Delhiites, you up for sambar cappuccino?
Would you prefer a chocolate dosai over a cheese burst dosai? Or, how about having a hot plate of an idli sponge and uttappam waffle with coconut chutney mousse? Well, you can have them with tomato chutney icecream, sambar cappuccino and idli on fire... Hey, hey... wait...we are not creating imaginative dishes, folks!
Our talented city chefs are in the mood to play with the ever-changing palate of Delhiites by experimenting with South Indian delicacies and creating interesting, unimaginable fusion dishes while still keeping the essence and ethos of the real favours alive. “It is important to maintain the basic flavours of the particular dish, though, it doesn’t matter how you present the dish, but the basic spices and flavour has to be there,” says chef Piyush Jain of Decode Social, adding, “When I was developing the idli sponge, it was important for me to maintain the basic flavour of idli with the right sponginess which is there.”
However, the process of developing an all-new fusion dish is not a child’s play. “People are only moving towards logical fusion. We, as chefs, cannot serve anything on the platter and put a tag of fusion on it. Every dish has a reason, a meaning and a story which recreates nostalgia. And that is how our guest connects strongly with us,” says chef Harangad Singh of Pra Pra Prank.
In the quest to preserve the real essence and create a whole new dish, chefs themselves try out the dishes many times. “It is a long process. One should try the dish at least 100 times before finalising it because you need to be hit in the market, and also every dish should have right accompaniments,” says chef Aman Puri of Imly Chatpata Stopover.
About the most important thing to keep in mind while developing fusion dishes, chef Vaibhav Bhargava Of Molecule, says, “Keeping the basics right is the key to successfully developing a mouth-watering dish.”
It is important to maintain the basic flavours of the particular dish right, though, it doesn’t matter how you present the dish, but the basic spices and flavour has to be there. PIYUSH JAIN CHEF