Date: 6th to 14th September 2019
Venue: Le Meridien, Gurgaon

The North West Frontier province had a strong impact on the culture of undivided India, thanks to the Kabulis and the stories that they brought with them. No wonder Chef Osama Jalali, who we think, tries out new experiments within the traditional paradigm, is presenting a food event of North West frontier cuisine at the sprawling restaurant, Latest Recipe, Le Meridien, Gurgaon. We attended the event on the good Chef’s invite and enjoyed the proceedings.

The evening started with a rich assortment of starters. The kebabs and boties were melt in the mouth soft and spiced suitably. Some of them where in fact cooked in ghee or Indian clarified butter. The sweet aroma on ghee on a kebab was new for us. The main course comprised of mostly protein dishes like Balochi Karahi Keema Fry, Koyla Kadhai and Murgh Chhole. The Murgh Chhole was a very home style combination of vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian proteins – chickpea and chicken. Very Instagram worthy chicken and rice dish Char Murgh was also on the table. This expansive dish of rice reminded us of Mandi – a version of biryani that we had in Hyderabad, outside Golkunda Fort. Our most favourtite Ramzan Food Walk drink Mohabbat ka Sharbat was served here as well as the welcome drink albeit in a martini glass.

Needless to say, by this time we were rather full. In fact, while Osama had gone easy on the oils and spices, Mughlai genre of cuisine is inherently heavy. We would have loved if salads were included in every dish. That would have added to the fibre content and soothed the internal processes. Post main course, we had little room for dessert. Still we could not resist when Osama served Dudh Dulari, this soothing golden colour desert in a gorgeous and traditional transparent glass cloche. It was a lighter version of rasmalai. Except that, along with rasgulla, the flavoured milk also contained other ingredients such as fruit slices, small gulab jamun and falooda.

The whole spread was familiar, yet the spices and seasoning and the cooking medium made the items unique. While we had an elaborate dinner, given the excellent quality of the ingredients used, we felt clean from inside. Osama was running the show with support from his Missus as well as others in the Le Meridien kitchen and kudos to the team for putting up a great food show. The North West Frontier Cuisine special is on at Le Meridien Gurgaon from  6^th to 14th September 2019. Do try it out for yourselves.