A Chennai restaurant serving a culinary journey across India

To eat all of India, you do not have to book flights or plan itineraries through the four corners of the subcontinent. You just have to drive a little outside our city and let this kitchen do the travelling for you.

Discovering India's lesser-known dishes through a 23-region menu

At Parva, every dish comes with a story, of a state, a community, an ingredient, or a tradition carried across generations. Chef Arupam Baidya and culinary consultant Rajesh Kumar of Gourmet Sage have built a menu spanning 23 regions, spotlighting lesser-known dishes and ingredients from across the country. “We stay true to each cuisine by using authentic ingredients sourced from their regions,” says Arupam, while Rajesh describes the restaurant as “a celebration of India’s extraordinary culinary diversity. While many restaurants focus on a few familiar regional cuisines, we wanted to shine a light on the lesser-known food traditions, ingredients, and stories that make Indian cuisine so rich and varied.”

We opened with the beverages first. The Sol kadi, a Konkan coastal classic, arrived a gentle dusty pink, kokum, and coconut coming together into a cooling drink that’s slightly tart. Alongside it, the Aam pora sharbat, a North Indian summer drink made from roasted raw mango with cumin and black salt, is smoky and bright at once. Then came the Palak patta chaat. Crisp spinach fritters from Uttar Pradesh, loaded with chutneys, yoghurt, and pomegranate pearls. It arrived a touch soggy, and the chaat masala was a bit heavy, but the pomegranate gave it the lift it needed.

Litti chokha followed, dense wheat balls from Bihar and Jharkhand, roasted over fire and served with smashed spiced brinjal and potato. Then the Prawn ghee roast from Kundapur, and this is where the meal found its stride. Byadgi chillies for their deep colour and gentle heat, Kashmiri chilli for that characteristic red, the whole thing roasted in ghee until the prawns are coated in this fierce, glossy masala. That red is iconic. The Dhotua dal came next, a Himachali preparation of black lentils cooked simply, without the butter and cream and tomato that usually props up a dal of this colour.

The Poori basket deserves its own paragraph. Six pooris, all different. Luchi from Bengal, Kochuri stuffed with green peas, Radha bhallavi stuffed with white dal, a plain atta poori, Tamatar poori, and the Bedani poori from Madhya Pradesh, the one with a whole migration story behind it, the one that sustained labourers travelling to Delhi for days at a time and eventually became the poori of Indian railway stations.

What makes Parva particularly engaging is that the stories do not stop with the dishes on your table. Arupam enthusiastically walks guests through the origins of menu items they may never have heard of. There is Fish kabiraji from Bengal’s Anglo-Indian culinary history, where British fish and chips met Bengali spices and a delicate lace-like egg coating. Maharashtra’s fiery Thecha paneer takes inspiration from the region’s famous chilli-garlic condiment, while Malwani mutton incorporates a touch of triphala, the Ayurvedic blend of amla, harra and baheda believed to aid digestion.

Then there is Chena-r-dalna from Bengal, said to have emerged from dietary restrictions imposed on widows, transforming fresh chhena into a flavourful curry. The chef also points to Sindh’s Fota tevan, a cardamom-scented mutton preparation, and Swarn murg tandoori, where saffron, cardamom and edible gold leaf replace the familiar bright-red tandoori treatment. Even the desserts come with rich traditions attached: Dahi Jalebi, a sweet-and-sour breakfast pairing enjoyed across parts of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and Rasawal, where rice is cooked in fresh sugarcane juice rather than milk.

Dessert was the Black rice kheer made from Chak hao rice sourced from Manipur, the forbidden grain once reserved for royalty, here turned into a dark, aromatic pudding that is unlike any kheer you have had before. A brilliant way to close.

Meal for two: Rs 1200++. From 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm, and 7 pm to 10.30 pm. At Parva, Akkarai.

Email: shivani@newindianexpress.com
X: @ShivaniIllakiya

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