Clockwise from top left: Entrance to Café Lota,
Interior of Café Lota,
View of One of the courtyards of the National Crafts Museum
A veritable gem in the heart of New Delhi, the culinary repertoire of Café Lota itself a highly accomplished demonstration of local craftsmanship, therein most appropriately situated inside a museum dedicated to the ‘handmade’ work of Indian artisans …
… All at once simple and sophisticated in interior decor and ambience, subtle yet penetrating with respect to the cornucopia of flavours & bouquets contributed by the dishes on the menu, casual but meticulous in both service & style of presentation, the many contrasting yet complementary aspects of Café Lota combine to give it a unique appeal.
Moreover it is the softest & most seductive landing for a foreign palate and sensibility, the scents, textures & tastes ‘puissant’ but not overpowering, the atmosphere whilst eminently local & traditional, neither brassy nor glaring … in fact it is equally effective in bringing some much needed respite to the local palate & temperament, without undermining either degree of gustatory pleasure or natural exuberance … to which I do and will, here-below, bear testament, except that it shall remain a work in progress until I have covered far more of the menu, at which point I will simply delete this last sentence.
The Palak Patta Chaat i.e. an Indian street-food of gram flour batter fried spinach leaves, served with yoghurt, pomegranate seeds, a mix of delectable spices (typically dried mango powder, cumin, coriander, dried ginger, black salt, asafoetida, black pepper & chili powder), and both mint and tamarind chutneys, is in class of its own, the batter as light as that of a tempura, the quantity of each & every other ingredient masterfully measured, the added gram flour crisps a clever garnish that brings an extra crunch to the compilation … when I took a French friend of mine to Lota and made her taste this particular dish, she vowed to never eat it again, simply to preserve the memory of her first time … such is the spell of Lota’s Palak Patta Chaat.
Above: Palak Patta Chaat
Next up, was what they call the mustard fish tikka, but is in fact a whole fillet of sole marinated in the most subtle mustard emulsion constituted by thickened curd and then dexterously cooked in a tandoor … this is akin to ‘Haute Cuisine’ with respect to both the handling of mustard and degree of cooking of the fish … delicate, delectable & devilish.
Above: Mustard Marinated
Tandoori Fillet of Sole
And finally – since unfortunately there was just my mum and myself and our appetites didn’t permit any more than we ordered – was a special of the day, which I hope finds a place on the permanent menu, and that was the raw mango prawn curry with a most skilfully executed appam i.e. a south Indian fermented rice flour pancake style bread … the prawns were cooked to perfection with a barely discernible bite to them, nestled in what was a coconut milk based curry that was slightly sweet, coquettishly sour, comfortingly creamy and provocatively sharp … I will indeed be going back again and again to report on the various other exciting dishes on the menu … and thus, to be continued.
Above: Raw Mango Prawn Curry with Appam
Round 2
… And ‘voila’, here- below is my ‘reportage’ of round 2, although I am going to preserve this piece as a work in progress since there is still much left to taste.
This second time around, I deliberated over the menu in advance, and decided on 4 vastly different dishes that comprised three starters and one main, the first being a simply smashing ‘Sabudana (aka tapioca) Popcorn’, with a soft interior of what I guess is a type of semolina and potato cutlet, coated with sabudana pearls and deep fried…can anything be texturally more pleasing? The answer is no, especially when the flavors of cumin and green chili are so skilfully muted and hospitable to the tastebuds.
Above: Sabudana Popcorn
This was followed by what is called Sandeep’s prawn fry, a subdued but nonetheless scrumptious version of the prawn koliwada, this particular one lightly crusted with rice flour that gives it a distinct crunch at first bite, making way for the flavors of tamarind and chili to gently, rather than offensively, colonize the palate … in short, an altogether precious prawn recipe.
Above: Sandeep’s Prawn Fry
Then came the third and final small plate, although the portion size is anything but small, and that was the ‘Bajre ka Chilla’, a soft millet pancake, filled with a paneer and vegetable ‘bhurji’, i.e. scramble, which melts from beginning to end onto the palate … there was no dominant flavor, but rather a masterfully measured composition of a variety of herbs, spices, tomato & onion … this is a must have for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike.
Above: Bajre Ka Chilla
And finally, the ‘piece de resistance’, a white butter chicken with ‘malai’ (i.e yoghurt marinated) tandoori chicken tikka pieces within, accompanied by what is called a chur chur naan, which is somewhere between a scrunched up layered ‘parantha’ & garlic naan, cooked in a tandoor … well I am vastly incapable of describing this one; it simply has to be eaten to be believed … and on that mysterious note, I shall once again sign off with a TBC i.e. to be continued!
Above: White Butter Chicken & Garlic Chur Chur Naan