From delicious sweets to homely food, this restaurant serves finger-licking Jain dishes

Aamantran, a classic pure veg restaurant in Hyderabad is known for its Jain and sattvic food. They have introduced a new Paryushan thali which caters to the substantial Jain community in town. “The main aim of having a Jain Paryushan thali was to make sure the people get sattvic food, which is not just a couple of dishes, but a whole meal,” says Pratap Gandhi, the owner of Aamantran.

We were welcomed by an aroma of sweets, with the soft instrumental folk music playing in the background giving a very homely vibe. We started our meal with their Jain thali, which consisted of 12 dishes prepared with Jain Pratha that includes cooking food without any onion, garlic, greens and roots.

The meal, served in a steel thali, consisted of phulkas, plain rice, jeera rice, Goonda ki sabji, rajma, dal tadka, raita, laccha kalakand, kachori, papad, and finally, spiced buttermilk, that reminded us of a home cooked meal made with lots of love. Although all the dishes were made without onion, garlic and ginger, there was no compromise on the taste. What stood out for us was Goonda ki sabji, a popular vegetable used in curries and pick les in Gujarat and Rajasthan. Unlike the typical slimy texture of Goonda, this curry was dry. “We peel the vegetable, remove the slimy insides, leave it overnight to dry and then prepare the curry,” Parap says. To replace the garlic tadka which is added in most dals, they use a tadka of khada masalas, following the typical Jain style of cooking.

The dish which won our hearts was definitely the laccha kalakand. Unlike the regular kalakand which is a little dry and cakey, this kalakand was soft and juicy. It was grainy, but not dry.

What gives laccha kalakand this texture is the generous use of malai (milk cream). The kalakand was also garnished with almond slivers.

Apart from the thali, we also tried a few other mouthwatering Jain dishes like the crispy vegetables with honey basil sauce, which was truly a delight. The sweetness of honey was complemented by a very fresh basil flavour. We then tried thread paneer that featured a soft piece of paneer coated with crispy fried noodles. This was accompanied by a honey and chilli flakes sauce. We also had the veg chatpat, where they replaced the classic tomato and onion gravy with a cashew-based preparation. Each bite of this delight felt like a meal made with love and warmth.

Rs 900 for two. At Himayatnagar.

Story by Ananya Mehta