NOUVEAU CLASSIC
Rita and Admiral Malhotra, and Mandira Nath

As I enter the elegant home in Golf Links, I am struck by the sheer warmth and sophistication of the residence, built in the 50s by famed German architect Heinz. Each room in the ground floor home faces a swathe of green – an architectural marvel, given the corner plot the house stands on. The Malhotras have lived here all their lives; this is their home and castle even though his career has taken them to different parts of the country. And it is a home that has seen many wonderful evenings of fun and food.

Rita began her journey into the world of cooking as a young girl. “My father was an Air Force officer who loved entertaining and good food. Our home in Defence Colony always had card parties, Diwali feasts and sher-o-shayiri sessions, at which food and drink were all-important.”

The young navy lieutenant she married was also a connoisseur, and new bride Rita plunged into the life of a navy wife with gusto. The first step to presenting a good table was cooking lessons with Balbir Singh, a matron who was a precursor to the country’s cooking schools. Old world and rigorous, the lady taught well and the young Rita garnered the foundations of being a good cook.

And while she travelled the country – Mumbai, Delhi, Vizag – she also gained exposure to different styles of cooking and food. And all along the couple became a social force entertaining and partying with the young set, all through the ’60s and ’70s. So how did Rita become such a recognised force for her dishes?

“I don’t really know,” she answers. “I have always used my imagination to interpret classic cooking in innovative ways.” Rita doesn’t limit herself to recipes from a book. She adds and changes using her own flourishes, and simple ingredients, fresh and bountiful depending upon the season, are what she uses.

Even simple dishes can be elevated to something special by experimentation in Rita’s book, where classic Indian, Thai and Continental rule the roost. Her efforts met with enthusiastic approval not just from guests, but also from the family. “My kids love eating and my son Nikhil who was at boarding school was especially appreciative when he came back for the holidays. My grandkids who are now six and three are beginning to discover the pleasure of fine khana, and that makes me happy,” says Rita.

Her home is filled with hundreds of cookbooks and handwritten original recipes. She hopes to sort them out one day and put them in a book. “I would like to hand them to my children some day.” Like the meal, we are sure that it will indeed be everything that it promised to be.

Rita’s recipe for smoked dal

Soak toor dal for an hour, and boil in a little water with salt and chilli powder till soft and thick of consistency.
Ignite a piece of charcoal. Place it on a betel leaf and pour a little bit of ghee on the charcoal. Put the betel leaf on the dal and seal the pan and smoke for 10 minutes.
Remove the charcoal and add a liquid paste made of six cloves, four green pods of cardamom, three tablespoons of curd and a pinch of saffron. Add more water and cook on an open fire till done.
Add some cream and finish with a tadka of half a tablespoon of jeera and two teaspoons of chopped garlic sautéed in a little bit of ghee or oil.
Garnish with mint leaves and serve with roti or parathas.

BIRYANI AND BAINGAN
Pratibha and Raja Vijai Karan, and Gauri and Nainika Karan

For long, gourmands in the know have been aware that the best Hyderabadi food this far from Hyderabad is created at Zara’s Court, the sprawling and elegant residence of Raja Vijai Karan, retired director of the Central Bureau of Investigation and Commissioner of Police, New Delhi and his gracious wife, Pratibha. Their mother’s biggest fans, though, happen to be son Gaurav and daughters Gauri and Nainika, who are well-known fashion designers.

It is easy to see why their home is a little slice of Hyderabad away from Hyderabad. While Delhi is now home for Vijai Karan, he belongs to a family with deep roots in the City of Pearls. The love for all things fine and succulent comes from a childhood and youth spent there. “I am a vegetarian. Always have been and always will be,” says Pratibha Karan. “When I retired from the Indian Administrative Services after my marriage, I realised that my husband wouldn’t touch vegetarian food! That’s when I decided to learn the nuances of this cuisine.”

And learn she did. Through the instructions and kindness of her mother-in-law, her sisters-in-law and even the maids at the Karan household in Hyderabad. In fact, so accomplished did she become that ITC invited her to publish a book with them on the subject. The result was a beautiful coffee table book, A Princely Legacy, now the definitive tome on Hyderabadi cooking.

Nainika, following in her mother’s footsteps, is also emerging as a talented cook, and Gauri is the official taster of the family. “Ours has always been a house that is alive. We have had an open house with friends and children dropping in all the time and I wanted to make sure that they would always get amazing food here.”

But the food is not just amazing: it is exceptional, and so is the heart with which it is served. The warmth comes not just from the aromas and taste of biryani, haleem, baghare baingan and tomato kut. It comes from the generosity and pleasure with which it is presented.

Pratibha explains the courses that make a typical Hyderabadi meal. First there is the gazak, a starter that could be a kebab or a savoury or a patty. Then comes the khaliya, a dryish dish that is eaten with phulkas. The last course is a shorva or a soupy meat dish consumed with rice. A dal is also served as an option. And the special place of pride in the Karan household, as in any Hyderabadi home, are the pulaos and biryanis.

“It is the mix of North Indian influences and South Indian Telugu touches that make this food so unique,” explains Pratibha. “But I don’t stick to standard recipes. I try and add my own touch to any given dish to make it different and surprising.”

Pratibha, an old hand at other Indian and Thai cuisine, says that when all is said and done, guests look forward to and receive the bounty of her Hyderabadi specialties. That is exactly what I am fed after our talk is over. And, as always, the experience is delightful.

Pratibha’s recipe for Achar Murgh

1 chicken (1 kg in weight cut into 6 to 8 pieces)
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger garlic
3 teaspoons ground cumin and coriander seeds
Juice of 3 lemons
3 green chillies cut in half
1/4 cup curry leaves
Salt to taste

For baghar
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds
3 whole dry red chillies
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2/3 cups oil

Wash the chicken and drain the water out completely. Put the chicken in a heavy based pan and add to it all the ingredients except the ones for the baghar. Marinate for an hour. Heat oil. Add whole chillies, cumin and mustard seeds and after a few seconds nigella and fenugreek seeds. When the colour of the red chillies darkens, pour the baghar over the marinated chicken and cover the dish immediately. Now start cooking first on high and then on medium-slow heat, covered. Stir from time to time till the meat is tender and the water dries up.

ROYAL SPREAD
Shahzadi Naghat, Nargis, Nida and Sana Abedi

Imagine an evening at a glittering salon. A home in the lush neighborhood of Nizamuddin, in the vicinity of historic tombs. An eclectix mix of politicans, bureaucrats, journalists, artists, musicians…. And everyone waiting impatiently for one thing: dinner! The Shahzadi Naghat Abedi of Rampur is famous in the city of Delhi for her fabled parties where the crowning glory of each evening is the Rampuri cuisine, garnished with love and warmth.

The princess grew up in a culture of food and entertainment and today she and three daughters are the foremost hostesses in New Delhi. And unlike many other hosts, here they enjoy their own evenings with gusto. I ask the lady brimming with joie de vivre about her ability to present a fabulous meal each time and she tells me that food at their home, party or no party, is all important.

Naghat grew up in New Delhi, but visited the princely state of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh to see her grandfather, H.H. Nawab Syed Mohammed Raza Ali Bahadur, ever so often. She tells me that unlike other regional cuisines, Rampuri food is meticulous and detailed. In fact in the days of yore, a separate chef was required for each dish. Today, however, the advent of the modern age has reduced the demand for these talented speciality cooks: yet there remain families that retain the recipes that have been zealously guarded and passed on from generation to generation. And it is this food that is laid at the table in the Abedi residence.

As a child, Naghat saw her parents entertain Pandit Nehru and Lord Mountbatten at their residence, so she continues the legacy of her father, H.H. Nawab Murtaza Ali Khan, famed for his hospitality. After finishing school and college in 1976, Naghat married a banker who then swept her away to exotic lands as he pursued his career in the corporate world. Finally, she returned to New Delhi in 1992. Once home she was able to reconnect with old friends and make many new ones. And soon enough, the parties began, much to the delight of connoisseurs of fine food.

She doesn’t cook herself, but has a refined palate and is able to guide the battery of chefs who work in her stately home. “When people come home they expect the food from Rampur and I do not want to disappoint them,” she says. “ Also, since Rampuri cuisine is not available in restaurants, I feel that by serving it I am keeping the memories alive.”

The Abedi family home is an open house where Nargis, Nida and Sana, Naghat’s three beautiful daughters who are part of the smart set, have friends over practically every day. And why would they not come over when tar gosht, chicken stew, nargisi seekh kebabs, yakhni pulao, mussalam chicken, khichda, habshi halwa and other wonders are on offer?

I ask Naghat if she will ever write a book. To my delight she answers in the affirmative. Her mother painstakingly wrote down recipes, and Naghat plans to expand on those notes and eventually do a definitive tome on the exceptional food of the small, dusty town of Rampur, that was able to create a distinctive, world-famous cuisine. Until it comes out, I suppose the only place to sample it is chez Abedi.

The menu for lunch is....

Mutton shammi kebabs with pudina chutney
Nehari
Alu katli
Urad dal dry
Murgh mussalam
Sheermal
Rice
Dahi phulki
Shahi tukra

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