The members and their guests, who attended the dinner with an open mind, enjoyed the spicy, tasty, and colourful journey, with enthusiasm.
The warm colours of the feature wall, and the ambient light put us in the mood. Ganesha, the non-sectarian deity, remover of obstacles, patron of letters and learning, was watching. Noticeable also, were the handpainted wooden screens from Jaipur.
It was a very hot day in St Leonards, and the conditions were perfect to enjoy a gustative Indian experience.
In fact in India, the temperatures are well above 40º Celsius, and the purpose of having spicy food is to adapt the body to the heat, which is the job of the sudoriparous glands.
So without hesitation, we adapted our palate, to the Indian cuisine, and everything was well orchestrated by the chef Ajoy Joshi, and his team. He focused mainly on hyderabadi cuisine.
Upon arrival we were served a glass of champagne, and four different starters, hot and cold, by the friendly staff.
The cottage cheese filled mushrooms, batter-fried, were served with a very tasty honey and ginger chutney, to die for.
The chicken pieces cooked in a mint, coriander, and fenugreek marinade, were the hottest, and conditioned our palate.
The green prawns, slow cooked, with carom seeds, were wonderful with a tomato chutney made of ginger, garlic, fresh curry leaves, fresh chillies, coriander, excellent!
The fish marinated in tamarind, turmeric, ground curry leaves, presented on a piece of crispy bread and topped with a flash-fried curry leaf, had an accompaniment of a well combined mix of fennel, mint, and yoghurt.
All the dips, very aromatic and addictive, were the result of different combinations of spices and herbs, skilfully put together by Ajoy, for the pleasure of our tastebuds.
With the canapés a Pinot Noir Chardonnay, from Burgundy was chosen, which was fresh on the palate.
Then, once seated, the discovery continued, and 2 entrees were individually served:
A mini masala dosai, which is a rice and lentil pancake, filled with mustard potatoes, served with lentil broth made out of tomatoes, eggplant, black mustard and all spices. The pancake was light and cheesy, and had the crispiness of a phyllopastry, and the softness of a pancake.
The dosai were cooked in front of us, with dexterity by the chef Ajoy who dropped the batter on a hot plaque, spreading it with a small cup, in a circular motion, to create the perfect dosai
The following entrée was a lamb cutlet, stoned cooked and flavoured with ground cassia sticks, garlic and black pepper, very flavoursome as well.
The wines which accompanied the entrees were: a 2009 Brown Brothers Vermentino, Milawa, which was dry and a 2006 Pinot Gris from YarraValley, which was sweet and was perfect for the spicy food.
The sharing part began with the main courses:
Black cumin and cinnamon flavoured goat with chickpeas. The meat has been marinated in yoghurt and cooked slowly with garlic, caramelised onions, ginger…It was delicious with its rich sauce and was the highlight.
The saffron flavoured thigh fillets of chicken with ginger and yoghurt and cooked with white sesame seeds had a more subtle flavour.
For a balanced meal we have been served some mung beans, flavoured with mustard and curry leaves, and some Egyptian lentils, some accompaniments like the cucumber raita, some tamarind chutney, some "pulao rice ", which is a long grain basmati rice, cooked with caramelised onions, cardamon, cloves, cassia, and long Indian bay leaves, which are not as strong as the European one.
The naan bread cooked in the tandoori oven, and the roomali were part of the meal as well.
The wines served, were two reds, quite different, the 2008 Brown Brothers Tarrango from Milawa, and the 2008 Granrojo, Rojo Garnacha from Madrid, the latter one being fruity with soft natural tannins, and complementing very well the spicy food.
The choice of the white serving plates was appropriate as a neutral background for the chromatic effect of the food They were lined with a contrasting piece of banana leaf, which is a symbol of purity, according to Ajoy.
And the "bouquet final "was the dessert, the mango kulfi an ice-cream topped with palm and coconut caramel.It was divine, and refreshed our palate.
Everybody enjoyed the tasty, flavoursome, spicy journey, unanimously.
The Indian may have lost the Koh-i-noor [means mountains of light], but they have found a little gem: Nilgiri’s restaurant [ nilgiri means blue mountains]
Thank you Ajoy for the wonderful exotic experience, and we wish you “mountains of success!
Yolande Lebreux
Vice- Chargée de presse
Bailliage of New South Wales