Indian Accent in Kolkata - Call It Magic, Call It True
Indian Accent in Kolkata — Call It Magic, Call It True
Celebrating 15 years in F&B is no mean task even for small mom-and-pop-run establishments; a fact that Upper Crust recently explored in its 100th edition. But for fine dining restaurants above a certain price point getting repeat clients is a rare affair. Their survival, nay thriving accomplishment for 15 years can only mean one thing – excellence, consistent excellence.
Celebrating these 15 years of continuous triumphs Indian Accent came to Kolkatans The Westin after Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Perth.
The Westin, being tucked away in faraway Rajarhat is often overlooked by regular Kolkatans but for Indian Accent they made the 20 km trek. The pop-up was scheduled for a busy weekend with The Kolkata Film Festival, the Bengal Biennale, and a Bryan Adams concert. Still, for connoisseurs, it was the flavours of this culinary enterprise that called to them the most.
The menu was classic Indian Accent, dishes that have become synonymous with the property. As a flautist played AR Rahman tunes in the background the symphony of flavours started with their calling card Blue Cheese Naan and Indian Accent Shorba. Lest one pounce upon the famed baby naan, we were warned that this was just "out of the tandoor" and it would be wise to give it a 10-second time to rest and then pop the lime-sized naan into one's mouth instead of cutting it into two. To cut the pungency of the blue cheese take a shot of the shorba, they advised.
After the amuse-bouche, came the first course from the degustation "chaats from street Delhi". Chaat is a subject that is close to the brands heart. In a 2022 interview with Chef Manish Mehrotra said "People talk about texture now... but we have known about it forever. If the phuchka here were soggy you would kill the phuchkawala, if with khichdi the papad is not crisp you would send it back. So texture and balance of tastes sweet, spicy, tangy and the creaminess of the yoghurt and the charred edges of the tikka…," While the words might have been Chef Manish's this time around the Chef Shantanu's version more than lived up to the description.
Paired with a 12-year-old Royal Brackla highland single malt the chaat felt almost like a savoury dessert but one that whetted your appetite for more. Next up Kanyakumari Crab with Telicherry pepper was as exquisite as it looked, succulent chunks of crabmeat dressed in a pale pastel yellow sauce with the faintest hint of kasundi mustard.
The Duck Shaami came next with melt-in-the-mouth kebab with a texture so smooth that it beggared belief that the dish in question features the gamey poultry meat. It was topped with a filigree of crisp vermicelli that's more fragile than the most artistic of tuile and dotted with jammy barberries — another ingredient that perhaps no one thought to elevate before Indian Accent. This one was paired with 18-year-old Brackla and its subtle vanilla and warming spices went well with the velvety duck.
Next up came the dish that has been much written about, Meetha Achaar Pork Ribs, with a sundried mango and sour apple. Sweet and sour aam ka chunda coated the succulent, fatty pork ribs which were topped with a sliver of mango leather. "Sweet and sour flavours always go well with pork, as we see in Mangalorean pork… here we used Gujarati style aam ka chunda," said the chef.
The cutest little palate cleanser came next in the form of a jamun sorbet, served in a twee little pressure cooker. Tangy sweet and icy it was all childhood nostalgia on a platter.
The main course arrived next paired with a 21-year-old Royal Brackla. The murgh malai formed like an arancini sat on a bed of smooth savoury saag sauce, and the tiniest kernels of pickled onion glistened like rubies in the dish. A chicken kulcha, the creamiest dal makhani and wasabi and cucumber raita came as accompaniments. Every element of this dish, be it the kulcha, the dal or the utterly dreamy murgh malai can stand on its own as a dish.
As we demolished our main course along with an extra portion of vegetarian kulcha we were torn with the delicious dilemma of which dish to lick clean — the dairy black dal, the bread or the crunchy spicy creamy raita… the desserts arrived.
The Doda Barfi Tart, and the near-mythical Daulat Ki Chaat. Everyone of course knows about the famous do da barfi that was invented for a wrestler who wanted a sweet that was rich with nutrients like milk ghee and dry fruits. "To us, the texture was very similar to a pecan pie. So that is what we did with it. Fudge, cake crumbs and caramel in a pastry shell to make this tart," said Mehrotra. The time for Indian desserts has arrived he feels. "What we call molecular gastronomy globally is something we Indians knew before. If you simmer full-fat milk over dying embers on a very harsh winter night, and the dew falling from the sky condenses that milk and you collect the froth...it was a very scientifically created dessert," he says about their other landmark dessert Daulat Ki Chaat.
But even as they celebrate 15 years it is not yet time to rest on his laurels for Mehrotra. Onwards and upwards as they say!