For the longest time, North Indian cuisine has been synonymous with ‘Indian food’ in mainstream imagination. In the last few years, global feats like Chef Vikas Khanna’s NYC restaurant Bungalow have established that Indian food is more than just butter chicken. We now find many progressive Indian diners in the country that have reclaimed their rightful position among bon vivants as well. Based in Goa, Hosa is one such restaurant that explores micro-regional delicacies from the five southern states. This weekend, Bengaluru-restaurant The Persian Terrace is hosting a three-day pop-up by Hosa. Curated by Chef Harish Rao, we sampled the nine-course menu ahead of the event. Here’s how it went.
As we sat ourselves at a table resplendent with a beautiful tablescape, Seafood Rasam arrived as our first course. It comprised a spiced seafood broth with prawns and flaky pastry topped with butter-tossed crabmeat pieces. At the sous-chef’s insistence, we crumbled the pastry into the warm rasam. The result was a starter that was rich in texture — playful and wholesome.
Up next was Naranga Chicken, a grilled version of the popular orange chicken curry from Kerala. The sweet-and-sour dish had gotten a bit tepid and hence, tasted underwhelming. However, we tried the vegetarian starter Shimeji Mushroom Varuval that comprised a mushroom pâté in a bed of mashed, dried green peas infused with green peppercorn. The pâté melted in our mouths and the umami from mushrooms lifted our spirits up! The mashed peas served as the perfect neutral playground for the bold flavour of the peppercorn.
Chettinad Lamb Chops arrived next, with a side of pineapple salad and coriander sambal. The meat was said to be brined for 24 hours and reverse-seared. The result: fall-off-the-bone meat with the perfect (we need to add five t’s to stress on this) creamy texture, with the pineapple cutting right through the richness of the sambal. Our most favourite yet! “You really are a foodie,” smiled a gentleman sitting right next to us and for the first time ever, we felt proud of our gluttony.
To give a fair chance to any dish arriving after this, we were served Raw Mango Sorbet on lemon foam to neutralise our taste buds. While the refreshing sorbet did its job, the lemon foam made it too sour for most. While we understand that adding salt would have reduced the shock of the ice on the taste buds, perhaps the use of a botanical (like mint or basil) or a slightly high sugar content could have softened its edges without losing the clean finish?
The main course comprised two dishes: Roti Canai (tawa chicken with kachumber salad) and Madurai Lamb Shank served with a side of ghee rice/set dosa.
While we gulped down the savoury Roti Canai in just a few spoonfuls, Madurai Lamb Shank won our votes. Initially intimidated by the humongous size of the shank at this stage of the meal, we had decided to just have a small piece of it. However, the trio—consisting of meat that we could cut with even a soup spoon and yet was pleasantly firm, the flavourful salan and the tangy set dosa—convinced us otherwise. We polished off the dish with gusto and a mocktail made with naran and vanilla!
Is it even a South-Indian meal if it doesn’t feature curd-rice? Served with Drakshi Gojju (pickled grapes) was sago-yoghurt, a reimagination of curd rice. We are not sure if this is safe to put in writing, but the soft tapioca pearls bursting in our mouths and blending effortlessly with the yoghurt have definitely convinced us to try and emulate the same at home and possibly, just possibly, replace our daily curd-rice with the same.
The climax, like all things Indian, could have either wreaked havoc or made us fans. The dessert, which most chefs play safe on, turned out to be Chef Harish’s most dangerous bet: Curry Leaf Ice Cream and the cake, Chocolate Chilli. And it’s more than safe to say that the chef hit a sixer on the last ball.
While we loved how the chilli snuck up on us moments after we devoured the slightly bitter-yet-decandent chocolate cake, what pleasantly surprised us was the Curry Leaf Ice Cream. We were all geared up to be offended as we witnessed the humble kitchen ingredient to be set up for failure to win as an ice cream, a spoonful or the dessert shut us all up and justifiably so. The herby aroma of the curry leaf was balanced by the addition of caramelised coconut crumble. The salt highlighted the savoury edge of the leaf, while the caramel sugar ensured the dish stays firmly a dessert.
So, for those who aren’t privileged enough to be in Goa to step inside Hosa at a whim’s notice, we highly recommend you have your weekend dinner at this pop-up!
Meal for two: INR 3,500++ without alcohol. Till April 12, 6-11 pm. At Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway, Dr Rajkumar Rd, Rajajinagar.
X: @MallikPrattusa
Email: prattusa@newindianexpress.com
For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.