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Digging deep to resurrect a legacy of cuisine
By Uma Nair, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) Chefs at five-star hotels from Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and the capital have all congregated here to push the boundaries of yesteryears and find stories of texture and flavour from India's heritage. 

Over the past two months, they are engaged in what they call as a 'masaledaar resurrection.'

"Inventing dishes that were full of flavour, even cooking chicken in a sand bath, inside a kulfi cup with light ingredients and coming up with a once-in-a-lifetime kind of dish is novel about Tipu Sultan's times," says chef Sultan who recently launched the Tipu Sultan Festival at the Maurya Sheraton Hotel in Delhi. 

"Age old techniques have come to light," Sultan, who has researched recipes from the days of yore to create a festival that is steeped in the legacy of antiquity , told IANS .

ITC-Welcomgroup's workshop, "Qorma, Qalian and Salan" brought together 30 chefs and nanbhais (assistants who make breads) across the chain, to work towards re-creating special recipes to add to the repertoire of the dum pukht kitchens. 

"Authenticity has always been of paramount importance and through this workshop, the chain hopes to resurrect and add more special dishes to its repertoire," he says. 

At Taj Ambassador a few years ago, chef Ghulam Rasool came and tickled north Indian palates for a recreation of `Lucknawi Andaz'. 

Rasool was one of those who created lightly laced dishes with huge flavour, maximal texture and low on oil.

"Slow cooking is the best gift that our forefathers gave us, cooking meat on dum is an age old technique and a lot of housewives also use it these days," says Rasool. 

"Creating authentic recipes, served with traditional accompaniments and styles are the most important criterion in the presentation," says Sultan. 

"The intention is also to help guests in shedding misconceptions and appreciating the finer nuances of age-old recipes," says chef Ghulam of Welcomgroup, who is known for the brilliant Risala, gravy of subtle spices and meats cooked on a slow open flame. 

"Tipu Sultan as well as the Nawabs of Awadh were true connoisseurs of good food and it was in their kitchens that this cuisine truly flowered," says Sultan. 

Legend has it that the dum pukht cuisine drew royal attention at the time of a famine. Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah had launched a massive 'food for work' programme and it was the food for the masses that he favoured.

Down south, another heady cocktail of flavours brews as chefs of the south explore the kingdoms of the Deccan. 

At Marriott here was a unique conclave of chefs from the south who came together to discuss ingredients, authenticity and techniques in cooking meats, vegetables and fish in southern spice categories. 

"It was such an eye opener in terms of ingredients," says chef Manisha Bhasin. 

"Even rice quality differs from state to state, so does tamarind and basic spices."

The sight of so many dishes at the south conclave alone was enough to prompt a hum of pleasure - a plump country chicken cooked 'coorg style' floating in a pool of vivid brown gravy and the first mouthful was a revelation. 

"It's fantastic," a customer gasped.