Shraman is one of the rare species of restaurants offering 100% unadulterated vegetarian fine dining experience. If you have a hankering for satvik shakahari bhojan i.e. Pure Vegetarian (without even onion & ginger) then this is the right place for you. During Navratras and Fasts then Shraman is the place for you. It serves everything ranging from Gujrati and Rajasthani dishes to lip smacking North Indian dishes and special Jain-Marwari food. While the cuisine is expected to be authentic Rajasthani, we had quite a good experience with popular Gujrati dishes dishes as well.
Location and Ambience –
The Ashok has to be one of the most strategically located hotels in Delhi. A 25 acre property bang in the middle of Chanakyapuri, for coming to Shraman, one must not enter from the entry gate close to Nehru Park (take the main entry) else you will have to walk a good 800m to reach this restaurant. Shraman is tastefully decorated and exused a Rajasthani appeal. With loads of mirror work and gaudy turquoise color scheme, this place livens up your taste buds even before the first dish is served. The place has good footfall of customers because of the shudh shakahari /pure vegetarian Indian cuisine they offer.
Food Talks
Vegetarian snacks platter
We started with a humongous Vegetarian snacks platter consisting their signature appetisers. Kalmi Vada was just the way we love it. Deep fried and crispy gram dal snack which went well with a fiery green chutney. Surkh Paneer was another star. There is nothing much you can do to explore the flavours in a paneer dish. But, here the marination of curd, spices and herbs gave it a perfect balance and smokey aftertaste. Jodhpuri mirchi pakoda was a succulent stuffed Rajasthani chilli which was batter fried and was crisp to perfection. Khas and Pan ka Sharbat is a mildly sweet and super fresh drink that can help to wash down the above mentioned dishes. Chef insisted us to try their signature Raj Kachori and Yes! his recommendations paid of for us. Kachori was filled with some interesting flavours. It was crispy from outside and extra soft from inside. It had a generous stuffing of aloo bhujia, curd and some of their in house chutney.
Dal Bhati Choorma
Heading to the mains we opted for Dal Bhati churma which is a classic Rajasthani dish and really heavy too. However, this classic dish is prepared excellently here. They keep it low on spices and sugar. Following it was Paneer butter masala which is as great as most north Indian restaurants. Dal Panchratni was a great amalgamation of five varied dals which were properly combined together in a ratio and cooked to perfection. We ended our meal on a sweet note with two of their signature desserts. Malai rabri angoori which had a great balance of sweetness in it. The rabri had grape sized balls of chena or malai which makes it perfect summer dessert. Following it was mini Ghevar too. Unlike the traditional ghevar this one is topped with rabri and mishri to give it an additional texture and taste.
Team Salt and Sandals highly recommends Shraman for enjoying lip smacking Sattvik food with family or to visit it during Navratras and try their special offerings with your loved ones.
