DUBAI Food can be an extraordinarily evocative trigger of memories. A couple of months back I was in Rajasthan and feasting on the traditional dishes of the Indian desert state.
The taste lingered on for a few days but faded away soon after I returned to Dubai.
The ongoing Rajasthani Food Festival at Antique Bazaar in Four Points by Sheraton, Bur Dubai, revived those fond memories.
As I stepped inside the award-winning restaurant, I felt transported straight to the royal banquet of an Indian palace, complete with rich ornate décor, extravagant settings and live music.
Assistant restaurant manager Ravinder Manhas showed me to a dining table with several varieties of spices displayed under the glass, while a waiter helped me through the extensive menu.
At his insistence, I ordered an appetising drink called kairi ke chaanch (Dh24). Made of green mangoes, roasted cumin powder and a dash of mint and sugar, it set my hunger pangs into overdrive, so much so that the next two starters – mirchi vada aur kadhi (deep fried jalapeno peppers stuffed with potato and spices; Dh36) and maas ka soola (marinated lamb cubes; Dh66) disappeared as quickly as they had come.
Next up was safed murgh (chicken cubes cooked in a cashew nut and yoghurt gravy; Dh60). It was lip-smackingly good, but paled in comparison to Rajasthan’s most famous dish – the fiery laal maas (spicy lamb curry cooked with a burst of red chillies; Dh66) which followed minutes later. The chillies left me teary-eyed, but I absolutely loved it. The red hot lamb was cooked to perfection and I enjoyed it to the last morsel.
Rajasthani cuisine is incomplete without mentioning the famed daal baati churma. For the uninitiated, baati is a hard unleavened wheat bread prized for its long shelf life and high nutritional values. Baked over hot charcoal and ash and soaked in generous amounts of ghee (clarified butter), it is served with a spicy dal (yellow lentils) and choorma (crushed gram flour bread mixed with green cardamom, pistachio and almonds).
Of course, you can’t savour the terrific trio with knife and fork. The iconic dish must be relished with bare hands. And I did precisely that, though I must admit it was so filling my stomach said a resounding ‘no’ after a couple of bites and I had to give up midway.
Details:
The Rajasthani Food Festival at Antique Bazaar is on until May 16
Lunch for two: Dh250
Location: Four Points by Sheraton, Khalid Bin Walid Street, Bur Dubai
Contact: 04-397 7444
We recommend: Laal Maas, mirchi vada aur kadhi, daal baati choorma
