Telling a nasi goreng apart from a puliyogare isn’t always easily done. The sticky fried rice, popular in Indonesian and Malay variations, and the South Indian tamarind rice (albeit, necessarily a pure vegetarian preparation) have a few elements in common — such as, tamarind, chillies and peanuts.
But it takes an expert and well-travelled hand like Executive Chef Sanjeev Ranjan, at Paprika Café, Courtyard Marriott Chennai, to understand the different styles of preparation, and the traditions they speak of.
The Malays tend to sauté all the ingredients in a frying pan, and prefer ketchup-mayonnaise, explains the chef, while the Indonesian way is stir-fried, and begins with a mortar and pestle, in which the shallots, garlic, roasted peanuts and bird’s eye chillies are pounded into a “sambal matah” paste.
The elements of tamarind, sweet soya sauce and dry shrimp or chicken are all-important in the nasi goreng, apart from the sunny-side up, while puliyogare is commonly tempered with curry leaves and mustard seeds, often featuring grated coconut, and whole peanuts (not crushed).
The nasi goreng at Paprika Café, like every other dish on their new menu, comes with a word of favour from Chef Sanjeev. Essentially a combination of the chef’s favourite foods from his travels, the menu features tandoori and butter chicken, Kolkata kathi rolls (with parathas not rumali rotis, served with kasundi mustard and green chilli sauce), the Malayali delicacy fish pollichatu, and Awadhi biryani.
The stellar nasi goreng apart, the highlights include the Gilafi lamb seekh (made to spec with a 1:10 fat to meat ratio), mushroom risotto, and nalli rogan josh.
With each dish, Chef Sanjeev lays out a spread of insights, gained from his own experiences. Feel free to prise culinary pointers out of him, especially on the regional differences in cooking.
The chef’s better stories are undoubtedly deeply personal. Such as the anecdote behind his choice of dessert — mango kulfi. But we’d rather leave that for you to discover by sitting him down for a hearty chat and meal.
Meal for two `1,500 upwards. Details: 66764000
— Jaideep Sen
jaideep@newindian
express.com
@senstays