'Baluchi Cuisine Is Not Spicy But Aromatic'

The Grand Ashok, Bangalore, recently celebrated a Baluchi food fastival at its speciality restaurant, Baluchi. Christened Angaar, the fare had a unique story behind it. Nimish Bhatia, executive chef of the hotel tells Vyas Sivanand about the unique history behind this food

EH&C: What is the story behind 'Angaar'?

NIMISH BHATIA: Amina, the princess of Baluchistan, would have never thought that cautiously prepared dishes for her beloved would be relished in times to come. We thought of bringing a festival commemorating Amina's legendary love for Imtiaz. She was a Baluchi princess who eloped with her lover, Imtiaz, into the desert to lead a nomadic life where she spent hours trying to create the perfect dishes. Sometimes, she used to put her share of meat out in the sun to preserve it for Imtiaz, as he loved the sun-baked taste. She then tried to better it and soaked some meat in camel's milk, then cooked it in just the plain sand. That was how the royal kebab came to be.

How have you sourced the ingredients?

The Baluchistan cuisine had several influences including Persian, Arabic apart from many others. The cuisine is not spicy but aromatic. We have tied up with a trader in Pakistan who provides us with authentic ingredients and spices like yellow chillies, tuk malanga seeds, etc.

What is on the menu for the duration of this festival?

The menu includes kebabs prepared using charcoal fire signifying Angaar. Some of the dishes include gosht ke seekh, pathani gosht ke bihari, mukkamal rann-e-zatar, murg dum tikka baluchi, and murg khaas angaar. Some of the special sea food kebabs are angaar-e-samundar and machali tikka tilnaz.

Though there are very few vegetarians in Baluchistan, we have experimented and prepared dishes like dhuan aur sarson ke paneer, lukmat-e-subz and lacheele dum paneer ke tinke. A range of breads, raitas, salads and biryanis accompany the kebabs along with deserts from the region.

Have you tried anything unique with the service aspect?

The entire fare is uniquely packaged so as to give the guest a new taste with every kebab. The menu is not a-la-carte or table d'hôte. We have ten types of kebabs with ten varieties of breads. The kebabs are served two at a time, are not pre-cooked and with a different marination. Kebabs must be eaten straight from the fire, so 95 per cent of the kebabs are freshly prepared using a charcoal fire. We have different types of serving equipment as well, which includes sizzlers, platters and tandoors etc.