Gourman: Shere Punjab

One of the interesting things about this restaurant in Indian foodlocated in Quitoat the corner of Juan León Mera and La Pinta, is that it has a very vast menu, with North and South Indian dishesa country so large and rich, that the difference between its regions is important, including gastronomy.

We started with two hors d’oeuvres. The Paner Tika Tandori is one of the few means of eating cheese that I have found in Indian cuisine. It is the equivalent of cottage cheese, with a slightly more consistent texture, cut into cubes, with vegetables, marinated with yogurt and mint, cooked in the oven. In fact, the word tandori refers to a cooking method, a clay oven, typical in India.

Then Raita, a South Indian entree, which is simple but delicious. The Orient is where the mastery in handling yogurt is mastered, not as a dessert, but in the kitchen. From Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and Lebanon, eastwards, ending in India, it was traditionally used in salads, soups and sauces. It is with the industrialization of it in the United States a century ago, whose cuisine uses sugar in astronomical quantities, that a very different product reaches us today, and of course, with much less potential and richness, than the original, created five thousand years ago. years. Raita is a combination of yogurt with vegetables, herbs and spices, almost always with mint present, similar to the Greek Tzattziki. The one at the restaurant was slightly thinner than I prefer, a fantastic hors d’oeuvre to eat with Naam, Indian Bread

Later, a Butter Chicken, Butter Chicken. Probably the most popular Indian dish.

It is born in Bombai about a thousand years ago, and it is truly a delicacy. What can be expected from a chicken that is marinated for many hours with yogurt, ginger, garlic, lemon, lime, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, pepper, turmeric, tomato puree, cloves, among other spices, and is cooked? in butter? The glory. And the one in Shere Punjab is fantastic.

Subsequently, Muton Masala from North India. Lamb or Goat, made with garam masala, special seasoning. It is a typical species preparation, for which there is no original recipe. It can have up to 20 ground spices, such as sesame seed, coriander, and mustard, ginger, garlic, chili, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, pepper, cardamom, cumin, bay leaf, star anise, asafoetida, saffron, etc. and each family does it according to their tradition.

Finally, Vindaloo Shrimp. The secret of this dish is to make the bottom of the protein blend with the dough made with spices, such as chili, cumin seeds, among others, with oil and vinegar. It’s amazing how a dish with so few ingredients can be so explosive in flavors, deep, and long in taste.