Royal biryani, giant naan and edible ghee candles: A culinary journey from north to south India

I wasn’t expecting to be chowing down on lamb brain fritters in one of the fanciest fine dining restaurants in Chennai, possibly in all of India. But as the flavourful crunch of the well-seasoned batter fried in lemon scallion brown butter gave way to the hot, melting creaminess of the textures within, it wasn’t just a jolt of eye-widening scrumptiousness – it signalled the start of many more surprises on the plate.

I was at Avartana (the last “a” is silent), currently ranked among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and recently named India’s top restaurant by Conde Nast Traveller India, in addition to many other accolades. With a name meaning “rhythm, mysticism and magic” in Sanskrit, the dining experience is full of unexpected touches bringing little pockets of delight to what would otherwise be yet another starched-tablecloth meal.

Like a dish of chicken with mini Malabar paratha in a gravy of Uthukuli butter, a premium dairy product from the Uthukuli province in the Chettinadu region prized for its rich creaminess and unique flavour thanks to a feed of maize and foraged grains. There was a piece of bright burgundy candy perched on it, which turned out to be butter toffee in a cellophane-like wrapper made from a beetroot sheet. As you mixed the candy into the sauce, it dissolved, wrapper and all, its colour and flavour melting into the dish.  

Dessert was equally charming: A little nest of spun sugar, in which what looked like a chicken egg rested. A whack of a mini hammer, and the egg split perfectly into two halves, revealing its fennel panna cotta “whites” and mango and ginger jelly “yolk”. It wasn’t just an artful, social-media-worthy gimmick – it also tasted really good.

Avartana made its first impression on me when I attended the Asia’s 50 Best awards ceremony last year, where the restaurant debuted on the list at a respectable No 30, picking up the Highest New Entry award as it did so. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to dine there.

So, it makes sense that the hotel pioneered a restaurant on the cutting edge of contemporary Indian fine dining, spotlighting South Indian peninsula cuisine in reimagined ways, with up to 95 per cent of ingredients sourced locally. Dining here is an opportunity to taste the flavours of the region through chillies from Karnataka, mango ginger from Andhra Pradesh, tamarind from Telangana, mochai beans from Tamil Nadu, sago and jaggery from Chennai itself, and much more.

Of course, as with any progressive modern restaurant, detractors may decry the deviation from tradition. But, to do this is to miss the point, which is the reframing of perspectives that hopefully leads to new avenues of appreciation.

Avartana is proud of how it has been showcasing traditional ingredients and flavours by blending them with innovative techniques, including techniques from other cuisines, Nagpal told us, and, in the process, “making these flavours more accessible and celebrated on an international stage”.

An explosive cocoa butter sphere filled with mint and pineapple liquid atop a crispy potato patty, for instance, reimagines the popular street snack of pani puri. A Tomato Rasam, served as a drink in a martini glass at the start of the meal, is a distilled version of the classic soup, arriving in a French press and infused with fresh coriander; the flavours are bright, clear and delicate, yet punchy and addictive. And, at the end of the meal, in place of the traditional paan or betel leaf digestive, you get a frozen version: An icy semi-sphere of betel leaves, cardamom, fennel and rose.

The beverage programme is interesting, too, with cocktails that feature local ingredients, and even local Indian wine from vineyards in the state of Maharashtra.

Naturally, the more familiar you are with Indian food, the more you will appreciate the cleverness; but even if you aren’t, you’ll still appreciate the freshness of the ingredients against the backdrop of the culinary techniques.

“One of our biggest challenges was balancing familiarity and innovation. While the locals may not recognise a dish by its presentation, we need the flavours to resonate deeply. Meanwhile, it was crucial that international diners and those unfamiliar with South Indian cuisine could still connect with the refined flavours presented, making the tasting experience universal,” Nagpal explained.

Nagpal is a busy man as Avartana has expanded to four more ITC properties: ITC Royal Bengal in Kolkata, ITC Maratha in Mumbai, ITC Ratnadipa in Colombo, and the latest, ITC Maurya in New Dehli.

“While Avartana’s core experience remains consistent, we embrace opportunities for creative adaptations based on locally sourced ingredients, especially when it comes to vegetables and seasonal specialities. This approach allows us to preserve the authenticity of our cuisine while incorporating fresh, region-specific elements at each location,” he said.

BUKHARA: A PRIMAL STYLE OF COOKING AND EATING

While the ITC Grand Chola’s star restaurant is all about doing old things in new ways, over in New Delhi, the ITC Maurya hotel, an elegant grand dame, boasts two very famous restaurants that are all about doing old things in old ways.

The first, Bukhara, specialising in rustic Northwest Frontier cuisine bearing the influences of various cultures including Persian, Afghan and Central Asian, recently celebrated its 45th anniversary.

With its expertly grilled meats and tandoor-baked breads, the menu hasn’t changed in all these 45 years, and, right from my first bite of tender, smoky fish kebab, it’s quite clear why: People would riot.

Instead of cutlery, they give you an apron to wear around your neck. You eat with your hands, the tactile sensations enhancing the flavour of the food. The server brings each dish around to you; you grab a portion with your fingers and transfer it to your plate, steaming hot and dripping with juices. “From the oven to the table in 10 seconds,” our server beamed.

Everyone roared in delight when the giant Naan Bukhara appeared: A comically upsized flatbread nearly a metre in length, sailing in on its own serving apparatus that made it look like a flying carpet coming to rest in the centre of the table. The idea is for everyone to “break bread” together. Made from just over 1kg of dough, the Naan Bukhara is baked in its own dedicated tandoor, being the big, scene-stealing star of the show it is.

Through a glass partition, you can see the chefs at work in the kitchen, baking the naan, putting kebabs into the tandoor to cook and taking them out when they’re done. In a giant pot, Bukhara’s legendary Dal Bukhara bubbles eternally. There is a rumour that whoever passes the pot is obligated to stir it. Stirring it requires putting your back into it.

What’s in the dish? Black lentils, tomatoes, ginger and garlic, “simmered overnight over a slow charcoal fire, finished with cream and served with a dollop of unsalted butter”, the menu read. How could this possibly be bad? Indeed, it tasted magical, a faultlessly golden-ratio blend of creaminess, acidity and smokiness. It was so tasty, it didn't even need bread or accompaniments.

The reason it’s been consistently good for so many decades is Bukhara’s executive chef Jai Prakash “JP” Singh, who’s helmed the kitchen for over 30 years and served more visiting dignitaries, celebrities and rock stars than you can shake a stick at.

“It’s a very primal style of cooking,” he said of Bukhara’s cuisine. “It is very different from any other cuisine because of the spices, the cuts of meats and the vegetables. We have a standard specification to follow and we do not deviate,” he told me. Exact precision is required when it comes to the spices, of which Bukhara has its own mixes and ratios. Only lean meats are used, requiring specific expertise. Prawns, for example, have to be of a certain size. A tandoor oven, of course, doesn’t come with a built-in timer.

In an era of processed convenience, there was something unanticipatedly moving about this feast of food made from scratch, with fresh ingredients, painstakingly slow-cooked, with an unmistakably human touch.

DUM PUKHT: TRIBUTE TO A BYGONE ERA

It is the same at ITC Maurya’s other star restaurant, the world-famous Dum Pukht. The ancient tradition of dum cooking, refined in the kingly courts and grand feasts of the historic Awadh region, is all about slow-cooking food in its own juices inside sealed pots using very little oil or spice, allowing natural flavours to shine.

A visit here emulates a royal feast. Interiors are blue, the colour of royalty. The chairs are upholstered in brocade and velvet. The silverware is polished to a sheen. And the food honours a nearly three-century-old royal heritage.

Dum Pukht opened in 1987 and since then has been popular with everyone from foreign dignitaries to people who don’t want to work very hard to chew their food. One of the signature dishes is the kakori kebab, which I’m told was originally made in the 18th century for a toothless nawab or ruler. Made from minced lamb, it’s meltingly tender and flavourful.

Then there’s the elegant Dum Pukht Biryani: Basmati rice simmered with lamb in herbs and spices, finished in a sealed pot.

Some dishes arrived baked inside a pot sealed with puff pastry, which was broken open and served together with the meat and vegetables that had steamed inside, and soaked in their flavourful juices.

Jumbo prawns marinated in cheese and hung yogurt, flash-cooked in a tandoor before being dum cooked, were served with a seafood chutney perfumed with saffron.

All the flavours were clear and clean, standard-bearers of a refined and nuanced cuisine.

Dum Pukht is helmed by Grand Master Chef Gulam Qureshi, whose father-in-law, the late Imtiaz Qureshi, established the restaurant. Chef Gulam has been cooking for over 45 years.

He’s the master who makes sure that only specific cuts of meat are used for particular recipes. For example, only shanks are used in the mutton Nalli Korma, and only precise-sized chops in the biryani. Not just any tomatoes, but only organic desi tomatoes, superior in taste, are allowed in the kitchen. On top of that, he’s also continuously researching his cuisine – the best biryani, after all, is found in old homes. Like Singh, he’s one of a rare breed who have dedicated their lives to consistency, perfection and something bigger than themselves.

“This is a very special cuisine. It’s unique. The recipe has been maintained from generation to generation,” said Qureshi, who hails from a lineage of royal chefs dating back to 1825. Everything from the aroma of the biryani, the saffron, to the colourful rice – “the cuisine is in my blood”.

That must have been one of the reasons dining at Dum Pukht felt like a connection to a rich and vast cultural legacy, and a chapter in the education of what makes up the kaleidoscopic behemoth that is Indian cuisine. Of course, everything I tasted on this trip would not even begin to scratch the surface of all that comes under the convenient umbrella of Indian food. But, I’d say it was a good place to start, for all the delicious learning that’s still ahead of me.

CNA Luxury was in India at the invitation of ITC Hotels.