I always believe I am a blessed person to be in an Interfaith family who has the advantages of celebrating several festivals. Let it be preparing food or following any rituals or taking Lents or fasting . One such day I received an invitation for menu tasting from Doaa . When I checked the venue I was bit relieved. It was Tamarind Indian Restaurant. One of restaurant which I had planned to visit a while back.. As it was an Indian Restaurant, I did not have to worry more about the food. But I informed Doaa about my food preference which was vegetarian and and it was accepted.
On that ice cold evening along with my blogger friend I reached Lagoona Mall. The restaurant entrance was from the piazza area inside Lagoona Mall.
We were greeted by Doaa and Sumit. Sumit is the Head of Marketing for Lifestyle Restaurants. We were directed to the private dining area. The arrangement was pretty good…A long table arranged, candles lit in the center. There was a TV which was displaying the delicacies they offer.
We settled and waited for our fellow blogger friends to reach. Mean time we all had a quick introduction. I gave a glance at the menu which was kept for all..
The list was long. But it was the non vegetarian menu list in which couple of them are vegetarian. As they haven’t kept the vegetarian menu, I had no clue what was in store for me..
Welcome Drink : Smoking Malai aam panna
Aam Panna is one of the welcome drinks served in North India. But this deconstructed version was a new experience for me. Though I have seen the techniques in cookery shows. It was first time I am experiencing it. The smoking aam panna settled once the basil mojito was poured on top..Now, the tasting time.. After few sips, I used spoon to taste the malai aam panna which was floated on top. It was so refreshing and creamy. It has different textures of Aam Panna .It tastes so good. Well that was a good start.
Amouse Bouche : Moong dal galouti with an Avocado Thandai shot
The presentation should be appreciated. The kebab was made with moong dal (green grams). Kebab was placed on top of a sundal bed. Sundal it kind of Salad in which the main ingredient is lentils or peas which are soaked or sprouted. The platter was garnished with sweet curd drops and micro herbs. Galouti kebab is something which melts in mouth. The authentic recipe use finely grounded meat. You could read about a red kidney bean version which I tried some time back from here.
I liked the kebabs. It was moist and seasoned perfectly. As the name has the “galouti” tagged to it, I was expecting it to have a bit more smoother texture. Thandai is a drink made during festivals in India.. Mostly it is prepared during the color festival Holi. The Thandai with avocado twist made the drink so delicious.
Chat Platter
While we were enjoying the Galouti kebab, a chat platter came in as a surprise. This was not mentioned in the menu. I generally like Indian street chats. The chat platter had Bhel Puri ( A puffed rice dish), Chickpeas sundal, Mini idlis covered with dosa podi and Pani poori (Gol Gappa). We all equally enjoyed the gol gappas. The Chickpeas Sundal was refreshing. The Mini Idlis was yummy. The Bhel puri was good, but for my palette the sourness was a bit over powering.
First course : Potato Lollipop and cake, yogurt sphere and laban shot
This platter had a Potato lollipop, a Samosa and a Potato cake (Aloo tikki) served on top of Chana (Chickpeas) masala. This platter was served along with yogurt sphere on a spoon and a refreshing laban shot. The idea was to start with the yogurt sphere, then have the potato platter and finish off with laban shot…
The white yogurt sphere was interesting. It reminded me of an egg yolk. Once you glide it in your mouth, on a bite it bursts and you get the flavor of sweet yogurt.
The other thing which caught my interest was the potato lollipop. Perfectly seasoned potato filling with a crusted cover, a lollipop stick attached to it. I did not mind eating 2 or 3 of those lollipops at that moment. It was so yum. As the potato croquettes was a bit heavy for the lollipop stick it almost dropped on my plate after a bite. Potato cakes and Chana masala was nice. The Samosas were good . I felt the covering could have been more flaky and crunchy like a Punjabi samosa .
Finally I finished that platter with the Laban shot. Laban shot was actually a “Neer moru” (in Tamil Language), which was a seasoned buttermilk . In Kerala, we call it moru curry which has turmeric as well..
The white yogurt sphere was interesting. It reminded me of an egg yolk. Once you glide it in your mouth, on a bite it bursts and you get the flavor of sweet yogurt.
The other thing which caught my interest was the potato lollipop. Perfectly seasoned potato filling with a crusted cover, a lollipop stick attached to it. I did not mind eating 2 or 3 of those lollipops at that moment. It was so yum. As the potato croquettes was a bit heavy for the lollipop stick it almost dropped on my plate after a bite. Potato cakes and Chana masala was nice. The Samosas were good . I felt the covering could have been more flaky and crunchy like a Punjabi samosa .
Finally I finished that platter with the Laban shot. Laban shot was actually a “Neer moru” (in Tamil Language), which was a seasoned buttermilk . In Kerala, we call it moru curry which has turmeric as well..
Second course : Haloumi kebabs with mushroom tempura
This platter was my next favorite. Never imagined that a salty cheese can taste so good in the form of a kebab. The mushroom tempura was crispy and flavorsome.
By this time, I was full. The food was so good that I did not feel like leaving anything on the plate.
Third course : Aloo nazakath with tandoori phool
Aloo nazakath was a stuffed potato. The stuffings include veggies, nuts and Indian cottage cheese. It was sliced and placed along with the Tandoori phool and sauces. Phool means Flower in Hindi. The phools served was broccoli and cauliflower. Broccoli was marinated with cream and Cauliflower with the tandoori masala, both cooked in tandoor. I loved the idea of including 2 flowers with different marination in a single platter. It was a hearty platter. Equivalent to a main course. Sad that I couldn’t finish it.
Main course
In main course for vegetarian, it was Bindi do pyaza, Malai Kofta, Saffron rice and assorted breads…It was tasty…I should admit I couldn’t taste more of it, as I want to leave some space for the much awaited dessert platter.
Dessert platter : Slate of Date Pannacotta, Double ka meetha and Blueberry Kheer ice cream
Date Pannacotta was mild, creamy, luscious, topped with a chocolate curl and tiny date ball. While writing this, a doubt came to my mind. We did not get to know which Indian dessert was the inspiration for making Date Pannacotta. But I loved it this sampler.
Next in the platter was Double ka Meetha. It is another famous bread pudding from India, namely from Hyderabad cuisine.. This crispy breads was soaked in sugar syrup and garnished with Rabadi Rabdi/Rabri (Concentrated sweetened saffron milk), chopped pistachios and Rose caviar. And it was delicious.
Last in the dessert platter was Blueberry Kheer ice cream. We generally prepares Kheer (Payasam) during special occasions or festivals. But a Blueberry version and that too converted to an ice cream was something which I never expected that would be so good.. That was a perfect finish..
Being a vegetarian on that day, I never felt isolated. And as I generally prefer vegetarian food during all my Indian Restaurant visits, I was happy. I did click few pictures of the non vegetarian dishes served to my Blogger friends.. Here it is.
I truly enjoyed my dinner that evening. Thanks to Chef Navin and Chef Manikandanan for making my vegetarian dinning experience very special. The Food was delicious and the service was good. The ambiance in the private dinning area was nice.. If you wish to have a family and/or friends gathering this would be a perfect place where you could sit, chat and also enjoy delicious Indian Food ..
For more details about Tamarind Indian Restaurant please check their Zomato page.
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