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Hindustan Times
17-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Wild gourmet: India's most luxe meals, from its farthest locations
Those who profess a love for food like to brag about the lengths they'll go to for a memorable meal. That little 12-seater Mumbai restaurant everyone's been trying to get into for months. That chic Indian-Japanese place in Delhi that will be the next big thing. The Michelin-level pop-up in Bengaluru that cost ₹60,000 a seat. The secret offal menu that only in-the-know diners get at that bistro in Goa… Palaash serves a bush dinner right in the middle of a luxury retreat bordering Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary. Some lengths are literal. Indian diners have been travelling to far-flung locations, sometimes making an overnight trip, just to have a good meal. Naar, Prateek Sadhu's award-winning restaurant in Kasauli, 60km from Chandigarh, is probably the best known. But little gems are thriving as far away as Arunachal Pradesh and the India-Pakistan border. They're a world away from the rushed, trendy kitchens of the big city. And they're uniquely challenging to run. Here's where to book your next food pilgrimage. Damu's Heritage Dine in the Chug Valley spotlights the food of the Monpa people. (PRIANKO BISWAS) Damu's Heritage DineChug Valley, Arunachal PradeshNearest city: Itanagar, 317km away ₹1,500 for an eight-course meal Public transportation isn't easy to come by in Arunachal Pradesh. But a taxi from Dirang town, eight kilometres away, will bring you to a village of mud and stone settlements in the lush Chug Valley. At Damu's, set amid paddy and corn fields, there's only one thing on the menu: An eight-course meal, spotlighting the food of the Monpa, a community from the state's Tawang and West Kameng districts. Look out for phurshing gombu. The charcoal-roasted ragi or cornflour tartlet, infused with yak butter and a kind of resin, is epic. The ingredient is made using highly allergic sap from the Chinese lacquer tree. Only one man in the village is skilled in extracting it without breaking into hives. How's that for a rare treat? Damu's, just about a year old, seats 12, and operates out of a century-old home. It's helmed by eight Monpa women, who manage restaurant work alongside their domestic responsibilities. On the menu are shya marku (yak meat with butter and ginger), baksa marku (a sweetened pasta), rakshi (a heady spirit served with yak ghee), buckwheat tacos and orange millet cakes. It's all local, sustainable, and foraged just before the guests arrive. Damu's dishes are all local, sustainable, and foraged just before the guests arrive. (TASHDIQUE AHMED) Damu's only takes bookings a day in advance, so the women can set aside time for it all. It's booked all through the tourist season, October to April. They've fed visitors from India's metros, as well as guests from as far away as Mexico, Japan, and Malaysia. There's no marketing budget. The place relies on social-media shares and word-of-mouth recommendations. Still, Nishant Sinha, coordinator of community-based tourism for WWF-India, says they often have to turn walk-in diners away because the kitchen hadn't accounted for them. 'It's a challenge,' he admits. 'But we wish to cater to those who value such an elaborate and intricate experience.' Few Monpa women have travelled outside their state. Most don't speak English (they do speak Hindi), so Leiki Chomu, the restaurant's manager, steps in with international guests. But the crew take naturally to hospitality and management. They handle the finances too, splitting revenues to reinvest in the business and support WWF-India's Community Conserved Areas initiative, which helps local communities benefit through heritage conservation. Last year, they contributed ₹40,000. The women started out with the aim of making ₹500 a day, without having to do backbreaking work. How are they faring? Damu's made ₹1.6 lakh last month. 'The best part is that June is generally off season for tourism in Arunachal Pradesh.' The Balti Farm in Ladakh seats 12 for lunch. Seats are booked a day in advance. (THE BALTI FARM) The Balti Farm at Virsa BaltistanTurtuk, LadakhNearest city: Leh, 205km away ₹4,000 for a seven-course meal Not much happens in Turtuk. The hamlet, nestled in an alpine valley between the Himalayas and the Karakoram, is one of the last pitstops this side of the India-Pakistan border. It's one of four Balti villages in India and only became part of our map in 1971. When it's not outright icy, it's chilly. It's so remote that hiring hospitality professionals is nearly impossible. So, at the boutique hotel Virsa Baltistan, a former driver is now a barista, an erstwhile mechanic is a steward, a onetime clerk handles the operations. 'They may be unfamiliar with luxury, but they respect the place and are honest and loyal,' says the hotel's owner Rashidullah Khan. And they're not short on ambition. Khan's hotel serves everything, from sushi to fancy coffee. At Balti Farm, the multi-course menu includes local specialties such as kisirnagrang-thur (buckwheat pancakes in herbed curd), praku (thumb-pinched pasta in a walnut sauce) and phading (apricots cooked with basil leaves). Local women prepare it all. 'They have their own household responsibilities and leave for namaaz in the evenings, so we only open for the afternoon meal,' Khan says. The restaurant serves everything, from sushi to local specialties. (THE BALTI FARM) Lunch seats 12. Seats are booked a day in advance. The trappings – small portions, fancy presentation, courses one after the other – puzzle the women. 'They joke with me, saying that food needs to be chewed like an animal and eaten with your hands. They think I am stingy and should serve the guests more generously.' Guests, however, don't seem to mind. The Balti Farm experience has been popular since it was launched in 2018. And Khan plans carefully, building the shopping list a month in advance and sourcing his Japanese ingredients from a specific store in Delhi. 'If the fish supply is impacted, we substitute it with fresh river fish. When avocadoes were not available for the sushi, we made it with apricot.' And in the snowy off-season, Khan travels to restaurants across India, to ensure that dining standards match up back home. A plant-based menu with indigenous herbs and rare flowers is coming soon. Meanwhile, Khan is keen to revive one aspect of Turtuk's Silk Route history: The barter system. 'Perhaps we can work with suppliers to trade apricots from here for coffee beans from Chikmagalur?' Amninder Sandhu with the all-women team of Palaash. They source ingredients from their own garden. PalaashTipai, MaharashtraNearest city: Nagpur, 180km away ₹4,500 for a seven-course meal From 2010 to 2017, Amninder Sandhu ran a bustling restaurant in her hometown of Jorhat, Assam, on the banks of the Brahmaputra. But Jorhat felt too small for her ambition. So, in October 2023, she set up Palaash, right in the middle of a luxury retreat bordering Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, serving a bush dinner for 12 in a grove so quiet, you can hear nocturnal animals take over the forest as the evening gives way to night. Palaash serves food from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. But it is two-and-a-half hours away from the nearest bazaar. So, the all-women team sources ingredients from the restaurant's garden and neighbouring farms, and cooks everything gas-free – on chulhas, sigris, a tandoor, a robata grill, and a 'cool underground pit' for meats. Diners from as far away as Assam and the US have booked seats to try the raan in a jowar bhakri tortilla and laal thecha, and the ambaadi chaat (a sweet and tangy pineapple granita, topped with dahi and a crisp ambadi leaf, tamarind pearls and ambadi bud dust). Everything is cooked on chulhas, sigris, a tandoor, or an underground pit. Working away from the buzz, and with women who haven't seen a commercial kitchen, has been an adventure, Sandhu says. 'The women were shy and didn't think the food they made was significant.' She had to teach them prep and plating techniques. 'Vocabulary I took for granted – whisk, offset spatula, chopping board – was unfamiliar to them,' she recalls. Where they scored was their comfort with local fuels, and their consistency borne from experience. Sandhu saw them make perfectly uniform, round rotis, an undervalued skill in modern cooking. The region poses challenges. 'It's arid. You can't go foraging, like in the hills, and find 10 ingredients,' Sandhu says. So, courses are tweaked depending on the season. Diners in winter get the indrayani rice steamed in turmeric leaves. In the summer, the rice is wrapped in pumpkin leaves. The women have figured out their operations over two years. 'I travel in once a week or once a month,' Sandhu says. 'It is these women that run Palaash. I've never heard any negative customer feedback.' Paeru at Mharo Khet is located on a 40-acre farm. Paeru at Mharo KhetManaklao, RajasthanNearest city: Jodhpur, 25km away ₹4,500 for nine courses The tomato tartar on the menu is subtitled simply: Strawberry, chamomile, nasturtium. Don't expect a salad. What emerges from the kitchen is a cold soup made through a three-day anaerobic fermentation process, in which bacteria from the tomatoes reacts with sugar in the strawberries. 'I am certain that most diners do not realise the in-depth science and effort behind making this,' says Rajnush Agarwal, who runs Mharo Khet, the 40-acre farm at the edge of the Thar desert, that serves the unusual dish. Mharo Khet started out as a fresh-produce delivery service in 2020. Now, it has 10 luxury cottages, does tours and serves a sold-out lunch and dinner service called Paeru. It ticks all the boxes for fussy diners. It's plant-forward, it's set in a guava orchard, it's a blind menu (guests don't know what's being served until they're at the table). There might be jowar tostadas one day; a beetroot ceviche with goat cheese, another. Descriptions are rarely literal. Rajasthan's familiar pyaaz ki kachori is served as a shortcrust tartlet, with tempered potatoes, onion jam and a jalapeño thecha. 'Our visitors appreciate the innovative reimagining of traditional dishes,' Agarwal says. Rajasthan's pyaaz ki kachori is served as a shortcrust tartlet, with tempered potatoes and onion jam. Behind the scenes, everyone's been learning. Locals are taught that less is more while plating a multi-course meal, that texture matters as much as flavour, that it's possible to go overboard on the edible-flower garnishes. And in a dry region, every harvest calls for quick math. 'If there are 20 diners and only 14 pieces of baby corn in the day's yield, that dish must be changed,' Agarwal says. In the first few years, the kitchen simply worked by candlelight when the power would go out. Now, there's a back-up generator. Some city diners still drop in with special requests at the last minute. 'It took time for people to understand that a specialty, multi-course dining establishment is different from a typical F&B outlet.' From HT Brunch, July 19, 2025 Follow us on
Mint
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
From kebabs to cocktails, kōji finds a new home in modern Indian dining
What happens when steamed grains are laid out under muslin, left to rest in warm, humid air? Within days, a delicate white bloom spreads across the surface, releasing a nutty, almost chestnut-like aroma. It might appear to be a science experiment, but, in fact, is a culinary revolution in slow motion—kōji, or Japanese fermented rice (or barley) mould that is quietly building flavour blocks in Indian gastronomy. Kōji has long been revered in Japan for its ability to break down starches and proteins into sugars and amino acids, unlocking deep savoury flavour, what chefs and scientists alike call umami. Once confined to Japanese kitchens, the fungi Aspergillus oryzae is now being harnessed by a growing tribe of Indian chefs, brewers and fermenters in creative ways. From reimagined tandoori marinades to kōji-laced cocktails, its applications are expanding fast. At INJA, the Indian-Japanese restaurant in Delhi, chef Adwait Anantwar uses kōji to make miso—a fermented soybean paste that uses kōji as a starter culture, rendering a unique flavour. He uses locally sourced cashews and peanuts to make miso tailored to local palates. It lends depth to curries, while a syrupy kōji glaze brightens up everything from chicken wings to a vegetarian banana bonito. Also read: Master the basics of miso to transform everyday home cooking The rise of kōji aligns with a global fermentation revival. While fermentation is integral to Indian food culture—think dosa, kanji, or pickles—kōji offers something more: precision. Traditional Indian fermentation methods are often more intuitive and variable. 'Kōji has an earthy sweetness that lends itself to both savoury and sweet dishes. Since we are always exploring and experimenting, it's good to have this tool as an ingredient in our arsenal," says Buland Shukla of Ferment Station in Goa, which is part of his restaurant For the Record. 'What's exciting about kōji is the control and creativity it offers," he adds. In his kitchen, the traditional bebinca is reimagined with chocolate and a roasted kōji mousse. In Mumbai, chef Hussain Shahzad of Hunger Inc. encountered kōji through acclaimed chef René Redzepi's book The Noma Guide to Fermentation. It's now a staple in his kitchens, from pao miso to shio kōji (a traditional Japanese seasoning made by fermenting kōji with salt and water) marinades. At Papa's, the 'Bugs Bunny" dish, grilled rabbit with mushroom garum (fermented sauce) and red weaver ant tare, gets a savoury depth from kōji. Kōji also enjoys a status in desserts, elevating them with a sweet-savoury-floral profile. At Bombay Sweet Shop, sous chef Tulsi Ponnappa, says, 'We use honey kōji for its gentle sweetness and umami, cooking it with rice for added creaminess, to make a honey kōji ice cream. It goes into a gulab jamun churro sandwich with caramelised banana, and a drizzle of shoyu kōji syrup. The result is a rich, balanced dessert with deep savoury-sweet layers and a lush mouthfeel," she says. Even traditionalists are exploring its power. Chef Mohib Farooqui of Accentuate Food Lab—a private dining space that is open only by reservation—in Aurangabad uses shio kōji to marinate Junglee Murgh, a rustic dish from Sailana in Madhya Pradesh. A four-hour application enhances flavour, locks moisture, and crisps the skin over a grill. Kōji is also filtering into India's beverage scene. In Pune, Great State Aleworks' founder Nakul Bhonsle uses kōji in his lager, just 5% of the grain bill, but enough to add a crisp finish and soft aroma. Arijit Bose of Spirit Forward in Bengaluru crafts modern cocktails like the Miso Old Fashioned, where miso lends salinity and roundness to a classic spirit-forward profile. Whereas the Red Miso Highball is a blend of salted butter-washed Japanese whisky, apricot syrup, and coconut soda. Kōji has been a key component in traditional Japanese drinks, specifically sake that first found its way into Indian fine dining in the early 2000s, led by high-end Japanese restaurants like Wasabi by Morimoto in Mumbai and MEGU in Delhi. The Asian restaurant boom that gained momentum since then gave rise to a higher demand for sake. On the outskirts of Mumbai, India's first certified sake brewer, Maia Laifungbam, is brewing sake with indigenous rice from the North-East. 'I got hooked on kōji the moment I saw what it could do to rice. It unlocks the grain's hidden personality, bringing out this gentle sweetness and complexity," she says. From reducing food waste to enhancing umami, kōji's appeal lies in its range of applications. It's being used to extend shelf life, build complexity in sauces, tenderise proteins, and even replace dairy or meat in plant-based cooking. In Goa, kōji maker Prachet Sancheti, also known as Brown Koji Boy, is turning food waste like jackfruit peels, coffee chaff and spent grains into flavour-rich pastes and garums. He makes his own kōji from scratch. 'We work with kōji the way most kitchens work with an egg—not as a centrepiece, but as a foundation," he says. His products—miso, syrups, sauces, and oils made from local grains—are used by chefs in kitchens across the country. Chef Jyoti at The Second House restaurant in Goa sees kōji as a way to rethink waste.'Kōji lets us transform kitchen scraps—like bread, peels and trimmings—into something new. We clean and prep them, mix in kōji, salt, and water, then let time and temperature do the work. The mould's enzymes break everything down into sugars and amino acids, layering flavour. We stir, sometimes age it for weeks or even months, to achieve a rich, umami-packed paste instead of waste." Even paneer is getting a kōji makeover. At Omny Kitchen, Gurugram, chef Vicky Ratnani relies on homegrown spores from Brown Koji Boy. He ages the paneer with kōji to develop a golden crust and deep, nutty flavour. 'Our kōji miso butter works on everything—from grilled corn to kebabs and even dal." India's kōji moment isn't driven by trends or social media virality. Like any good ferment, it's slow and sincere. What makes it powerful is how chefs are using kōji to rediscover local traditions and reimagine them for today. Also read: Why Japanese food is so much more than just sushi and ramen Insia Lacewalla is a Goa-based food and travel writer.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The decade-old Suzuki that trumps EVs
Despite record revenue and operating income in fiscal 2024-25, Suzuki Motor Corporation remains a cautious company. The latest results, with the main numbers equivalent to 35.4 and 3.9 billion euro, prove the wisdom of its always-keep-costs-as-low-as-possible strategy. The decade-old yet still competitive Vitara is but one example. Long lived and all the better for it Kaizen is all through this small SUV. There have been two facelifts, multiple engine changes and evolutions, new transmissions and, mercifully, an interior left mostly alone. The Vitara retains strong appeal thanks to great economy (low weight plus mild and series hybrid powertrains), fair pricing and no nagging electronics. Sure, the ADAS stuff is all there but it keeps quiet. And who wants to be asked five minutes after setting off: 'Time for a break?'. Or harangued constantly for daring to drive in sunglasses. I know people who are avoiding buying a new car due to this stuff. Press a button on either the tailgate, either front door or the ancient looking yet somehow appealing remote and the car unlocks. There is no 'welcome' sound and/or lights show, the driver's seat and steering wheel adjust manually, the door trim shifts slightly when you lower any window and there's a manual parking brake. No key, mind; firing up and shutting off are also done via a button-press. When will we see Suzuki EVs? Everything, including the steering, is the opposite of heavy in the Vitara. Which is very Suzuki. And one of the main reasons why the company has waited so long before creating EVs. And you can set a PR machine on this issue, as Renault Group has done with its fabulous new ad, yet here again is an inconvenient truth, batteries bring much mass (sorry to state one fact: the A390 prototype weighs 2,121 kilos). Plug-in Suzukis are coming but due to India being far and away the vehicles division's number one market (almost as vital as the USA is to Subaru), electric cars have not been a priority. Increasingly they will be. Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) is under constant attack from three main challengers. Recently Mahindra turned the tables on Hyundai and Tata by grabbing and holding on to second place in passenger car sales. Still the Indian-Japanese JV holds some 40 percent of the local market, down from more than half. Yet everything is changing in this now giant market. Gone are the days of outdated Maruti models, and here in Europe we too will increasingly benefit from MSIL's new-tech cars and SUVs. Even now, the Japanese market's Fronx and Jimny Nomade (five-door) are sourced from India. The e Vitara, Suzuki's first global EV, is coming our way too, as is the Urban Cruiser, a rebadged variant for Toyota Motor Europe. Four models for the UK Leveraging the well-known Vitara name could be a masterstroke for what is a small brand in the UK and the region we are part of. Suzuki may be a medium-sized OEM overall but it's only a minor one in Britain. And yet such is the reputation for value, reliability and longevity that resales tend to be strong. After a culling of certain models a while back, there are now only four models available here: Swift, S-Cross, Vitara and Across. The last of those costs almost fifty thousand pounds, a stunning amount for a Suzuki. All others start below thirty grand, or twenty in the Swift's case. Priced from GBP27,299, the cheapest Vitara is £750 less than the entry level S-Cross, with Motion and Ultra trim levels (as well as a production plant) in common. There is no higher model grade with the Hybrid, which means just one variant and pricing a little below the top-spec Mild Hybrid. See below for specifics of each. AGS solely for the Hybrid Facelift number two was announced last year, Suzuki GB terming this its 2025 range. That's also when the Motion and Ultra names were applied to this model. Strictly speaking there is no Vitara automatic. However, the Hybrid has only two pedals, its 'AGS' gearbox being an automated manual. Swapping cogs yourself is an increasingly rare thing in new cars. The shifting in this one is - that word again - light, and a delight. As Suzuki doesn't always give you this many ratios, worthy of mention is that there are six (in every Vitara, manual or AGS). Unusually, reverse is at bottom right and you must raise a collar to select it. What a pleasure and novelty choosing any gear is compared to so many awful auto-selectors. The day after this press tester went back, an XC90 arrived: its P-R-N-D is slow, vague and generally far inferior. As it has been for more than a decade. Why is such basic stuff so hard for some car makers? The tweaks for 2025 Changes for the 2025 Vitara are fairly minor, though at the front it's easy to notice the new headlights, differently shaped foglamps and DRL, plus what looks like a nudge-bar but isn't. The last of these is a small but highly effective visual change, it being merely some dark plastic below the grille. Other updates include specific alloy wheels for Motion and Ultra variants. Each are seventeen inches in diameter and for the top trim they have a chrome-look finish. Almost a convertible Gauges are analogue and all the better for being so, the eyeball-style vents remain a delight to use and the touchscreen is nicely sized at only nine inches in diameter. Plastics are all durable and certain things such as the steering wheel buttons have a satisfying feel to them, not being haptic. Overhead, and the press tester was in Ultra specification, is a metre-long glass roof. This is in fact two panels and they slide to reveal a vast space (well, 56 cm is vast for a car that's only 4.1 m long). It's a terrible shame that the light-coloured and too-thin sunblind is ineffective - a proper black-out one is needed. MHEV has more power than HEV The 48V MHEV which I had temporary custody of has more power than the HEV. With the mild hybrid, a 95 kW (129 PS) and 235 Nm 1.4-litre engine is boosted by a 10 kW (14 PS) and 53 Nm motor. Drive can be to the front or both axles. The stated WLTP average is 53.2 mpg (FWD). The AWD press vehicle returned 52.1 from a mix of city and motorway journeys. Choose the 140V Hybrid instead and you'll get Suzuki's K15C, a naturally aspirated 1.5, also with four cylinders. Outputs are 74 kW (101 PS) plus 24 kW (33 PS) and 60 Nm from the motor. Combined power for what is officially known as the 'Full Hybrid' is 85 kW (116 PS). The 0-62 mph time is 13.5 seconds, 4.0 more than the MHEV. How is it to drive? For a car that's so old the Vitara isn't at all bad to drive. Every mandated safety system is the opposite of intrusive, and sure, it rolls around if you push hard but why would you? Off-road, this has always been a highly capable 4x4 too, though less so as a 4x2. The wheelbase may be on the short side yet the ride is good and the suspension has long travel. If only the steering had better feel. And yet nobody could dislike this vehicle due to its rather wonderful almost timeless appeal. Conclusion Would I buy one? Definitely. For what you pay, there is a terrific amount of value, and compared to almost any EV, oodles of character. I hope Suzuki keeps the updates coming every few years and that production continues for another decade."The decade-old Suzuki that trumps EVs" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
