Royal Retreat

As you enter Zaranj,a heady fragrance of roses,jasmines,along with the earthy strains ghazals,greet you rather awkwardly. These are not the sights and sounds of dinners at most restaurants in Kolkata. But Zaranj is taking its latest offering – Awadh-e-Dasterkhan – seriously. The food festival which brings to the city dishes ‘straight out of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s kitchen’,intends to take you to a trip down the Royal cuisine of Lucknow.

While the menu has the usual suspects – the chiken kebabs,the paya shorba ( a soup made of mutton stock) and the fish chanp (spiced grilled pieces of fish),it does spring up a couple of surprises. Like the Irani Khichdi. “The khichdi was a specialty of the Nawab’s kitchen,” says chef Daulat Miyan,who has come from Lucknow to oversee the proceedings at Zaranj. The Irani Khichi is a sticky version of the usual stuff,the strong flavour of the dal blending nicely with the chicken/mutton it is cooked with. “Apart from rice and dal,we use cashews,nuts,milk and spices to cook the Irani khichdi. The stickiness is owing to the milk,” says Miyan. The other interesting bits of the menu include the Moti Biryani and the Khamiri Roti. While the Moti Biryani is an innovation on the regular Biryani with small meat balls mixed with the rice,the Khamiri Roti has a nice flavour to it. “It takes a whole day to make the roti. You have to mix flour,milk and yoghurt and leave it for 24 hours. When you make the roti,you take fresh flour and some mix,knead them together,” says Miyan.

The festival is on at Zaranj till August. A meal would cost Rs 500 approximately