Cascades makes sure you are teleported to the British India era with their range of dishes prepared keeping in mind the traditional palate from 1857 to 1947, says Chahak Mittal
When I first saw the invite of the 15-day food festival celebrating the Indian ‘culinary trail between 1857 to 1947’ from The Grand Hotel, Vasant Kunj, I instantly booked a table for the next day’s lunch. The invitation showcased six different Indian flags from different periods of the colonial era. And it’s ideal that a history and food buff like me would be drawn towards it instantly. The mere thought of getting all the authentic dishes from the era under one roof excited me.
As I landed at their all-day dining restaurant, Cascades, I was astounded by their special decorations. The life-size pots around the corridors were covered with the Tiranga. A round table in the centre showcased different kinds of charkhas (the spinning wheel) wrapped in the tricolour. A photo booth held sketches of various freedom fighters including Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad. I could see different pavilions, each denoting a region, a year and an Indian cuisine. The idea was to explore the culinary diversity that Indian culture has had over the years. Well, some foreshadowing: My tastebuds enjoyed every bit of what they served.
I took a walk around the pavilions with executive chef Anuj Kapoor, who tells us how he had curated the menu that involved “rigorous research work and learning about the specifications of what was preferred during the time and how they used flavours for fusion.” Being a vegetarian myself, I was impressed by the vegan approach that he carried in most of his preparations and has even planned to put vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes on a 60 and 40 ratio, pulling it up from a 50 and 50 one.
They insisted on serving the menu to me at my table. However, I felt the real essence would be lost if I didn’t try out the dishes the way they were authentically meant to be consumed, especially chaat, which was being served at the first stall. The first pavilion’s presentation would teleport one to Kolkata or the then Calcutta as it featured the sweety-salty puchka. The gol gappa was perfectly crisp and I absolutely enjoyed the teekha paani, which is usually the flavour I choose. Well, the meetha too didn’t disappoint.
Moving on to the next, I had the papdi chaat. And I can vouch for it — I had never had such a meltingly smooth and flavoured papdi chaat ever. Someone would wonder about how can a chaat possibly taste bad or even anything different than the usual? What’s there to even experiment with in that? After all, it’s just mixing of a few ingredients in a bowl. However, this one was something different altogether. The tamarind chutney or commonly known as the meethi saunth impressed the most even as other ingredients like the sautéed curd, mint chutney and spices equally blended and made sure they made their presence felt.
However, the next dish, Palak patta chaat was the topper of all the starters. There are some dishes, which no matter how well you describe them, nothing would do justice to their scrumptiousness. This one did made me go, ‘Isme kuch toh alag hai.’ The palak patta (spinach leaves) was fried and topped with pomegranate seeds, sev, sautéed curd, tamarind and mint chutney. The leaves were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside — in simple words, perfectly balanced.
It was the turn for the main course now. And since their theme was based on the dishes from Delhi-6, there was an array of gravies and breads — Dal makhani, Palak soya chaap, Mix vegetable, Shahi paneer, Kadhi, Dal tadka and Chole bhature. Well, without mincing a word, Dal makhani was the best of its kind that I’d ever had. And Chole bhature certainly took my heart. I had asked from the waiters to serve only little portions of every dish to me so that I don’t fill up my tummy without tasting all that was present. However, the bhature were so light and perfectly puffed, they didn’t feel heavy at all. It certainly made me envious and wonder that if this was the way they cooked and ate during the colonial era, why wasn’t I born then?
Now my favourite part — the desserts. And it’s not because they are usually the ideal meal-enders, but because I love the feeling of reliving their taste. I had two full plates with a variety of sweets — one Western and the other Indian. Naming the best two — Sour profit roll and Pineapple halwa. If the 20th century Dilli food connoisseurs hadn’t developed this recipe, I may have never discovered my favourite sugar brittle. The profit roll’s sourness did amuse my tastebuds as I wondered whether it was its sourness or sweetness I should gorge on. However, both of them ‘profited’ me. Whereas, with the pineapple halwa, the two flavours of bitterness and sweetness kind of raced against each other to make their mark on my buds.
All and all, I relished.
