Colour me natural!

At a recent food tasting at Nara Thai, it wasn’t just the taste of the Butterfly pea flower rice flavoured with lemon grass and kaffir leaves that made our taste buds dance, but the striking blueish-purple colour of the dish itself. “The butterfly pea flower is a very neutral ingredient as it doesn’t have any strong flavour of its own and doesn’t influence the flavour profile of the drink or dish. It imparts a different colour depending on the citrus level of the dish/drink,” says Karyna Bajaj, Executive Director KA Hospitality.

The natural-food colour trend, which has been gathering momentum in city restaurants, isn’t just welcome because of the lovely hues it lends to dishes/drinks, it’s also a healthy trend as one doesn’t need to use food colours for the purpose. After Hrs picks some dishes and drinks that stand out because of their stunning colours.

Purple Potato Gnocchi with Truffle Air

A little browned butter, maybe sage if you like, parmesan and pepper is all you need to make a delicious gnocchi. Just a dash of that and you can relish the brilliantly-coloured sweet potatoes, and truffle air. Yogendra Adep, Chef De Cuisine, The St Regis, Mumbai, says that all brightly-coloured fruit and vegetables contain antioxidant compounds, that play a key role in protecting our bodies, but many naturally purple-colored foods contain a certain antioxidant called anthocyanin. These are beneficial plant pigments that give fruit and veggies their deep red, purple or blue hues.
Where: Luna, Lower Parel
Price: Rs 650

Halo Halo

This deconstructed mix of jello with caramelised banana, purple yam ice cream, raspberry sorbet, vanilla bean flan and coconut granite looks like a work of art on the plate.
Where: The Fatty Bao, Kamala Mills
Price: Rs 295

BBQ Paneer Burger

The Barbecue Paneer burger with black buns has a smoky flavour serenading the paneer and fresh veggies. Edible charcoal adds the dark colour to the bread and lends that extra jazz to a regular burger meal.
Where: The Rolling Pin, Lower Parel
Price: Rs 310

Hattori Hanzo

The tequila, butterfly pea flower tea and lime shaken drink, has butterfly pea flower as the chief ingredient. It is a tisane (caffeine-free and herbal) type of tea that changes colour when mixed with anything with an acidic property. When it’s mixed with lime, as in this drink, the colour of this cocktail changes from ink blue to a vibrant purple shade. Says Tanai Shirali, Director Operations Bellona Hospitality, “It is a good substitute to the regular flavouring and colouring agents that are usually added to cocktails. It isn’t sweet and syrupy and has a more earthy woody taste like the regular green tea.”
Where: Shizusan Shophouse & Bar, Lower Parel
Price: Rs 575

Wildflower

This is a gin-based cocktail with peach and basil on a tonic sphere. The red colour of the cocktail comes from the use of hibiscus.
Where: Talaiva, Lower Parel
Price: Rs 550

Beetroot and Goat Cheese Charcoal Bun Sliders

Toasted bite-sized charcoal buns are packed with beetroot, goat cheese patty and gherkins and served with potato chips. Charcoal gives the bun its black colour.
Where: The Irish House, all outlets
Price: Rs 325

Jambhul Karvand Martini

Vengurla-special Bengal currant with Bombay Sapphire Gin is shaken with plum java pulp and Juice. The Bengal Currant (Karvand) and the java plum (jambhul) fruit blend together to give the drink a nice purple finish.
Where: +91, Juhu
Price: Rs 450

Allahabad Beetroot Tikki

This is a tikki prepared with beetroot and cottage cheese, roasted cashew, and water chestnut. The reddish pink colour of the tikkis is because of the beetroot.
Where: +91, Juhu
price: Rs 350