Peshawar is an ancient city with a rich cultural heritage and culinary tradition. It is famous for its Namak mandi, which is not a salt market, but a place which is known for grilled meats, tikka and karahi preparations. Most of the meat dishes are prepared using minimum spices to ensure that the dish retains the original flavour of the main ingredient and our endeavour is to recreate such delicacies and give people the real taste of Peshawari food in Delhi, says Chef Swaminandan, Executive Chef, Crowne Plaza Okhla. “It wasn’t an easy job.
In addition to frequent email exchanges, a lot of phone calls were made to Peshawar to perfect the recipes. And our contacts in Pakistan were really helpful. We wanted some pictures of the Namak Mandi and they went out of the way and made multiple trips to get us the perfect shot,” he shares.
The effort was well worth it. The buffet at Edesia has a varied selection of Peshawari kebabs and curries. The Chicken Charsi Kebab, Fish Mayan kebab, and my favourite— Chapli Kebabs— are the highlights of the starters. I am told that to prepare one kg of Chapli, the chef uses around two tablespoons of oil, and banks primarily on the fat of the meat to help in the cooking process.
For the mains, Gosht Pukhtan, Mayan Fish Curry, Nihari Gosht, Mutton Pulao, Dal Tigri and Gadiyal along with dryfruit-stuffed naans and kandhari naans are on the table to ensure that a real Peshawari meal experience. All this, along with a host of Non-Peshawari dishes in the buffet means that you have something to suit every palate.
Language of food transcends race, ethnicities and political boundaries. Take a pause, indulge the moment and celebrate the joy of good food. (The author writes on food and beverage among other things.)
In a nutshell
Peshwar has seen multiple rulers, some of them being Mughal, Maratha, Sikh and British. Each jurisdiction lent an unique character to Peshwar during their reign. Of all the things the region boats, kebabs and rice dishes feature distinctly. Peshwar is famous for its Namak Mandi, which is not a salt market, but a place which is known for grilled meats, tikkas and karahi preparations. Most of the meat dishes are cooked with a sparing use of spices.