Chefs at most Indian vegetarian restaurants are obsessed with potatoes and paneer. Chef Varun Mohan at ITC Royal Bengal’s Royal Vega in Kolkata is quite the opposite.
The fine-dining restaurant excels in serving the local vegetarian cuisine of the Sheherwali Jains of Murshidabad, which seamlessly combines Rajasthani, Bengali and Nawabi elements within Jain food strictures.
It is also Kolkata’s only restaurant serving the unique fare.
The menu comprises dishes such as Mathari (crispy savouries with chutneys), Parwal Dabdabba (wax gourd with spices) and Kheera Shimla Mirch Tarkari (capsicum and cucumber cooked with mustard) which is not normally expected from a fine-dining establishment.
But little is known about the culinary heritage of the homely vegetarian dishes. Says Chef Mohan, “Sheherwali Jain traders settled in Murshidabad, Bengal, over 300 years ago. Murshidabad is where the Battle of Plassey happened, but a lesser-known fact is that it is also the birthplace of the exquisite Sheherwali cuisine. It was the food of devout Jains with roots in Rajasthan. Upon settling in the region, they began to grow 50-60 species of mangoes, which remain famous till today. They adapted their food habits to the region’s resources but maintained strict Jain laws: no root vegetables, onions, garlic and ginger in the food. Their dishes have Bengali items like potols (wax gourds), jackfruit and kach kola (plantain). They also cook with Bengali spices, black mustard seeds and mustard oil,” says Mohan.
He says since the cuisine originated in Rajasthan where weather conditions could be extreme, the scarcity of water was compensated with the use of milk and ghee.
Lentils and beans were substituted in place of fresh vegetables. Once they migrated to their new home, local elements such as mango and flavourful vegetables like runner beans were included. Says Mohan, “Where the Ganga flows, the local flora and fauna thrive and add to the colour and flavour of dishes. Saffron and rose water were also used in cooking since the cuisine came about in the Mughal period.”
Though Sheherwali cuisine is yet to be widely known, all dishes on Royal Vega’s menu are new, yet seem strangely familiar.
There is the hint of a spice or an ingredient, but experienced only for a fleeting second as the sauce or the cooking style is typical only of Sheherwali kitchens. The meals are served on the golden-hued kasha flatware that wealthy Bengalis traditionally eat on. Served in such thalis, starters include Khatte Ki Pakauri (tiny gram flour balls in tamarind water) and Dahi Pakori (lentil balls in curd inundated with dates)—redolent of nawabi feasts.
The entrees feature Bhindi Akkra ( fried okra), Lauki Boot Daal (pulses with gourd), Kadaliphal Tarkari (raw banana cooked in tomato and cashews) et al. These are not new to the Bengali palate but when cloaked with spices and served with Bhutta Pulao (basmati rice cooked with corn, raisins and cinnamon) and Phenabid Ka Tikka (wheat flour bread layered with ghee), the richness of Mughlai flavours touch the tastebuds. Mohan has transformed the Kaache Aam Ka Kheer into a dish fit for kings by adding raw mangoes and saffron.
“Saffron and rosewater go into any Sheherwali meal. The cuisine also uses paanch phoron—a Bengali spice mix. Local words like jal (water) and tarkari (vegetable) have made also their way into the Sheherwali dictionary,” he adds.
When eaten with dollops of aam kutti, a mango chutney, the dishes give off new flavours. With gourmet options in vegetarian cuisine growing, expect more esoteric community menus to make their appearance is haute kitchens.
Says the chef, “Vegetarian cooking adopts a scientific method. You cannot over spice the dish like with meat. You have to be careful to retain the taste of the vegetables as well as the spices. Every Indian house has its own recipe of daal or potatoes. But nobody ever thought that such dishes will be cooked in hotel kitchens,” he says. The contradictory concept of home-made vegetarian meals at restaurants is finally catching up. The vast variety in Indian historical cusine attests to it.