One of the iconic restaurants in Bengaluru, Ebony was the first to introduce Parsi food to the city. The 22-year-old culinary point, known for its pan Asian flavours, constantly keeps reinventing itself. The latest additions to their comprehensive and rather exhaustive menu are Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) food and authentic Mudaliar signature dishes, which are unlikely to be found in other restaurants in the city.
If all goes well, a wide range of Hindu Goan dishes—found rarely in Bengaluru, as Mangalore and Kerala-styled sea food are more popular here—will soon be introduced here. ‘Chandraseniya’ literally means ‘people from the valley of river Chenab or Chandra in Kashmir’. People of this community are known for their love of food and drink. After they settled in the Konkan region, they used locally available ingredients like rice, fish, kokum, tamarind etc., in their cuisine. However, their food is distinctly different from other cuisines of Maharashtra; it has a Kashmiri influence that can be seen in the use of poppy seeds, khus khus and saffron.
Owner and managing director of Ebony Rajesh Rajaram and his associate Krishna Shantakumar have been working to introduce some à la carte dishes and cuisines in addition to their popular value for money lunch buffet. Rajaram’s mother-in-law Lata Palekar, who has Konkani roots, helped introduce a Konkan platter of sea food delicacies, including fish fry and prawn bhajjiyas that was well-received by the people here.
Palekar’s simple and wholesome CKP chicken has been a sell-out. Besides coconut milk, it has lot of fresh coriander leaves and green chillies that give it a nice green colour. Whole cashew nuts, poppy seeds and shahi jeera give it a distinctive flavour—an amalgamation of Konkani and Kashmiri influences. She plans to do in depth research on CKP food and gradually introduce many dishes into the menu.
Palekar, a Goan by birth, holds a diploma in cooking from Nirmala Niketan in Mumbai. She is assisted by Shantakumar to guide the chefs at Ebony and teach them to perfect dishes like Goan fish curry, roast chicken, masala eggs, shakoti or Goan wild pig (can be substituted with mutton or chicken) curry with lime juice, as opposed to the version made by Goan Christians who use vinegar and jeera. Stuffed pomfret with green chutney, Goan prawn pulav (which is vastly different from the Mudaliar one), roast chicken, fried mutton chops and stuffed prawns are some of the other interesting dishes that will be introduced.
A pineapple sabji is traditionally cooked with mangoes and jackfruit, but since all fruits may not be readily available, Palekar uses only pineapple to create a side dish using coconut, chana dal and uncooked cashew nuts. “Cashew nut is used very liberally in many Goan dishes as English vegetables were introduced later and cashew was grown in abundance,” says Palekar.
Meanwhile, Shantakumar has introduced authentic Mudaliar dishes—Arcot mutton chops and prawn pulav being the two most popular ones. The chops have just five ingredients—Kashmiri chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, sour curd and garam masala. “This was the staple dish of our family during long train journeys. The prawn pulav is an old family recipe of the Mudaliars, which I managed to pick from my mother, who in turn learnt it from a family cook,” says he. The pulav is prepared over dum by carefully layering half-cooked basmati rice with prawn masala.
Variety is the spice of life. Ebony, with its variety, adds the right spice to food that gastronomes in Bengaluru are looking for
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> LifeStyle> Food / by Sangeeta Cavale Radhakrishna / November 28th, 2015