A Taste Of The Highway

A delicious roadway experience with a quirked-up, delightful luxe tadka. That’s really what Dhaba by Claridges is, in a sentence. The place scores bigtime for serving unpretentious and absolutely authentic Indian cuisine, in a tongue-in-cheek rustic setup. A trucker-style meal, albeit in absolute luxury, this is a road trip you are going to love!

To achieve flawless simplicity and then to top it with just the right amount of quirk and spunk is not an easy feat. Dhaba by Claridges, an offshoot of the iconic property at The Claridges, located in the busy DLF Place, Saket in New Delhi, accomplishes this with astonishing precision. The minute you walk in, you realise that the colourful, loud, funked-up spirit of the dhabas lining the route between Amritsar and Delhi has been captured rather skillfully, and poured with its soul intact into this eccentrically cool eatery.

L’Officiel India DigitalRead L’Officiel India in the digital libraryEvery issue and every cover story, on TCG Media.Read now

Ambience

An imposing nalka chandelier, nimbu-mirchi lights, vintage Bollywood posters, fun quotes picked up from behind our trucks and blown up into big frames, tabletops with eye-catching art, truck-art elements and an actual truck that you can enjoy your drink in, all bound together by the spiciness of Bollywood music. The consciously kitschy décor of this dhaba sucks you in and has you chuckling and sipping even more on the equally kitschy Tharra (desi cocktails), made especially in the dhaba’s in-house Theka. The big lunchboxes and huge copper patilas lining an open kitchen counter, giant tandoors churning out flavoured rotis and tikkas, amalgamation of fun objects like kites, and cheeky menus with smart one-liners here and there, add to the highway charm. The restaurant even has the traditional weighing machine that you may have last seen at a railway station. And of course, this one has a quirky update too— it dispenses your fortune!

Food and Drinks

The restaurant serves authentic Indian cuisine with no forced modern touches or globalised fakeness. The much-loved Indian tawa and tandoor staples like Tandoori Bhune Aloo, Dhaba Prawns, Amritsari Tawa Chaap, Galouti Kebab, Dhaba Raan and various Seekhs adorn the menu. The main course has many traditional Indian favourites like Butter Chicken, Paneer Makhani and Amritsari Chole, along with a wide choice of rotis and pulaos. Those simple and typically Indian dishes like Wadi Aloo, Kadhi Pakodi, Brain Masala and Baingan Bharta reminded me of my childhood and made me crave even more my Lucknowi mother’s fabulous cooking. Amritsari Wadi Aloo deserves special mention for its authentic taste. And so does the simple but playful presentation that tugged at my heart. For instance, Tiffin Chicken, a home style chicken, comes in traditional two-tiered tiffin box with Ajwaini Parantha. Kanastari Baingan Bharta comes in a copper canister. And, of course, how can I not talk of the unique presentation of Tharra from the Theka that actually comes in pauva bottles. These desi cocktails— Toofan, Gulabo, Narangi, Santari, and Basanti, are so easy on the palette that you end up guzzling down quite a bit. I especially liked the cucumber-based Basanti and Dhaba’s colourful take on Bloody Mary—the Laal Pari.

Service

Attention to detail converted the meal at the dhaba into a mini vacation. The service clearly bore The Claridges touch. The servers were not intrusive and yet very prompt in taking care of us and quite child-friendly, too.

Veg Galouti

Melt-in-the-mouth kebabs, these are loved equally by vegans and meat lovers. The way they were presented only heightened the sensuousness of these delicately flavoured appetisers.

• 300 gm carrot
• 100 gm French beans
• 250 gm cauliflower
• 90 gm green peas
• 40 ml ghee
• 40 gm Amul processed cheese
• 4 gm salt
• 4 gm Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 2 gm black pepper powder
• 0.5 gm black cardamom powder
• 0.5 gm cinnamon powder
• 0.5 gm clove powder
• 30 gm brown onion paste
• 25 gm roasted chana dal powder
• 35 gm chana dal

Clean, cut and boil all the vegetables, then mince them in a mincer to a smooth paste. Boil chana dal and make a thick paste. Now, heat ghee in a pan and cook the vegetables till they become thick. Cool the mince, add chana dal paste and add all the remaining ingredients. Heat the tawa or a nonstick pan and line it with some ghee. Then shape the galouti mixture into small patties and cook evenly from both sides, till you achieve a light brown crispy texture. Serve the galoutis hot, on ulte tawe ka parantha, with mint chutney.

Dhaba Prawns

Sufficiently flavourful, done to perfection, and sumptuous to say the least, restaurants rarely get prawns so right. I am obsessing over re-creating these in my kitchen.

Serves 4

• 10 to 12 jumbo prawns (approximately 1 kg)
• 5 gm Kashmiri chilli powder
• 20 gm lemons
• 35 gm ginger-garlic paste
• 6 gm salt
• 150 gm hung curd
• 3 gm turmeric powder
• 2 gm garam masala powder
• 2 gm cumin powder
• 30 ml refined oil
• 40 ml cream
• 1 gm Kasoori methi powder
• 5 gm green chillies
• 5 gm chaat masala
• 10 gm fresh coriander
• 10 gm butter

Marinate the deshelled prawns in ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice and salt for minimum two hours. For the second round of marinating, whisk hung curd into the prawns and then add in the remaining ingredients. Mix well and leave it again for a minimum of 2 hours. Now, cook the prawns in the tandoor and baste with butter. Serve hot.

Basanti

This was the drink we wanted more of, even after gulping down two glasses. Very refreshing and palette-clarifying, the downside is that it’s so smooth, you end up overindulging.

• 60 ml gin
• 4 slices of cucumber
• 5 leaves basil
• 30 ml cucumber juice
• 15 ml lime juice
• Soda or Sprite to top up

Muddle all these ingredients in a shaker and strain into the glass. Top up with Sprite or soda and serve immediately, garnished with a sprig of basil.

From the May 2014 issue of L’Officiel India.