Luscious delicacies from Ladakh at this pop-up at The Park, Bengaluru!

It never crossed our mind that Ladakh might have its own unique cuisine. The assumption, and a terribly uneducated one, came from the belief that Ladakhi food might be similar to Tibetan and might be influenced by Nepali cuisine. How wrong we were! Chef Nilza Wangmo was in town for over a week presenting the delicious flavours of her home, Ladakh, at The Park X Alchi Kitchen pop-up that we decided to experience one day before it wrapped up. And we’re thankful we decided to do so, because what lay in store for us was a smörgåsbord of flavours that wowed us with every bite.

Alchi Kitchen is the brainchild of award-winning chef Nilza, who is known across the world for being a custodian of her traditional food culture. She is the owner of the restaurant in Alchi, Ladakh, and is also a recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar from the President of India in 2019. The pop-up at The Park in Bengaluru aimed at introducing this exotic cuisine to the city and presenting its unique flavours — a beautiful amalgamation of Tibetan, Indian and Central Asian — to the gastronomically adventurous.

We decided to go with the non-veg plated menu, served on a thali, as the options were all too interesting and we wanted to try every single one of them. This was the first time we were going to experience the flavours of Ladakh and so we deduced, the more – the better. We started our elaborate lunch with one of four special cocktails made just for the pop-up, Nubra Valley Velvet — sanjeevani flower extract, vodka and in-house bitters — and the refreshing drink worked really well as an apéritif too. The floral notes ensured we were jolted into sobriety and the thali arrived just in time. We decided to dig in immediately. We’d built up quite an appetite as the wait was a long one, considering everything was made fresh, once our order was placed.

First up, or rather, what we chose to try first, were the starters — Mok Mok and Tain Tain. Mok Mok is the Ladakhi take on a momo while Tain Tain is a buckwheat pancake with a slightly sweet nutty filling. Next up was a hearty barley soup, the Chanthuk, which was definitely our favourite dish on the platter. For the mains, we were served small portions of Chutagi (fresh pasta served with mutton), Gyathuk (a brothy noodle-based dish), Khambir (a stuffed paratha), and Yarkendi Pulao (a delicate pulao served with meat falling off the bone). The noodle and pasta based dishes were familiar, yet absolutely stunning with their delicate flavours, while the khambir surprised us with its savoury cheesiness. The Yarkendi pulao, that travelled to Ladakh from Yarkhand in Central Asia, was reminiscent of many meat pulaos from the region, just far more subtler and sweeter.

We were pretty stuffed by the time we finished those treats and were thankful that we only had two light desserts to wrap our meal up with. The Saffron Paneer Mok Mok was fragrant and had just the right amount of sweet, while the Rum Apricot was reminiscent of so many fruit wines and equally enjoyable. We called for a cuppa before we left the restaurant and a warm drink was the perfect end to the meal. Ladakhi food is a great option for anyone who wants to try something absolutely new via flavours, foods and textures one is already familiar with. Head to this pop-up ASAP, if you’d like to try this cuisine, as it ends on December 10.

Meal for two: INR 2,000 onwards. At The Park, MG Road.

romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal