Being back in Delhi certainly has its advantages. Rediscovering old favourite haunts,discovering new ones, catching up with old friends over tea, coffee, lunch, drinks, dinner et all, my list of interesting things to do is a really long one! So when a group of batch mates from St. Stephen's College suggested meeting up for dinner at a restaurant called 'The Potbelly' last week, it was something that I found myself eagerly looking forward to.
Located in the heart of New Delhi, on Tenzing Norgay Marg in the 'Bihar Nivas' in Chanakyapuri, The Potbelly is a restaurant serving Bihari cuisine.As I found out later, this is the second outlet of The Potbelly in New Delhi, (the first being located at Shahpur Jat) and is one that has succesfully managed to introduce and popularise Bihari food among Delhi ites. The menu has a number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies and a delightful ambience and decor that I loved.
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Beautifully lit and decorated interiors
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The eatery overlooks the lawns at Bihar Nivas and is done up with wooden furniture and colourful hanging lamps.Diners also have the option to enjoy their meal listening to birds chirping in the background while sitting on a few tables set up in the garden. While the various canteens located in many of the State Bhavans have a steady stream of visitors all day, and some like Andhra Bhavan are immensely popular, The Potbelly gains some more points because it is the first established restaurant serving cuisine from a particular State that has been invited by the government.
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An interesting menu
My initial impression was that of a quaint old world straight out of a work of fiction- with green and blue wooden chairs and flashes of yellow here and there, a large fenced sitting area outside, dotted with little lanterns—a great way to start the evening.
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As the seasons change, so does the Bihari thaali say every 3–4 months. The constants are rice, roti, achar, chatni, dals and milk and milk products with some variation.People use both vegetable oil por mustard oil and zeera or panchforan (literally "five seeds", namely saunf, sarson, methi, ajwain and mangraeel(Kalaunji) for "chhounkna"/"Tadka"(tempering) of some vegetables. There is a lot of light frying, called bhoonjnaa, in Bihari food.
One of the most remarkable things about Bihari food is "smoking ''. It refers to using smoked red chilli to infuse a strong aroma in food. It is used in preparing "chokhaa", i.e. mashed brinjals/potatoes/tomatoes, either single or combined. Smoked chilli is also used in preparing 'kadam' (a common fruit sweet sour in taste) chutney.
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| A Self explanatory Welcome |
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| Looking inside- The Vegetarian options |
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| And the non vegetarian options |
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Starters- Litthi Chokha - very filling and decadently delicious
Our mocktails comprised a range of 'nimboo paanis'( lemonade ) and 'aam panna'( cooling mango drinks) along with a few intersting starters.One of these was
the very delicious and equally heavy 'Litthi Chokha' ( above) in which powdered baked gram is mixed with chopped onions,green chillies,lemon juice,coriander leaves. This mixture is filled inside atta ( wheat flour)and either barbecued over coal or deep fried with oil. It is eaten best accompanied with ghee,curd, chokha and baigan bharta.
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| Another starter- Gram and mutton keema with two delicious chutneys. |
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| Loved this particular corner |
We then moved on to the main course- chicken mutton and mixed vegetable curries, all delicious but (in my book) extremely oily. These were accompanied by a range of breads and rice which completed the meal.
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| Boiled rice, with rice and saboodaana rotis |
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A memorable Class reunion full of fun, music and great food
Must admit, we were all stuffed by then, so dessert was just a spoonful each of a delicious 'Kheer' (rice pudding).
Great food, drinks, music, and the joy of meeting old friends, my first visit to The Pot Belly was a super one and I'm already looking forward to the next ... |
