New(ish) Dishes at Bombay Canteen

 (And a little advice on accuracy)

Hussain Shahzad is a genius. He has revitalised and rejuvenated Bombay Canteen’s food in a way that is extraordinary and I have no hesitation in saying that when it comes to food, this is the best iteration of Bombay Canteen since it’s inception. 

What an inspired take on a rasam vada..

The food continues to reimagine regional Indian food in ways that are creative and fun. But the research seems to be both wider and deeper, with an even stronger focus on regional ingredients. This focus on seasonality means that it’s the vegetarian food that really shines and is the biggest reason to go back again and again.

The other thing that Hussain has done really well is tap into the Indian obsession with “chatpata”. Many of the dishes have that chaat like combination of softness, crunchy, chatpata, heat, sweetness, tanginess followed by a cooling element that we as a country can’t get enough of. However he still managed to make every dish distinct and different and let’s them stand on their own. 

This is a restaurant that continues to evolve and stay ahead of the game, that continues to set a benchmark and as they plan what worlds (or what new shores) to conquer next, I can’t wait to see what’s the next step from the fold at Hunger Inc. 

This take on Palak patta chaat was a show stopper 

My only (minor) grouse is that as they grow, it’s important to get the factual details right. You can’t get the source dish or the source region wrong because that’s disrespectful and leaves you open to questions about superficiality and cultural appropriation. Whether it’s calling a Madurai dish a Karnataka dish or confusing jadoh with doh nei iong, these are errors that I think a restaurant this amazing should avoid. 

Details of my meal (in their words) with my comments in brackets below…

We ate (in the words of the Bombay Canteen team with my comments in brackets): 

• 
  
  BAINGAN CHOKA - A reinterpretation of Bihar’s Litti Choka, where chokha means to temper and it's made out of eggplant. Baigan Choka is topped with tomato, cilantro oil, pickled chillies and fried garlic chips. While a traditional litti is stuffed with sattu (gram flour), we’re serving this quintessential side as a sattu papdi to dunk into this comforting chota. (Fabulous, like an Indian baba ganoush). 
• RASAM VADA - This palate cleansing course is a fun play on the concept of the combinationof soup and breadsticks. A clarified cold rasam, served with a tomato salad featuring local red cherry, black indigo and sun peach gold tomatoes. Accompanying the cold, sweet and sour broth is black garlic vadas which in fact a churro made with cheese, coated in black garlic podi. (The cold tomato rasam is India’s answer to a gazpacho, fresh and refreshing and perfect for summer).
• SUMMER GREENS CHAAT - Our version of Delhi’s Palak Patta Chaat is made with crispy fried Amaranth, Poi Saag and Palak. Crack through the crunchy greens for that flavour explosion of tamatar chutney, palak chutney, chickpeas, pickle dahi. (The most chaat like dish, but better and more sophisticated than you can ever imagine with such humble ingredients). 
• 
  
  CORN LOCHO - Straight out of Surat the Locho is said to have emerged through a kitchen accident while preparing the traditional khaman. The end result was a runny, creamy mixture of chana dal topped with a few different elements like onions, cilantro and spices. Our version of this is a Corn Locho topped with crispy corn, scallion chutney, peppery belper knolle, topped with crunchy corn chivda. (This reminded me of the brilliantly playful stuff Daniela Soto used to do with corn at Cosme). 
• 
  
  CHILLED SEABASS SEVPURI - Sev Puri is a famous street food from Bombay. Our seafood version is made with shredded Red Snapper cured with nimbu chunda, raw mango chutney served atop a whole wheat “puri” garnished with nylon sev and pickled Bhavnagari chilli.(Much more interesting than the regular ceviche iterations we get. Though I would like to see Hussain try and aguachile). 
• 
  
  KHASI PORK TACO – Inspired from Meghalaya Khasi community’s Jadoh recipe; our version has black sesame marinated pork belly served on a rice bhakri “taco” drizzled with Naga chili salsa, mint and pickled onions. (Slightly underwhelming. First it’s based on doh-nei iong, not Jadoh. I feel it’s important to get the details right when talking about regional food or else you end up treating it disrespectfully and superficially. Second, it lacked of the depth of flavour and intensity of the actual dish, tasting more like a black sesame marinate than something the meat is cooked in). 
• 
  
  JIGARTHANDA - ‘Jigar‘ means heart and ‘Thanda‘ means cool or cold; Jigarthanda is a cooling drink having its origins in madurai city in Tamil Nadu, India. Our version is akin to a Tres Leches, a Latin American milk cake. Jigarthanda has layers of caramelised milk, almond gum, orange jelly, sabza, vanilla sponge soaked with caramelised milk, nannari sorbet and almond tuille. (Again a really clever take but again I was disappointed that the server called Jigarthanda a Karnataka dish instead of a Madurai dish. I don’t know if they confused it with a basundi or whether all places south of the Vindhyas seem interchangeable, but it’s the kind of error that a world class restaurant should never make. And I consider Bombay Canteen a world class restaurant). 

 Drinks:

• 
  
  JAMUN CLUB – Inspired from a classical cocktail Clover Club, our version pays homage tothe seasonal and a childhood favorite fruit, Jamun. A refreshing summer drink made with fresh Jamun, Himalayan pink salt & gin.
• GIN
  
  
  & TULSI – Holy Basil, also known as Tulsi, is an integral part of many Indian households. Traditionally used as a medicinal herb, we have incorporated it in our version of Gin Basil Smash. Gin & Tulsi is made with holy basil, homemade jaggery syrup, gin and egg white.