Fusion of flavours

Chef Vivek Singh gets his signature dishes to the city

As part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of the Cinnamon chain of restaurants in London, Chef Vivek Singh was at Rivaz recreating a pop up kitchen at the Ritz Carlton.

He put up a delightful set of his signature dishes. The chef says, “My speciality is modern Indian food, I am inspired by traditional Indian dishes, spicing techniques and combine them with local, seasonal produce whichever part of the world I may be cooking in. This creates layers of flavours and textures resulting in a marriage of East and West.”

We started with the spicy and thick corn soup, served with some breads.

The soup serves as a palate cleaner. It is followed up with seared scallops cooked with Indian spices, with a cauliflower and peas curry that reminds you of home cooked fare.

Vegetarians dug into the grilled aubergine with peanut that the chef pointed out was a tribute to the famous Hyderbadi baigan salan. “It was an attempt to create something new keeping the taste of flavour of the salan in place.”

If you were a meat lover, you would have loved the smoked lamb loin served in a huge helping of Rajastani corn sauce, a thick yellow dal and corn combination that was full of flavours and scored high on taste.

The lamb made for a great accompaniment for the magical dal makhni and the rotis that was served alongside the preparation. For vegetarians, The Pink City express, though not pink in colour bought out the taste of the spices and a range of delicacies with a Rajasthani touch. We finished the meal with portions of the clove ice cream and carrot halwa spring rolls, with portions of the ginger toffee pudding. The chef says, “It is my way of paying tribute to two of the most popular desserts from India and England.”

Source : The Hindu