Opinion Waiter Diary
It is Karim's after all. The Lonely Planet has written reams on the good food available at this joint.
I dont know his name,but the waiter at Karim’s — who does a head count of waiting customers faster than you can say biriyani,counts divides and multiplies the orders of shirmal rotis and mutton stew — is like a dancer amid the food flying fast around him.
He is not much to look at grubby faced,smiling a fractured smile — he shouts at customers who dont order at one go,so what if the customer at the receiving end is a family man with three children in tow. He will be chided for not ordering “theek se”.
It is Karim’s after all. The Lonely Planet has written reams on the good food available at this joint with the Jama Masjid as its neighbour and all the newspaper clippings on the wall tell you about the great fare available here. So how can you not know what to order? We were greeted more warmly. “Kitne hai?” We raised our fingers in a “peace” sign in the chaos of slurps,spoons clanging and chairs being shifted. “Theek hai,do hain. Aap share kar lo.” We did as we were told. And ordered at one go. The waiter gave us a smile. We knew he liked us.
Soon our rotis came gliding above the other tables,the mutton stew,and the kheema-kaleji appeared in their glistening avatars,swimming in oil. The family we were “sharing” our table with only had onions and green chutney to look at,their orders were taken with a frown,”Ek shammi,nahin,do shammi” “One biriyani or make that half biryani? Yahan half milti hai?” The waiter openly showed his impatience. Told them to read the menu. Slapped it on their table and didnt appear till 15 minutes later. We were happily into our third roti and gastronomic heaven,when the exasperated family,next to us,finally got their “half biriyani” they were grumbling and eating.
The waiter smiled at us and frowned at them,in one glance. But while we did feel special,it was sad to know that the whole eating experience for the people sitting right next to us was excruciating. The food was good,but the service (if you are the chosen ‘ignored’ lot) could really ruin the flavour of the evening out.
At Karims,the food is legendary,as so is the shortage of leg room,so you sit where you find a spot,eat,pay and leave. The guys next to us were probably hoping for some “attention” from the waiters for a “coke without ice”. It was a bad idea. It wasnt their fault,or the waiters. By the time we paid our bill,the dinner party next to us was still trying to spot the waiter for their next order. I was looking for “our” waiter too,I wanted to ask him his name,I saw him taking a plate of kebabs to a table,he smiled. I wanted to tip him,but he was gone,busy memorising new orders (he doesnt use a pen and paper). We got out of the narrow lane that is the entrance to this famous Old Delhi restaurant,crowded with the rest of the world entering inside for a Saturday night meal. I know I have to get his name the next time. And I know it will be difficult.
Mutton Stew
Ingredients:
Mutton pieces (300 grams or so),
One teaspoon (tsp) cumin seeds (jeera),
Couple of dried red chillies (lal mirch),
Couple of bay leaves (tej patta),
Two brown cardamoms (badi ilaychi),
Three-four green cardamoms (chhoti ilaychi),
A couple of one-inch sticks of cinnamon (dalchini),
Five-six cloves (laung),
One tsp coriander seeds (dhania),
Two medium sized onions (pyaaz),
A square inch piece of ginger (adrak),
Two-three cloves of garlic (lahsun),
Two tablespoons (tbsp) clarified butter (ghee),
Two tbsp oil (tel),
Turmeric powder (haldi),
Salt (namak)
Method:
Use a non-stick pan/kadhai.
1. Chop pyaaz,crush adrak and lahsun. Let the mixer/blender rest. Use a heavy glass bottle to crush the ginger and garlic. You may also use the rolling pin (belan).
2. Wash the mutton thoroughly and keep it in water for an hour or so. You may need to keep it longer if you are using frozen mutton.
3. Put the oil in the pan. Put the bay leaves,red chillies and cumin seeds when the oil is hot.
4. When the seeds splutter,add the brown and green cardamoms,cinnamon and cloves.
5. Sauté this a little and add the coriander seeds.
6. Add the chopped onions,crushed ginger and garlic.
7. Put turmeric and salt into the pan.
8. Sauté the spices for a couple of minutes before adding the mutton pieces.
9. Fold the mutton into the spices and sauté for a couple of minutes.
10. Mix a tbsp clarified butter.
11. Cover the pan with a lid and let the mutton cook. Keep checking the mutton every five-ten minutes and mix with a ladle. It will take an hour or so for the mutton to cook. You can add some chopped raw papaya for the mutton to cook faster. Do not add water as the onion and the juices from the meat are enough for this stew.
12. After taking the pan off the fire,add a tsbp of clarified butter. Serve this stew hot with rice,rotis or puris.
Recipe courtesy Pakistani food Recipies
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