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Peas and broad bean poriyal


Chargrilled lamb cutlets, dried rose petals, stone flower, crispy curry leaves, mint


Papadi chat


Avi Shashidhara


Wild sea bass in banana leaf Shashidhara says: “Chat is a street food


dish, eaten after work, before dinner, almost like going for a pint after a long day. It’s a true representation of what Indian food is: super colourful and flavoursome.” A fried cracker sits at the bottom of a bowl,


topped with yogurt, datterini tomatoes, finely chopped onion and two chutneys – mint, chilli and coriander; and tamarind. Chickpea flour and water is combined and fried until crispy to create little sprinkles of texture, and it’s fin- ished off with pomegranate seeds, roasted pumpkin and beetroot, and fresh coriander. The Gruffalo-inspired brief – “scrambled


snake by the lake” – saw the addition of a deep- fried chakli made from rice flour and roasted chickpeas, chillies, sesame and cumin seeds. The coiled savoury dough crisps up when deep-fried and can be crumbled over the chat. The menu incorporates fresh, seasonal ingredients as it weaves its way through grilled scallops with palourde clams, spring peas, fresh coconut, curry leaves and coriander, as well as the house chicken tikka and a biryani made with Cornish lamb.


www.thecaterer.com From the tasting menu


●Papadi chat: yogurt, pomegranate, tomatoes, pumpkin, mint, tamarind chutney


●Mangalore bun and Scottish crab sukkha, fennel seeds, degghi chilli, ginger


●Hara kebab, spinach, spring peas, Roseval potato, bird-eye chilli, tamarind chutney


●Pahli Hill tandoori chicken tikka, cucumber, coriander and mint salad, fresh horseradish


●Grilled scallops, palourde clams, spring peas, fresh coconut, curry leaves, coriander


●Chargrilled lamb cutlets, dried rose petals, stone flower, crispy curry leaves, mint


●Home-style fish curry: wild halibut, mussels, tomato, mango, tamarind, coconut


●Cornish lamb biryani, Bombay onion and coconut raita, banana chilli, aubergine salan


●Desserts: Alphonso mango cheesecake; carrot halwa ice-cream, coconut cake


£100 per person, £170 per person with wine pairing


Mangalore bun with crab sukkha A dish from Parsi cuisine – patra ni machhi,


or fish steamed in a banana leaf – marinades wild seabass in fresh coriander, mint leaves, lemon juice, coconut, garlic, oil and unripe sour mangoes, before baking it in the leaf. Shashidhara tops it with crispy straw potatoes. Meanwhile, he has begun using rump for


his lamb dish, which is robust enough “to hold the spice and flavour of the lamb”. He infuses it for 24 hours with cinnamon, rose petals, star anise, black pepper, cardamom, mace and stone flower – a lichen that gives an “intense earthy aroma” that is balanced by the fragrant rose petals – and serves it with a mint, corian- der and yogurt chutney, and crispy curry leaves. The menu ends on an impossibly light


mango cheesecake. “It’s showcasing the in- season mango. At the moment it’s Alphonso, but we’ll move on to mango from Sicily,” the chef says. “It’s like tasting the best mango you’ve ever eaten. And, like the rest of the menu, it’s about letting the ingredients shine.”


79-81 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7SJ www.pahlihillbandrabhai.com


15 September 2023 | The Caterer | 29


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