Kashmiri cuisine – one of the most talked about yet one of the rarest to find outside Kashmir. Kashmir food is probably as outstanding as the land and the beauty, yet difficult to perfect if not in Kashmir. However, Chor Bizarre and Chef Rajiv Kumar Malhotra prove you wrong. From among the various cuisines of Kashmir, Chef brings to you a select course from the traditional 36 course Wazwan fare.
Starting with some Kashmiri seekh kababs, Nadroo Choorma, Dahi Kebabs, Gazab ka Tikka and a couple of fish starters, among others, they already set the standard high for the main course.
However, the surprise and the awe begins with the main course. Served on the traditional metal platter, with a lid, they start you off with a pre plated portion of rice, haaq (typical Kashmiri greens), rajmah (red kidney beans) and Nadru (lotus stem) yakhni (a light flavorful yougurt preparation). The beauty of Kashmiri cuisine is how they have the most simplest of dishes and the richest as well, both being equally delicious and comforting. The haaq is delicate yet simple dish, is usually lightly blanched and sauteed in garlic and other simple seasonings. The rajmah was well cooked,very simple, comforting and the only dish in the long list which used onions. The Nadru yakhni had the lotus stems cooked to the right tenderness and the yogurt preparation seeped in well.
Then started the grand affair of several courses of both non-vegetarian and vegetarian. Starting with the Tabak Maaz (a very unique Kashmiri meat preparation), and followed by the traditional Rista (another traditional Kashmiri minced meat dish), mutton yakhni, aloo bukhara korma (mutton), mutton roganjosh, khatte baingan (eggplant), dum aloo, and tamatar chaman (paneer dish), it is a feast for foodlovers and believers of Kashmiri cuisine.
The Tabaak Maaz, a speciality which has various methods of cooking in Kashmiri pundit or Muslim households, was very well cooked, tender and moist. The mutton roganjosh, a dish originating in Kashmir and so popularized all over India that it is on the verge of losing it’s identity, was so well prepared that the taste would bring you back to the real roganjosh as it should be! The palak rista was very good too, and while all the non vegetarian dishes were great, the vegetarian fare was equally great, including the tamatar chaman and the kashmiri aloo dum (again a dish well popularized and widely used all across India, especially Bengal).
This super affair was brought to and end with a round of great phirni and Shoofta (this was delightful!). Shoofta is a simple yet great dessert of dry fruits simmered in sugar syrup.
Drift at the Epicentre, Gurgaon is hosting this Chor Bizarre pop-up to celebrate Chor Bizarre’s 25 years of establishment, and what a celebration it is! The menu is available all through September and Salt & Sandals recommend a visit!
