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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