Nov 10, 2006 03:47 PM
9446 Views
(Updated Nov 16, 2006 10:51 AM)
Have you ever been served flames on your plate? That was the most unique eating-out experience for me on an evening in November this year. This special dish of fire is called Sharabi Paratha…yes, a specialty of Not Just Parathas, a restaurant which I have added to my personal list of great hang-outs in Delhi on my very first visit.
As the name suggests, NJP is simply not a paratha specialist, it is a journey back to our roots….combining the taste of Parathewali Gali of Chandnichawk and glorious heritage of India.
As you step forward the NJP’s banner, fast track, hip-hop ambience of GKII, M Block Market transforms into an evening of India, 1947….how? You just see a khatiya, a hukah, a century old bi-cycle and a lota, to receive you from the entrance. You enter a world of antiques inside the restaurant with windows and doors of almost a century years old…the small boards will ask you to use your hand and forget cutleries like fork, spoon and knife. After choosing our table there, we were actually waited to see if they serve food on banana leaf…but finally plates arrived and we were allowed to use at least the serving spoon.
The waiters were in the uniform of traditional Indian postman, distributing the menu and taking order…menu…. let me tell you that it was Not Just a menu… but a fourfold newspaper…named The NJP Times. The first page told us about Indian culture and history of Old Delhi, the inner pages had NJP menu…heading: “Too much to handle” and actually there were hundred types of parathas only, kulfis and chuskis of Sitaram Bazaar, an array of dishes from Mughlai and North Indian delicacies….as an add on. Most importantly, the range of parathas… some of which included in the menu, were almost extinct today. The back page of the NJP times contained testimonials of news papers like the Hinduthan Times, The Times of India, The Statesman...etc. It seems Not Just Parathas has just impressed a lot of people around .........hmmmm!!
I was accompanied by my husband Mridul, and our host Sandipan, a common friend, who insisted that we are going to remember this place. And yes, he was right, we do remember this place fondly and waiting to visit next time. He introduced us to “Sharabi Paratha”…which I refer to as ‘flame on my plate’, it was made of dry fruit, I mean, it had dry fruit stuffing, they spread a few ounces of RUM on it and while serving…they waiter will flip his lighter and the Sharabi paratha will soon catch fire. You will be served those burning pieces to eat. The Sharabi Paratha tastes sweet and bitter because of the mix of dry fruits and burnt RUM, I guess.
Then we ordered a Keema paratha and Mughlai paratha with a dry Mu ki daal…both the parathas tasted awesome and left a mark on my taste bud.
The dishes we have decided to order on our next visits were, Tandoori Platter, Gazab ka tikka, Boti Kebab, Murg Mussallam, Makhmali paneer, Bharwan Papar, Methi Malai Matar, Rabri Paratha, and also a new type of paratha called Pizza Paratha, may be it was introduced as a fusion delicacy. And yes..there are many parathas there to try for...we will try each one...for sure!!
The cost of the dinner was not heavy on pocket, 300 Indian bucks will be enough for full meal of two. But yes, the waiters of NJP were not very smart and trained enough to offer a flawless service…that was tolerable because of the uniqueness of the ambience…after all we were sitting in pre-independence era…
Being Bengali by origin, we certainly were not paratha connoisseurs, but we did love the taste of every bite and of course enjoyed the environment there in Not Just Parthas…and at the end of the super meal, I was inspired enough to right a review on NJP for Mouthshut.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
