As soon as you enter the capital’s Pendulo restaurant, you’re greeted by soft yet lively music, copper fixtures, and a dimly-lit, cozy ambience. Located at Ambawatta One in Mehrauli, it has recently launched a fine-dining Indian and Mexican tasting menu with traditional and exotic flavours.
According to Pendulo founder Sahil Baweja, the name itself has been taken from the Spanish word for ‘pendulum’. It is symbolic of the oscillating balance that brings two culturally-rich culinary worlds onto the plate. Having lived in the United States for years, Baweja developed an appreciation for Mexican food, while always holding on to his love for Indian regional cuisines. After working on restaurants like Chica Loca with actor Sunny Leone, he wanted to attempt something that had not been tried before in Delhi.“Indian and Mexican cuisines are both rooted in history, spice, and community. The idea was to show the harmony and balance in their contrasts.”
A dozen of treats
The 12-course menu, designed by chefs Megha Kohli and Noah Louis Barnes, in coordination with Baweja, took around six months to be perfected. Although Pendulo runs a large à la carte selection, the team realised that many diners might hesitate to try dishes that may seem too adventurous on the first visit. A 12-course tasting menu was thus brought out.
The first course, titled ‘Dawn at the Milpa’ serves a fizzy and milky palate activator made of corn, Oaxaca cheese, jalapenos, and jaggery for the sweetness. Up next, ‘Monsoon over the Sonoron’ comes with a crunch of Indie and Mexican, containing Indian grain nachos served with different types of salsas and guacamole. It is followed by charred elotes (Mexican corns) served with different Indian limes; Reshampatti chicken quesadilla with avocado and pickled onions; avocado kulcha paired with a variety of yogurts, chutneys, Bihari salsa, apple wood-smoked lobster tail, and the list is unending.
And can you even call it Mexican without tacos? The choices are ample for vegetarians, but the real treat for meat lovers lies in the East Indian Bottle Masala Chicken and Tellicherry Pepper Mutton Birria. For desserts, there’s the eggless dark chocolate and chili mousse, or the delicious West Godavari chocolate flan with horchata rocks, to choose from. In the bar, run by mixologist Fay Baretto, one can pick from Leche Negra, smoky with mezcal coffee, and caramel; Rasam Revival, a twist on the South Indian classic; Mango Quemando, charred mango with agave smoke, or even more.
Masala meets mole
Chef Kohli has spent 18 years in kitchens from The Oberoi Group to Olive and Lavaash by Saby (“ironically in the same space where Pendulo stands today,” she says). Chef Barnes, who introduced Delhi to tequila bars with Arriba, is presently the founder of Miss Margarita.
When asked to pick one dish that best represents the Indian-Mexican fusion at Pendulo, Kohli chose the habanero pasanda with bone marrow salsa and avocado kulcha. “The pasanda uses a traditional Mughlai technique, while the lamb is marinated in a Mexican blend with mulato chilli and finished with a rustic bone marrow salsa,” she remarks. The kulcha is Indian, but the avocado stuffing hints at the Mexican punch. From kachampuli vinegar of Coorg and Goan recheado masala to Mexican chillies like ancho and chipotle, the dishes celebrate both countries.
Chef Barnes also emphasises recreating three traditional Mexican moles for the mole course. In future, he says, he wishes to experiment with the traditional Mexican heirloom corn. He describes it as “an ingredient rich with history and soul, one that adds a beautiful dimension to the menu”.
In a city always hungry for new dining delights, Pendulo’s every dish sways between India and Mexico, traditions and inventions, and lands somewhere delicious.