flavours – Delhi Foodies' Zone

Neung Roi, The Thai food haven

Southeast Asian countries are food cousins. One is likely to find similar ingredients with different names and slightly different tastes and a whole new preparation altogether. Thai food is HOT in India. And Neung Roi serving Thai food at Radisson Blu Plaza, Mahipalpur is a hot destination. The dining area overlooks a huge open kitchen where one can see the passionate Thai Chef Yenjai Suthiwaja rustling up the flavours of her country for Indian diners. She takes pride in showcasing food from North, South, East and West of Thailand through a massive menu that is presented to you on a note Tab (What Skeeter liked about them is that they serve Thai food beyond the regular suspects: the red, yellow and green curries). And while rustling up Thai food for India she goes to the Delhi neighbourhoods enjoying papri chat (perhaps it appeals her Thai tastebuds due to the use of tamarind chutney).

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Thai betel leaf

We started with Tod Man Khao Pod or Corn Fritters served up with oomph in a cone. They come with a sweet chilli sauce which is served up with most Thai appetizers. It was fingerlicking good! The Yam Tuea Plu came next.

corn fritters

A Wing bean Salad with a roasted coconut and tamarind dressing. This one turned out to be Skeeter’s favourite from the entire meal. Crunchy winged beans were tossed in a simple yet palate pleasing dressing that left Skeeter craving for more. Had Skeeter known that she’d be expecting such treatment to the salads, she could’ve made a meal entirely of these. Then of course there were the regular suspects like the Thai green papaya salad (Som Tam) on the menu which Skeeter did not try. But what she did try was the Yam Som-O, a pomelo salad with crispy onion and garlic in a sweet and tangy palm sugar and tamarind dressing. Skeeter was reminded of this salad in Maharashtra served up by a freind’s mother(she used local jaggery in place of palm sugar). The ingredients were different but the taste was so similar that Skeeter was left nostalgic.

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Next came the Phad Tuea Hrong or the Wok fried Tofu, Bean sprout & Chives with soya sauce. A light and flavourful dish which reminds you that sumptous food does not always need the help of too many spice mixes to stand out. The Phad Pak Kiew or Stir fried Kale with morning glory, pokchoy, soya bean sauce, garlic & pepper was another favourite. They also do a perfect Phad Thai, the kinds you’d get in restaurants in Bangkok minus the fish sauce for vegetarian diners like Skeety 😀

While you are there do try their sorbet of the day. Skeets was extremely lucky for it was the Tamarind sorbet that graced her table. Tamarind is used extensively in some parts of Thailand for sourness and they’ve take it a step further by making a sorbet flavoured with Tamarind.

Tamarind sorbet

And there was a very refreshing Tub Tim Krob (Water Chestnut in Coconut Jasmine Syrup) served at the end of the meal. Light and satisfying, this dessert was the perfect end to a perfect afternoon.
(Skeeter was invited to sample Neung Roi menu.)

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Water Chestnut in Coconut Jasmine Syrup

LOW key, HIGH notes, MYSTICAL charm…

….revelations are certainly made of these.
It has been a couple of days since Skeety last went there. Gives her a high of sorts, and rejuvenates her. She is talking yet again about her beloved OLD area of Delhi. Bazaar Sitaram. Kuch Pati Ram. The name spells nostalgia and the place casts magic. Perfect ambience to get lost, to let the thoughts flow uninterruptedly, and if an experience can balsam Skeety then the visit here would be it.
Skeety takes you down the lane of her favourite Kulfiwala. LOW key because not everyone goes there. HIGH notes because the taste is as exotic as it could get. MYSTICAL charm arises when the ambience soaks you in (or vice versa) and transfers you to another era.
Skeety is talking about Kuremal Mohanlal Kulfiwale.
Skeety goes beyond Gelato only to demolish Kulfis at Kuremal. They come in traditional cone-shaped moulds (steel or plastic these days) and have flavours to die for. Kuremal’s have an endless list of flavours like aam, panna, faalsa, fruit cream, cream, rabdi, anaar, strawberry, litchi, gulukand, kesar, et al. Creamy, frozen, flavourful delights these. Slurrrp…I recommend, aam, fruit cream and panna kulfis. Each very strongly.

Dhuli Chand’s (another kulfiwala in Bazaar Sitaraam) is the mail competitor of Kuremal. Dhuli Chand’s, it seems, serves better aam kulfis. But overall Kuremal’s is terrific. They serve sugar-free kulfis as well. Dig in!

Address: Kuremal Mohanlal Kulfiwale#1165-66Kucha Pati Ram, Sitaram BazarDelhi – 110006
Directions: Get down at Chawri Bazaar Metro Station and ask anyone there to guide you. They’d happily do it. TRUST ME!

Mixed curries

A ‘mix’ in culinary terms signifies a blend of flavours, a blend of spices, and essentially a whole new taste. A new taste, that is derived from an amalgamation of some pre-existing ones. If we remove ‘mixing’ from our culinary diaries, then perhaps, we will have a very sorry culinary world. Blends would go, paving way for the bland.
Picture your pasta sprinkled with salt (oops that again is mixing pasta with the salt) bearing no olive oil or cheese or herbs or vegetables (whatever your regular mix be). Or perhaps pasta bearing only herbs while the other ingredients remain absent.
So, point put forth.
Period.
Now, there is another form of mixing that takes place at À la carte restaurants. Quite different from the kind of mixing mentioned earlier. This one is gross. I, in particular loathe it. The waiters, maybe due to lack of training or sheer frustration, while serving, pour the curries onto your plate in a manner that they get mixed with each other. Thus, you get this horrible mix. No, no, don’t get me wrong. It is still nice, delicious etc. BUT the curries lose their original flavour. The two dishes that you ordered are now one, or for that matter none.
.

Anguish over the table

Okay, and since I am cribbing here, I might as well crib some more. Twice in one day, I had to almost beg waiters to come and take my order. Once, at Costa (C.P.), and the other time at The Chinese (again C.P.). Now can’t they just make sure that the waiters are ‘always there’ for the customers? Maybe there can be one waiter stationed (at a good point) just to make sure that no guest at the restaurant aggravates the already bad spondylitic condition by turning round and round and round and…. Huh.