I swear if not for the chicken coop at the bottom of the garden, we would have flown straight over the fence and into the neighbour's compound. Instead, we fell against the chicken wire in a heap of arms and legs, screams from me, raucous laughter from him, chickens squawking and flying in all directions and the final ignominy of the cycle falling on us. Well, that was enough to wake Mum up from her afternoon siesta and she came out to investigate. With threats of "Wait till your father gets home" ringing in our ears, we untangled ourselves and while my brother tried to do some hasty repairs to the hen house, I took myself off to the storeroom where I ministered to myself  with the full contents of a bottle of iodine and several rolls of gauze and plaster.

Chicken strips; pesto bocconcini

Our starters brought me out of my reverie - chicken strips and crumb fried pesto flavoured bocconcini. The chicken was sliced really thin and though fried to a crisp brown, was tender but a tad under seasoned. The bocconcini was deliciously crisp and thankfully the pesto was not overpowering. It was served with dots of mild red sauce. Both starters came with a bit of green salad and a dip.

Pepperoni pizza

A large thin crust pizza with pepperoni came next. It looked delish, plenty of pepperoni slices all over but I missed the air dried smokey flavour of  a well made pepperoni. Other than that, it was an impressive pizza with a generous amount of topping.

 

Classic beef burger with bacon was recommended and we were not at all disappointed. The bun was fresh and soft, the herbed patty was juicy it had cheddar cheese, sliced tomatoes, gherkins and lettuce. An extremely well crafted burger that held together till the last bite. It was served with fries and cubes of pickled veg. That was a nice touch.

Tough choices to make for dessert. These were some of the things on offer:

Chocolate crumble tart; salted caramel cheesecake; creme brulee; flourless chocolate cake

Finally we chose these -

Salted caramel cheesecake

The salted caramel cheesecake was served warm. I missed the tanginess of a regular cheesecake; the texture reminded me a of a light bread pudding for some strange reason. All the same, it was delicious and before we dug in, admired the plating.

Creme brulee

We also had a creme brulee which was ok though I would have liked a slightly thicker layer of burnt sugar on the top.

Overall, it was good food, generous portions and good service. Everything we ordered was served fairly quickly. It's a nice place to catch up with friends for a meal and a bit of a chinwag. A meal for 2 should work out to about 1600/ including taxes, a little pricey considering it's a cafe.

  

Read more »

Dinner buffet at Symphony, Ramada Egmore Chennai

Can anyone do full justice to a buffet spread?  Which was my dilemma when I was invited to review Symphony's multi cuisine dinner buffet. Like me, there were other diners in the restaurant who lifted the lids of the cloches, looked in and either helped themselves to the contents or moved on to the next.

Seventy seven dishes on the menu!! The problem gets a little more complicated when the dessert section comes into view. Now you realise the folly of piling your plate high with various salads and main courses. Then you compromise - you tell yourself you'll do an extra 15 minutes on the treadmill and possibly even skip breakfast the next day.



Ramada Egmore Chennai has a wonderful location. It is close to the railway stations, the business district, government offices and of course, the Marina beach.  At the entrance of Symphony is a group of figurines with musical instruments and a screen painted with more figures - a pretty musical welcome.

The restaurant is a fairly large one. Buffet counters run all along one length of the room and in the centre, large displays of salads, appetisers and main courses. Occupying pride of place is the biryani and salna pots, definitely a must try. Soothing music plays over the sound system, reinforcing the name of the restaurant.

Dining chairs with orange and cream upholstery and dark brown tables give the place a very contemporary look. My son and I were led into one of the private dining rooms and we were joined for a short while by Group President Jaya Shankar Gupta who told us a bit about the hotel.

We ordered our drinks - a particularly nice fresh orange juice for the young man and a musk melon for me. Soups came next - vegetable jade soup which was a little spicy and chicken mulligatawny which had a delicate flavour. I would have liked it more if the lentil base was smoother. Bits of coconut garnished the soup.

Chicken mulligatawny soup; fresh musk melon juice

Our starter was going to be fried fish but we decided to skip it and had murgh malai kebab. It was succulent and full of flavour.

Murgh malai kebab; kandhari tikki

We were also served an interesting almond kandhari tikki made with mashed yam and almond bits. Delicious.

Making kuzhi paniyaram

One other starter was kuzhi paniyaram made at a live counter. I normally stay miles away from anything that is oily but on this I couldn't see a drop of it. It was crisp outside, fluffy within and served with a tangy onion and tomato chutney. Yummy!

The salad display was mind boggling. Not just the salads per se but someone had got hold of a whole lot of fruits and veg and carved into them.

See what I mean?? Beautiful, right?

Spinach chicken salad; cottage cheese salad; cocktail egg salad
zucchini cups; spicy mango salad

There were cups fashioned out of zucchini and stuffed with vegetables and cheese, the mango salad evoked memories of Chennai beaches, of course it was now being served in more hygienic environs! The cottage cheese salad with its balsamic flavoured topping was interesting but the cheese was hard and dry; leaving it uncovered was not helping its cause.

Sauteed veg; polenta with herbed potato slices 

A couple of Continental dishes caught my eye - there were sauteed legumes and polenta with herbed potatoes. Both were very nice, the vegetables had retained their crunch and the polenta with its cheesy topping was mild flavoured and well done.



Plenty of choices for vegetarians as well - fragrant subzi pulao  and paneer kofta curry made a terrific combination. There were noodles too but they looked quite dry and I was right.

Lamb dum biryani, salna, egg masala

Lamb dum biryani was simply delicious. The chunks of lamb were fork tender and the rice itself, long grained and fragrant with the aroma of kewra, was perfectly spiced.  Salna and the egg masala, along with a bowl of raita were the perfect accompaniments.

Mamidikaya pulusu

There were more main courses on offer but I chose the interesting looking ones and I wasn't disappointed. The one thing I simply had to try was mamidikaya pulusu -  a spicy raw mango and garlic curry. The plain rice served with it was quite dry but all was forgiven as it was a tangy, tasty combination. And spicy to boot!

 As for the desserts, there were far too many to taste so we shared a few.

Carrot slices; butterscotch pud; marbled choco pie; strawberry cheesecake; orange pastries

Indian sweets; orange rasagulla; mango parfait

Semiya payasam; chocolate pudding

The chocolate pudding and the mango parfait got top points from the both of us. The rasagulla was a close second. What didn't impress were the cheesecake and the butterscotch mousse. There was too much setting agent in them which made them rubbery. Like ice creams? They have the cold stone variety too.

Symphony has a long menu and the diner has ample choices. However, for me, it's the Indian section that was more appealing. Service was very good with plates and cutlery cleared and replaced quickly.

Ramada Egmore Chennai is at Gandhi Irwin Road.The dinner buffet is 789/ per head, all inclusive. Do call 30004777 to make a reservation.

Read more »

Kashmiri Wazwan Festival at Hyatt Regency Chennai

Sucheta was from Kashmir, one of the first friends I made when I moved to Hyderabad. She was a wonderful cook and taught me some of her family's recipes. Every time she went to visit her parents in Kashmir, she would bring back tea leaves and spice powders and give me some of her precious stock. She showed me how to make qahwa - green tea flavoured with spices and almonds. I've made it innumerable times but mine never tasted as good as hers! We would sit at her dining table and between sips of qahwah, she would tell me about life in Kashmir, describe the bitterly cold winters, how the kangri - the portable firepot, kept them warm, and of course, about Kashmiri food. Mutton was the preferred choice of meat, as it was most suitable for the climate. It was from her that I heard about wazwans - the multi course traditional Kashmiri Muslim meal that was usually made for weddings.

It's been awhile since I last met Sucheta but I missed her most the day Hyatt Regency Chennai invited me to review their wazwan. Our group included food writers, journalists and bloggers and we were welcomed by Chef Subrata Debnath, Executive Chef at HRC who had curated the food for the festival and Waza Bashir Ahmad. A waza is the chef who has specialised in making a wazwan.

Waza Bashir Ahmad

The wazwan is the cultural identity of Kashmiri Muslims. Culinary skills are passed down from generation to generation; it is considered an art and only a privileged few can carry this tradition on. Naturally, one becomes a waz only after years of learning from the vasta waza or head chef. The wan is the shop which supplies meats and other delicacies. A traditional wazwan can have up to 36 courses, thank goodness just 10 were being showcased at our lunch. 

We started the meal with veg seekh kebab and chicken seekh kebab. The kebabs were soft and had a melt in the mouth quality. The chicken kebab was particularly delicious and a little spicy.There was also tabak maaz - twice cooked lamb ribs. Tender ribs had been marinated, boiled in spices and then briefly fried to a beautiful golden colour. While the outside was crunchy, the meat inside was tender. The appetisers were served with a delicious walnut chutney and an onion salad.  

Vegetarian seekh kebab

Chicken seekh kebab

Tabak maaz

Walnut chutney, onion salad, sheermal 

Mutton rista and gushtaba were served next. The food expert beside me explained that the raw meat has to be at a particular temperature before being hand pounded along with some fat, mixed with spices and then shaped into balls. Rista is cooked in a thin onion tomato gravy and gushtaba in a fenugreek and yoghurt based gravy. He told me to slice it open and when I did, the juices within flowed out. If you have bitten into a rasagulla, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Both gravies were excellent but my favourite was definitely the gushtaba.

Mutton rista

Gushtaba

We were served tiny sheermal, a leavened bread made of flour and baked. It had been brushed with saffron and was delicious with the gravies.

There was also chicken dhaniwal, again in a mild, yoghurt based gravy.
Fish in Kashmir is mostly the fresh water variety and we were served a fish korma. This was made of basa, not my fish of choice so I tried only the deep red gravy.

Rajma; whole eggplant; lotus root curry 

Vegetarians will not be disappointed for there's plenty on the menu. There is nadru yakhni - lotus root cooked in a yoghurt gravy, a vegetable much loved by the Kashmiris, whole eggplant in red gravy, a delicious rajma, cauliflower yakhni and an interesting spinach curry - nadre saag. The gravies were a vibrant red because of the use of Kashmiri chillies, well known for its colour and mild taste. 

Nadre saag

Most Kashmiri gravies are thin in consistency, the juices from the meat form the stock and are perfect when eaten with rice. We were served a delectable Kashmiri pulao, tinged with saffron and with plenty of cashew nuts.

Zarda pulao; kesari phirni

For dessert, there was zarda pulao. The rice had the wonderfully nutty texture, it was perfectly sweetened and had a faint taste of orange. It was studded with barberries that lent an interesting taste and texture to the rice. The other dessert was kesari phirni - coarse powdered rice cooked in milk and topped with strands of saffron and mango slices. It too was a beautiful amalgamation of flavour and texture coming together in a dish.

Lunch ended with qahwa - Kashmiri green tea flavoured  with cardamom and poured from a samovar. What a fitting end to a meal from a place called 'paradise on earth'.

A trami

This beautiful presentation of the whole meal is called a trami and is priced at 1400/ for non veg, 1100/ for the vegetarian one. The buffet is priced at 1550/++.

The Kashmiri Wazwan Festival will be on till June 20th at Spice Haat.
For reservations, do call +91 44 6100 1234.

*Trami pic courtesy Mohamed Ali M.

Read more »