Tangra cuisine from Kolkata at the culinary pop-up at The Leela Kovalam A Raviz Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram

The Hindu

6 days ago

Tangra, in Kolkata, is home to what we know as the Indian Chinese food. Bringing home the spicy flavours from this part of India is The Leela Kovalam A Raviz Hotel where Tangra dishes are served as part of the dinner buffet.
Tangra cuisine is believed to have evolved during the pre-Independence era when Kolkata's Chinese immigrants experimented with Indian spices and ingredients and came up with recipes that suited Indian tastebuds.
'Chinese dishes, rather Indian Chinese, have become part of our food culture and so we wanted the gouramands to get a taste of the cuisine that evolved when two styles of cooking came together,' says Sarath Madathil, deputy general manager (marketing). 'That's why we decided to have this pop-up and around 20 dishes will be available at our dinner buffet counter.'
'The cuisine is marked by the spiciness of the dishes, which does not go overboard,' explains chef Rakesh Kumar, who specialises in Asian cuisine. Just three months old with the hotel group, he, however, brings the experience of having led similar pop-ups while working in Chennai and Goa.
The pop-up alternates between five set menus with appetisers, soups, mains, rice, noodles, desserts and live stations, featuring both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.
The appetisers list of 20 includes dragon roll, crispy lotus stem with honey chilli, Tangra style veg Manchurian balls, paneer Manchurian, drunken chicken, golden fried prawns, Tangra style pork chilli, and chicken wings. Being a vegetarian I settled for pan-fried chilli garlic mushroom, which hit the right notes.
Chef Rakesh mentions drunken chicken, a cold appetiser that has diced chicken soaked in Shaoxing wine, with crushed chilli, black bean, onion, ginger, dark soya. Golden fried prawns is another popular appetiser, he says. The batter has corn flour, flour, egg, salt and white pepper. 'We use chilled water or soda to make the batter so that the prawns are crisp when they are deep fried. The best way to have it is with chilli sauce or chilli garlic sauce.'
While I was served the classic vegetable manchow soup with crispy noodles, other soup varieties include Tangra style chicken egg drop soup, ginseng chicken soup, and thukpa. 'Thukpa, a Tibetan dish, is a comforting noodle soup with broth, veggies or meat, spices etc,' the chef says.
The vegetarian mains are all about the balance the sauces brought to the table. The mixed vegetarian schezwan dish, for example, was perfect to go with the vegetarian hakka noodles and lao gan ma fried rice. The rice can be had even without any side since the chilli, ginger, garlic, the sauce and the many vegetables make it a delicious meal by itself.
As for the noodles, what lifts the taste is the special seasoning sauce, the chef says.
Of the non-vegetarian mains, the chef talks at length about the classic chilli chicken. 'What lends freshness and taste to the dish is green chilli, soya and capsicum, with ginger, garlic and diced onion. In Tangra style, chilli oil is not added, but some people do use that,' chef Rakesh explains. Another dish he is excited about is the sweet-and-sour prawns. 'This should appeal to all because of the balance of flavours. The taste comes from plum sauce, ketchup, vinegar and a little sugar.'
Dumplings, dimsums, bao, momos etc are served at the live stations. I got to sample veggies-loaded momos. The dips were too good to resist, especially the one with coriander, garlic and bird's eye chilli that has an edge over lao gan ma chilli sauce and the one with tomato, onion and garlic.
There is also The Chinatown Toss, a live station with wok-tossed items such as Manchurian, chilli paneer, chilli chicken with fried rice or noodles.
Puddings, baked yoghurt, matcha cream brulee, egg tart are there on the desserts menu.
The pop-up is on at The Terrace, The Leela Kovalam A Raviz Hotel, till August 3, from 7pm to 11pm. Rate is ₹2,495 plus taxes for adults; there is a 50% discount for children aged six to 10 and it will be complimentary for those below six. Contact: 7510593109