From the North West Frontier Province comes the famed Peshawari cuisine, one of the legacies of undivided India.
From the North West Frontier Province comes the famed Peshawari cuisine, one of the legacies of undivided India. This delectable cuisine can be best defined as rustic and robust.
Madhu Krishnan, executive chef, ITC Maratha, explains, “This cuisine uses the simplistic style of preparation, where large chunks of meat, seafood and vegetables are marinated sparingly and cooked in the clay tandoor at high temperatures so that they remain tender and succulent. The spices and flavours are judiciously used so as not to overpower the preparations and to be acceptable to every palate. The rusticness of the cuisine and the focus on preserving the flavours and ingredients is another USP of this cuisine.”
According to Sanjay Bahl, executive chef, Orchid Hotel, “North West Frontier cuisine has been popular because most of the kebabs owe their origin to this cuisine. This cuisine is very popular because of its unique style of cooking in terms of methods and ingredients. The flavour that the tandoor imparts cannot be duplicated. The other important factor is that the method of cooking is quite adaptable to vegetarian ingredients also. Tandoori gobhi is as popular as chicken tikka.”
Simon Rozario, executive chef, Peninsula Grand, says, “At ‘Vividh’, we serve authentic North West Frontier cuisine. We are careful about our ingredients, method of cooking and in no way compromise on the quality. The spice in the food is balanced with use of cream, dry fruits and kesar. Mutton Rezala, Dal Bukhari, Murg Peshawari are our popular dishes.”
Says chef Krishnan, “While the preparation seems simplistic; the standardization of recipes, quality of ingredients used, marination time, temperature of tandoor, type of tandoor and the standards set, are followed religiously.”
Chef Bahl agrees, “The most popular aspect of this cuisine is tandoor cooking. The food is cooked in rustic style on slow fire for a long time especially for dishes like Haleem and Dal Makhani, which tastes best when cooked overnight on slow fire.”
The spices predominantly used include yellow chilli powder, garam masala which is home ground, cardamom, mace powder, royal cumin, carom.
Chef Bahl adds, “The utilisation of spices is very limited. kasoori methi, Kashmiri mirchi which enhance the smoky flavour of food cooked in tandoor are used. Garam masala adds to taste and flavour which is used sparingly but enhances taste of pulaos, kebab and biryani.”
At Peshawari, ITC Maratha, Dal Bukhara –A harmony of black lentils, tomatoes, ginger and garlic, simmered overnight on coal embers and finished with cream and a dollop of butter, Sikandari Raan –Whole leg of spring lamb, marinated in a mixture of malt vinegar, royal cumin, braised in the marinade, Barrah Kebab, are some highlights. The vegetarian signatures consist of the Tandoori Aloo, Paneer Tikka, Tandoori Phool. The Orchid serves kebabs at its speciality restaurant ‘Mostly Grill’ ranging from Seekh Kebab, Raan and Kalmi Kebab.
Chef Krishnan sums up, “Peshawari is the highest revenue generator amongst all Indian restaurants in the city - that should tell you just how popular it is amongst our patrons within the city and those who travel to Mumbai.”
Other hotspots for North West Frontier cuisine in Mumbai are Baluchi at Intercontinental – The Lalit, Khyber, Koyla, Caravan Serai. Kareem’s too offers some authentic dishes.
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