Tripping South

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Tripping South

Friday, 15 February 2019 | Shambhavi Suri

Tripping South

A food festival centered around Andhra and Telangana at Zambar brings you closer to the southern States, says Shambhavi Suri

Even though you are in the capital, as soon as you walk in through the big wooden door with an extremely homely vibe, you feel transported to a home in south India. Zambar at Ambience Mall,  which is one of the trendiest places in Gurugram, is among the few restaurants that offers non-vegetarian South Indian cuisine. The  décor is simple and elegant. There are golden jhoolas at each seating arrangement and small brass bowls filled with water and rose petals rest on top of each table. There are faux windows that frame posters of famous monuments in the South. Sitting there, one feels as though one is relaxing in a verandah that overlooks these monuments. To make the décor a little quirky, there are pop art posters of famous superstars.

Zambar, has put together an Andhra/Telangana Food Festival and the head Chef Vetri, says, “We wanted to offer something extremely authentic to our customers where they could sample the food that is cooked in homes in the region. We wanted them to get a sense of the roots.”

Without further ado we are welcomed with papads and chutneys. The Tomato mirchi pachidi is sour and hot along with a bit of sweetness towards the end, thanks to the tomato. Next there is the Cabbage pachidi which consists of shards of cabbage with milder spices which surprisingly is lip-smackingly good. Last, there is the Kundru pachidi which is low on spices but leaves a subtle heat on the palate along with the dominant flavor of curry leaves.

For starters, there is the Rasam vadai and stuffed Mirchi baji. The Rasam vadai comes in a tall coffee class. Sipping on the salty and tangy staple called rasam, which is backed with flavours of garam masala, leaves a mild heat in the mouth. Paired with the vadai, which is as light and soft as a cloud despite being deep-fried, it is nothing short of a touch of a miracle in a dish. The bhaji is a long wide mirchi or fat chilli which is cut open from the centre, filled with a spicy paste, topped with onions and peanuts, dipped in chickpea flour and deep fried. This bhaji is layered to perfection. Even though one expects it to be very spicy, it isn’t. It strikes the right balance of flavours and the onions and the peanuts give an extra sweetness, crunch and a nutty flavour.

The thali consists of the Dappalam, Andhra chicken curry, Prawn Iguru, Chepala pulusu and Chicken 65. This is served along with rice and bread or chapatis. One expects Andhra cuisine to be sour and hot but this thali is more on the lines of sweet and tangy. The Dappalam is a curry made with drumsticks and okra which is tangy and salty. Even though the broth has a good dash of spices, it is the tanginess in the dish that overpowers all the other flavours. The Chicken 65 is beautifully coated with spices and melts in the mouth even though it is deep fried. It does justice to the classic chicken 65 in terms of its spicy texture. The Prawn Iguru is a brown curry which has sweetness but derives most of its flavors from cinnamon and the flavours of the curry have seeped in beautifully in the meat. The Andhra chicken curry is mildly spicy and the centre of the dish is the succulent chicken breast which is cooked to perfection. There is a dominant flavour of the curry leaves that adds to the beauty of the dish. Chepala pulusu is traditional sour fish curry which derives its acidity and sweetness from the tomato. It is just a beautiful, authentic, home-cooked fish curry that comforts you.

To end this thali. there is the sweet potato payasam which has a thick consistency. It tastes a lot like the North Indian kheer, milky, rich and has a slight aroma of saffron in it. It has some potential to take one to the seventh heaven.

An afternoon spent eating authentic Andhra/Telangana cuisine sitting on a jhoola and observing the simplicity of living in the south is a humbling experience. What a trip it is, I want to pick up my bags.

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