That is another thing that is happening in these new Indian kitchens, which are stacked with old spices but simpering with new dining mores. If Indians are known to happily, unrestrainedly have their food, not quite worried about courses and hardly bothering about pairings, now the chef’s hand rules. And it is eating into the Indian diner’s freedom. Food historian Jiggs Kalra says, “Every Indian is capable of turning a chef’s nightmare into a reality when he mixes dishes in his plate. A degustation menu should be a part of every Indian restaurant,” he says. In the early 20th century, the French introduced menu de degustation for their patrons who would be treated to small portions of the chef’s signature dishes. And Kalra is going Gallic to that extent, rolling out the concept at The Punjab Grill at the Ambience Mall in Gurgaon.

Choudhary, who has rolled out a degustation menu where a lamb galouti is paired with an ambi panna and finished with a masala tea crème brulee, says bawarchis of rajas and nawabs had their own degustation menus though they never aspired to such a tongue-twisting term. “Chefs would play around with colour combinations and garnishings. These small servings steadily evolved into the thali concept. But now it’s time we moved to the next level.”

The trick is to keep the food authentic, rooted in spices though the heat is minimised, but making it look haute enough for a diner who has tasted the cuisines of the world. The restaurants are aiming as much at the well-heeled tourist as they are to the experimenting local people. Little wonder that the alchemy is happening at home, not abroad. This is unlike the story of Japanese cuisine whose makeover happened not in Kyoto or Tokyo, but in the melting pot called Los Angeles.
The Book of Sushi by Kinjiro Omae and Yuzuru Tachibana credits Ichiro Manashita of the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant in Los Angeles for inventing the California roll in the 1970s. This inside-out sushi was created when the chefs realised that Americans were not too fond of chewing on nori.

... contd.