New menu of Chennai's Taj Club House features flavours of Punjab, Rawalpindi and Sindh

CHENNAI: A well-lit spacious diner, with melodious musical notes in the background and vintage-looking cutleries, Beyond Indus at the Taj Club House has a refreshing traditional yet contemporary ambience.

The restaurant has recently revamped its menu, with the introduction of a few underrated culinary riches from the north-west frontier cuisine while sticking to a few classic dishes from the old menu. The regions in focus are Punjab, Rawalpindi and Sindh. “Many traditions of the cuisine have changed since the Mughal rule and the legacy has enabled the cuisine to be greatly influenced by its Afghan-Turkish-Iranian roots,” says sous chef Harikumar.

Giving us a glimpse into the delicacies in the revamped menu, he adds, “Broccoli is one of the detested vegetables. We wanted to give it a traditional twist and prepare using malai in Mughal style. The soft broccoli will have a melting-in-the-mouth consistency.” The diner believes in the slow-cooking preparation method, giving the time for the meat to let the flavours seep in. “Improvisation is the key to sustain. We have retained a few guests’ favourites and elevated many,” shares the chef with more than a decade of experience in the field. The diner uses freshly grounded home-made masala ensuring the dishes are healthy as well.

As we started with their traditional welcome drink, the mutton paya shorba and dal kuzbara shorba arrived. The tenderness of the paya and the creaminess of the soup were top-notch. The dal kuzbara shorba has the richness of coriander leaves and stems. For starters, the palak dahi kebab won our hearts with its unique approach. It’s just blanched palak with hung curd and caramelised onion stuffing, without the use of potato for binding. Multani murgh tikka and mutton sheek kebab were also good with succulent meat pieces.

The Sindhi murgh dum parda biryani’s aroma and dum flavours elevated the whole dish, which has a rich connection to the north-west frontier region. The subtle masala went well with bhuna murgh balti. The chur chur paratha, made with their in-house secret ingredient, was fluffy and crispy. It is well accompanied by nalli nihari and paneer pasanda. Kashmiri naan will be a must-choice for people who like dry fruits.

The anjeer badam halwa with kulfi seemed like an oxymoron and was deliciously delightful. Along with the new menu, the diner has introduced a sizzler menu and thali as well.