Anglo-Indian cuisine: Tales of Madras in a range of chutneys

CHENNAI: Radisson Blu Hotel GRT Chennai recently launched Chennai’s gourmet Anglo-Indian cuisine restaurant Ministry of Chutneys. The restaurant has an extensive range of authentic Anglo-Indian flavours, spices, and culinary styles. The decor is a blend of British colonial and modern designs.

The restaurant serves 12 varieties of chutneys- Hell’s fire chutney (Devil’s chutney), green, yoghurt, apple and date, peanut, tomato and lots more. Some of the signature dishes are prawns temperado, Taylor’s mutton minced ball curry, Charles John fish moley, Judy grandma’s saffron coconut pilaf, passion blu, dancing rose, bread pudding and lots more.

We started off with their appetisers. We were served two kinds of in-house breads with hell’s fire chutney, green chutney and yoghurt chutney as accompaniment. The toasted garlic bread went well with the hell’s fire and the garlic complemented the umami chutney.

Carpet Pudding

For soup, we had their lamb trotter soup. The dish had South Indian flavours and would remind you of a soothing bowl of attukal paya soup. The strained mustard brought out the essence of garlic and other spices really well.

For starters, we tried their Anglo-Indian lamb minced puffs and prawns temperado. The texture of the meat in the minced puff was absolutely perfectly mashed and blended well with the vegetables. Doing justice to the flavours of the cuisine, this dish did not overdo the spices and played it right.

The prawns temperado definitely steals the spotlight on the menu and is a must-try. The bite-sized dish has a small toasted bread base which is slightly sour and is topped with prawns. The prawns are both hot and tangy and get their spice from the ginger. The tangy tomatoes give balance to the dish.

Passion Blu

For beverages, we were served passion Blu and dancing rose. Passion Blu is another star on the menu and is absolutely refreshing. This mocktail has orange, green apple, and blue curacao. Pro-tip have dancing rose along with you throughout the meal. It also acts like a palate cleanser.

For the main course, we tried Judy grandma’s saffron coconut pilaf, Taylor’s mutton minced ball curry, homemade chicken curry, and Charles John fish moley. The rice was fragrant with perfect consistency. The taste of saffron and little shreds of coconut paired well with each other. We tried the pilaf with Taylor’s mutton minced ball curry and added hell’s fire chutney to it. There was an explosion of sweet, sour, spice and umami.

The meat was dry on the inside and had strong flavours of cardamom. The chicken curry was a simple home-styled curry with comforting flavours. The curry leaves in the fish moley really complemented the taste of coconut in the pilaf and while the faint taste of the fish was the cherry on the cake.

For desserts, we tried their carpet pudding and almond bread pudding. The carpet pudding is a traditional Anglo-Indian dessert which is made at homes for gatherings. This bread-soaked, custard-flavoured dish was a perfect finisher for the meal. For coffee lovers, the almond bread pudding is going to be your elixir. This cream-rich dessert with a coffee base was brilliant.

On the whole, the gastronomical experience was phenomenal with exciting authentic flavours, wonderful stories of Madras, and a tummy full of goodness.