Delectable Cuisines and where to find them

Now, Hyderabadi and Kashmiri cuisines are far better known then the relatively obscure Assamese cuisine. Found in menus all across the country, certain dishes like Biryani from the Hyderabadi and Rogan Josh from the Kashmiri, are pretty much pan-Indian dishes. Nevertheless, these cuisines contain an entire style of food preparation and dishes that just aren’t talked about, but nevertheless, can provide interesting lessons to those who are interested in learning from them.

Prepared by history

Now, Hyderabadi cuisine has been greatly influenced by the confluence of cultures in this ancient city, and one can find evidence of Turkish, Arabic, Mughlai and Tandoori cuisines within it. Using considerable amounts of spices, along with certain key flavors such as coconut, tamarind, peanuts and sesame seeds, the primary method of food preparation is the Dum Pukht inspired slow-cooking. This results in an array of fascinating and delectable dishes some of which have found their way into Black Pepper, which is consequently widely regarded as the best multicuisine restaurant in Dehradun.

Now, the various types of mutton and chicken (or lamb or vegetables) biryanis are quite common and well known delicacies from this great foodie state. Other than that, however, you also have Haleem, a seasonal dish prepared with wheat, meat and cooked for hours to a porridge-like paste, traditionally used to break the Ramzan fast.

Mountain foods

Kashmiri cuisine, on the other hand, is far less elaborate, through still manages to have some of the tastiest dishes in India! Rogan Josh and Balti curries are some of the most popular dishes from this part of India, finding themselves in menus not only across the country, but also outside of it, in the UK and US. Some of the other dishes that we’ve been thinking about incorporating into our diverse and widely regarded multicuisine menu are dishes such as Yakhni, lamb lightly cooked in a curb like gravy, and Matschgand, which contains minced lamb in an exceedingly scrumptious spicy red gravy.

These truly are some of the most fascinating cuisines in India. 

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Delectable Cuisines and where to find them?

Into to Indian foods

Inspiration is a many splendored thing! As chefs and restaurateurs, inspiration is integral to the process of sustaining the best restaurants in Dehradun. And the impetus of this inspiration lies all over India – in the multifarious cuisines of our diverse and teeming country.

Most people, while aware of the usual Mughlai/South/Continental distinction, aren’t really cogent about the many styles of cooking that are to be found. While now there is a pan-Indian availability of most spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruits, that wasn’t always the case, and a lot of cuisines differ from others in accordance to this availability.

So, for the next few posts, we will showcase the cuisines whose dishes we’ve used as inspiration to provide you with what many people regard as the best multi-cuisine restaurant in Dehradun.

Assamese Foods

One of the most fascinating of Indian cuisines is that found in Assam. It differs from most of the rest of Indian cuisines by its sparse use of spices and the absence of practice of bhuna or the gentle frying of spices, from its food preparation. The strong flavors found in Assamese cooking are instead a resultant of exotic fruits and vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented. The primary ingredient of this cuisine is rice, which is often paired with fish or birds such as duck, squab, etc. Accompanying the meat are leafy vegetables such as xaak, of which a bewildering variety are consumed, and dhekia or fern, which grows wild. Black Pepper is a common spice for foods of the area. The traditional meals of the place begin with khar, and end with tenga, a sour dish.

Some of the lighter continental foods of the area that we are thinking of replicating in the menu are Jolpan, the Assamese alternative to cereals, Pitha, a cake made of soaked and ground rise usually fried in oil and roasted over a slow fire, and Laru, a small sweet ball that serves as a desert dish.

An endlessly fascinating cuisine, Assamese dishes have helped us figure out new ways of preparing our own dishes to give them a uniquely Black Pepper taste! 

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The Miracle that is cocoa butter

The humble bean

It sometimes amazes us how absolutely beneficial the secondary effects of some foods can be. Take for example the humble cocoa bean – did you know that butter made of cocoa bean can be used to cure skin ailments such as psoriasis, dermatitis and eczema, and that eating it can help combat diseases such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease and cancer? Furthermore, it has a large number of nutrients and is also a great addition to everything from cooking to raw food creations.

Essentially, cocoa butter is pretty close to ambrosia, the nectar of the gods.

Chocolate’s essence

Now, while most of us are familiar with chocolate and its delightful taste, fewer know that it is, in fact, cocoa butter that gives chocolate its delectable, melt-in-your-mouth attributes. In addition to that, the butter ensures that chocolate, aside from being rather hard on the hips, is also an incredible source of vitamins, flavonoids, antioxidants and minerals, as well as containing CMP, which gives it cocoa butter’s cancer fighting properties.

Has there ever been such a versatile food? In fact, were it not for the fact that we already have the best restaurant in Dehradun, Black Pepper, and use a mix of ingredients that provide a similar in magnitude but different set of beneficial secondary effects –  we’re it not for that, we’d be sorely tempted into converting into a confectionary!

Every day, cocoa day.

The more we learn about cocoa butter, the more that idea seems apposite! For example, cocoa butter helps thwart cancer and decreases the incidence of cardiovascular disease, along with helping ease the pain of arthritis. If possible, we’d like to inject a bit of cocoa butter in every meal! Alas, it has such a memorable taste, it would probably overpower all the other ingredients.

Frankly, everyday should be cocoa butter – chocolate – day. And we should probably add copious amounts of it to our menu, as well! 

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Mughlai Mayhem

Oily, sinful, and delicious.
Hip-killer. Butt- embiggener.

These are just some of the terms used to describe the world famous phenomenon of Indian and Mughlai cuisine. Synonymous with the word curry, to most of the intrepid travellers’ in our humble establishment, this cuisine will not be unfamiliar; for others, it may be an almost novel experience.

It is our duty, as the best restaurant in Dehradun, to surprise both these categories of customers: the neophyte, the newcomer, whom we want to introduce to the sheer delight of mughlai food; and the cynical man, for whom we want nothing short of revelation. A reimaging of how delightful an oft tasted dish can be.

With our signature black pepper we accomplish both of these tasks. Our chef uniquely garnishes the dishes, even and especially the mughlai dishes, with black pepper to create a taste that your palette just won’t be able to experience anywhere else! This tends to make the familiar, new!

We serve an assortment of mughlai, which combines with our various Chinese and continental offerings to create a mix of dishes that not only brings to your table the amalgamated cuisines of billions of people, but also introduces you to very different styles of cooking, subtly innovated upon by our chef.

With our Panner Butter Masala, Kadhai Chicken, Mutton Biryani, Chicken Lababdar, and others, we carry an assortment of sinfully oily and scrumptious offerings. Our Dal Makhni chef special vitalizes our vegetarian offerings, further bolstered by our Vegetable Jalfrezi, and other dishes. 

The mughlai, a centuries old cuisine, is in many ways the most widespread of these dishes. With thick curry sprinkled with thousands of unique tastes, the curry is one of a kind dish, a kind’s whose replica you’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.
Which is why you should be here!  

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Black Pepper and Healthy Condiments

Intro to condiments 

Like most Indian restaurants, our use of condiments, especially spices, is quite comprehensive. Unlike many Indian restaurants, however, due to the multifaceted nature of Black Pepper (we are the best multicuisine restaurant in Dehradun, after all, we use a larger array of condiments, including but not limited to various sauces, spices, and others. For example, our Continental dishes are often marinated in exotic sauces and we radish a number of our meals with unusual choices. This all serves to provide Black Pepper with its distinctive taste. Additionally, due to the many health benefits of the condiments we use, this also ensures that our food, in general, is healthier than that of most of our competitors.

Making that just another reason to come by our establishment.

List of Condiments 

Some of the many benefits are condiment specific. To enumerate a few: 

• Olive oil: Due to the presence of omega-9 fatty acids, olive oil is useful in keeping the brain healthy and the neurons firing faster. It has been clinically tested that animals fed an omega-9 rich diet are able to remember more and recall better.

• Sauerkraut: an excellent condiment for the digestive system, Sauerkraut is choke full of probiotic bacteria that helps relieve various problems in the intestine, and getsrid of major conditions as such Irritable bowel syndrome.

• Horseradish: A great condiment for bettering your liver’s ability to resist various carcinogens (cancer causing agents). It also helps detox from various additions.

• Honey: loaded with antioxidants, dark honeys can perform a large number of extremely beneficial acts: they can help slow aging (slightly), helping one retain the vitality of youth longer; as they protect you cells from free radicals (very science-y, but essentially types of radiation) they can help decrease your risk of macular degeneration and cancer.

• Cinnamon: for the diabetics, cinnamon helps stabilize blood sugar greatly.

• Black Pepper: an excellent condiment, black pepper contains a compound called piperine that can greatly assist in preventing tumors. The condiment also performs a number of other functions: by simulating your taste buds in a certain way, Black Pepper induces the production of stomach acid, helping digestion and preventing indigestion. Moreover, this stimulation aids in the increase of appetite slightly, which can help in overcoming various psychological barriers towards eating that people suffering from conditions like anorexia have. Other useful effects include the ability to help decrease congestion. And finally, if you suffer from paper cuts, or cuts in general, sprinkling a bit of black pepper will promote healing and kill germs, to an extent. With so many diverse benefits, it’s really not wonder that the best restaurant in Dehradun is named after black pepper!

So, really, these benefits provide a perfect reason for you to visit us, and stay, if not the food, or the wonderful ambiance, just for how much healthier you’d be, at the end of our meals!

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The Chinese Conundrum – part II

The not choices 

Beyond all the offending items spelled out in the previous post, one of the worst offenders on the faux-Chinese menu is fried rice – beyond the health concerns of white rice, which can be mitigated to an extent with good preparation techniques that our restaurants use, fried rice is largely devoid of all nutrients and fried besides. This kind of rice not only has a high glycemic index, it’s also so refined that it’s basically starch and adds little but bad calories to your diet. The dish, at less discerning places and certainly not at the best restaurant in Dehradun, is basically this rice with bits of meat and sodium – which means that besides places at like Black Pepper, which is regarded as the best restaurant in Dehradun, you should really avoid it elsewhere. 

The best practices 

•  Soups are really some of the best meals that the Chinese cuisine provides. A bowl of soup before the meal ensures that at least some of your appetite has been assuaged by a low calorie food that really seems quite filling. Mixed with eggs or chickens or even vegetables, soups are a really healthy way of starting off your meal.

• Though the faux-Chinese experience rarely allows it, a lot of good Chinese food is made with vegetables are the core of the recipe. Good multicuisine restaurants, like ours, will allow you the opportunity to explore Chinese foods with vegetables such as bean sprouts, bok choy, Chinese broccoli, cabbage, long beans, eggplant and a lot more. These are all brimming with fiber, vitamins and minerals.

• One of the testiest and healthiest of Chinese foods, and one which is often sold even on street corners, is steamed, not fried, dim sums or dumplings. Not only do steamed dim sums provide an authentic Chinese experience, they contain fewer calories than many other foods, and come with fillings as varied as vegetables, tofu and chicken. They are a good source of various fibers and vitamins as well.

•  Wherever possible, get it steamed or stir-fried.

Places like Black Pepper, known to be the top multicuisine restaurant in Dehradun, accord you a Chinese food experience quite unlike most. Healthy and well-prepared, our foods ensure that your enjoyment won’t come at the expense of your health!

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The Chinese Conundrum – part I

Intro to Chinese food 

There is a vast difference between actual Chinese Food, and the imitation Chinese served all across the world. Largely, the difference lies in the ingredients and the manner of preparation. The imitation Chinese uses ingredients common to the cuisine it’s situated in; actual Chinese food goes for healthier choices such as vegetables, rice, and soy, along with small portions of meats such as chicken, beef or fish. 

The manner of preparation also greatly matters: considering that this imitation Chinese food is sold everywhere, from the cheapest of roadside ‘dhabhas’, to restaurants like ours, regarded widely as the best restaurant in Dehradun – since it is sold everywhere, quality greatly differs. And while we might remain quite conscious of health concerns such as calories and cholesterol, a lot of vendors are not, and that really gives Chinese food bad press

Still, as long as you remain conscious of what you are eating, and where you are eating it, you can not only greatly enjoy what Chinese, or even faux-Chinese, cuisine has to offer, but also keep your waistline in check. However, to be vigilant, you need to first understand what to be vigilant against: hence, spelled out for smarter eating, here are some do’s and don’ts of Chinese cuisine: 

Firstly, the don’ts: 

·   A lot of Chinese food is made cheaply and quickly, using deep frying, rather than the healthier method of steaming. So, learn to avoid the items that have crispy in them, because those are likely to be deep fried. Good alternatives to deep frying include stir-fried or steamed – not only do these ensure few calories and much lower cholesterol, they also taste pretty good. 

·    Certain items on the menu are just, simply, bad for you. For example, egg rolls are deep-fried and completely filled with saturated fats. A simple experiment: wrap an egg roll in paper napkin and see the fat drench it. If you value your heart, this is not something you’d want to eat. 

·    A lot of faux-Chinese joints have a huge problem of variety: sweet and sour often simply means covering the meal in question with a sickeningly sweet sauce, before deep frying it. Avoid! 

In the next post, we’ll finish the list of don’t and begin with the best practices that the finest multicuisine restaurant takes very seriously!

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