Smart ‘desi’ food with a dollop of Gulati spice: This restaurant whips up delicious chicken tikka and Philadelphia cheese naans
Sumit and Chiquita Gulati met as hotel management students in Les Roches, Switzerland. On returning to India, Sumit chose to forgo the temptation of slipping into the comfort zone of his family-run Gulati Restaurant at Pandara Road and joined his chef-wife, to launch Gulati’s Spice Market at Saket, right behind Select Citywalk, nine years ago.
Most of the popular dishes were inspired by Gulati Restaurant, although Chiquita would keep surprising us with her creative fare, which became big hits on the restaurant’s outdoor catering menu. Sumit was passionate about wine, so he worked very hard to promote wine drinking with the hearty North Indian fare that was served at Gulati’s Spice Market.
Like most restaurant stories in Delhi, Gulati’s Spice Market, after its nine-year lease ran out, faced what is popularly known as the ‘landlord problem’. As a result, Sumit and Chiquita found themselves left with a much-reduced space. As the restaurant was being reconstructed along the lines of a cosy bistro, Chiquita got busy redesigning the menu. And what a menu it is!
Yes, you’ll still get the Barrah Kabab and Rarha Meat, but the stars, undoubtedly, are the Avocado Galouti (an original that Chiquita must patent), Peanut Sauce Glazed Chicken Tikka (it has the best of both the Indonesian satay and the tikka), Dal Burrata (the addition of the cheese is a masterstroke), Smoky Butter Chicken (as juicy as it is smoky) and Philadelphia Cheese Naan.
The bar is in step with the creative explosion in the food menu. You can order a gin flight consisting of three infused versions of Greater Than, the Indian brand that has got everyone talking. The infusions are gondhoraj lime (a favourite of the Bengalis), saffron and rhododendron (buransh). The gondhoraj sour the bartender whips up will make you, as the menu promises, forget the rosogulla! A similar a-ha infusion is the Amul butter-washed Bourbon.
Have the infused bourbon with caramel syrup and Coke — and you’ll be convinced that you are being served caramel-flavoured popcorn with Coke. The Spice Market is where you should be.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)