介绍:
I have always believed that food is an integral part of any culture. Since I am fascinated by India's colorful culture, I have always been on the lookout for a good Indian restaurant.
For most people, when they think of Indian food, the first thing that comes to mind is curry. However, every Indian dish can use more than 10 different spices. That's why it's so hard to explain and describe its taste. Recently, I headed down to the Taj Pavilion, a trendy Indian restaurant located in Beijing's Lido district to uncover some of the secrets of Indian cuisine.
I have just entered the restaurant and I was warmly welcomed by Mr. Patel, the restaurant manager. Stepping into the restaurant is like stepping into a house in India. Lining the walls are small statues of golden elephants. On the walls are painted famous sites in India such as the Taj Mahal. Wooden carvings of flower blossoms also cover the walls. If I could use one word to describe this restaurant, it would be regal.
Before I try some authentic Indian dishes here, I spoke to Mr. Pastakia, the general manager of Taj Pavilion. He has been here since the opening of the first Taj Pavilion in Beijing's Guomao area. There are three Taj Pavilion restaurants across the city.
So Mr. Pastakia, what are some of the highlights of Indian Cuisine? What makes it unique?
(SB 1/male/English)
"Many, many different varieties of spices go into the Indian cuisine. Indian cuisine can be broken down into three parts: rice, breads and curries. The bread mainly can be made on a pan or it can be made in a tandoor, an Indian oven. Rice has many different preparations. The world's most renowned rice is from India. It's called basmati rice with long, thin grain. Unfortunately, it can't be eaten easily with chopsticks. Otherwise, the texture, the flavor and the color is very good."
Why do Indians love spicy food?
(SB 2/male/English)
"It could be from childhood. Also probably want to feel something when they're eating. They've been eating that for years so it's a matter of habit."
How important is food to India and Indian culture?
(SB 3/male/English)
"Food plays a very important role in cultures all over the world. In India, for example, at weddings, everybody checks on what's been served. In fact, there are a lot of different religions in India. And each religion has its own way of serving food."
Now that we know a little bit about Indian cuisine, it's time to eat. First, before we have the main course, we'll munch on some appetizers and have a traditional Indian drink, called Mango Lassi. It's a very thick yogurt drink served in a metal cup. Let's have a sip. Oh, it's very sweet and feels like it's melting in your mouth.
The appetizers I am having today are called Pakoras and it's a dish of sliced fresh vegetables coated with chickpea flour batter, which is deep fried until it's golden brown. They're then dipped into a green coriander sauce or a sweet and sour sauce. It's really crispy on the outside and the vegetable inside is pretty crunchy too.
Now, I have six dishes in front of me and each of them is of a different color. So I'll try them from right to left. The first one is the Butter Chicken. It's composed of boneless flakes of tandoori chicken cooked with tomatoes and onions and the sauce is thickened with cashews.
It's really creamy and tastes like spaghetti sauce but not as sweet. The chicken is cooked perfectly to a tender texture that won't be sticking between your teeth as you eat it.
Next, we have the Palak Panir, which is fresh homemade cottage cheese and potatoes cooked with spinach and rare herbs and spices. The color of it is green which I suspect is because this dish requires a lot of spinach.
It's not as spicy as I thought. It tastes like coriander and is very refreshing.
Now, we have another vegetable dish called Aloo Gobi Mutter and it contains freshly pan fried cubed potatoes cooked with florets of cauliflower, green peas and spices, and it's served semi-dry.
The taste is similar to the butter chicken but the sauce is not as thick.
Now, we come to the Tadka Dal, which consist of yellow lentils cooked with traditional tadka-fried spices. Woah, it's really hot and spicy. It burns in your mouth quite literally. There must be a lot of hot peppers in there.
Luckily, there's a basket of Naan bread nearby. My tongue is numb right now from the spicy lentils. So in the basket is also another kind of bread called Roti. It's made of whole wheat flour and is baked in the Indian oven.
And last but not least is the Sada Chawal �C which is the famous Indian Basmati rice.
Now, let's put them all together. First, we have the naan and let's put some chicken on it, some of the spinach, potatoes and lentils. Now, we'll roll it up and take a bite. Delicious!
That was the most authentic Indian food I have eaten in a while. The spices used in the Taj Pavilion are imported from India. The restaurant's three branches all have the same recipes so they consistently have the same taste as well. If you want to try some authentic Indian food, I would highly recommend the Taj Pavilion.
For Studio+, I'm Doris Wang.
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