The ITC have been the foremost of the hotel groups in showcasing haute Indian cooking at its best, originally starting with the iconic Bukhara at the Mauriya Sheraton in Delhi, and the Dumpukht, and finally Dakshin. There has been a huge effort in tracing out old recipes, reviving old half forgotten cooking techniques, as well as sourcing the finest ingredients. All this has been achieved under the watchful eye of Habib Ur Rahman, a former army officer who the ITC had the inspiration to invite him to assist as a food consultant. It is said that Habib Ur Rahman enticed the great Imtiaz Qureshi from being the khansama to Jimmy Jahangirabad to work fulltime at the ITC. This brilliant stroke brought the grand cuisine of Avadh into the ITC stable. The Dumpukht was one of the first restaurants to serve the kakori kebab in the metropolises (interestingly described as Indian pate), haleem, a kind of meat and wheat preparation with the consistency of a porridge, and of course, the most exquisite dum biryani.

In Bombay the ITC run the Grand Maratha where they have a Peshawari which is the equivalent of the Bukhara and a Dumpukht, but the complaint of the great and the good was the shlep to the far suburbs to feast on the kakori. Well with the opening of the Grand Central in Parel the ITC decided to combine all the highlights of their restaurants in one which is aptly named Kebabs & Kurries and one could just go to Parel to feast on the best of Peshawari and Dumpukht.

Well Kebabs & Kurries is now developing its own brand, so much so that what was originally a necessity because of shortage of space has now become a restaurant with its own character, and, according to Mr.Anil Malik, the General Manager, its own menu. New dishes have started to appear not to be found on the other restaurants menus, particularly a Burani Gosht, (a qormah made with a dollop of the famous Burani, the garlic yoghurt preparation so much a feature of Moghlai cooking), a creation of Mrs.Karan from Hyderabad.

In fact the menu is well conceived; it falls into four broad categories. In the kebabs you have the tandoor, the tava items, the angethi and the koofteh. In the Kurries you have the qormah, the qaliya, the do piaza and the salan. You then have the biranj (the rice dishes) and the naan. This menu is not just well conceived it seeks to bring order and a traditional sensibility to this rather Anglo-Saxon notion of curry. It emphasizes the range of these traditional preparations, the qormah being the most popular. The styles of cooking are further sub-divided into categories such as the vegetarian, the sea-food, the chicken, the mutton. Then there is an intriguing category called the Muqawwtyat (energetic) which involves dishes which are meant to enhance energy levels such as haleem the traditional Iranian preparation which has become standard fare in Hyderabad during the month of Ramadan. There is also the nehari, the lamb trotters simmered overnight with whole spices and herbs.

It is interesting that even in the menu there is an attempt to educate the mind as well as the palate about traditional north Indian cooking, although I am not so sure I would agree with the definitions. For example there is a reference to salan which is described as a dish which is not a qormah, qalia or Do Piaza, I always was under the impression that a salan was a dish which included a mixture of meat and vegetables, like the magnificent Sabdegh (lamb cooked with turnips).

Similarly in the kebabs, I was delighted to see particular kebab items such as a koofteh given the proper recognition, in tradition Moghlai cuisine the koofteh enjoyed prominence not so much as a curry dish (which it unfortunately has become) but a kebab of rare delicacy, cooked over charcoal embers. The menu boasts one of my favourite koofteh dishes the Chui Mui(touch-me-not) Koofteh known for its softness.

On a recent visit to the restaurant I was with some friends and we tried a few dishes which we had not been exposed to. There was some extremely pleasant surprises including the Tali Subz Machali, from the tava items, this consisted of pomfret slices superbly marinated in ginger, green chillies and coriander, coated in bread crumbs (can't be too authentic, but who cares). I was extraordinarily impressed. There was the Tava Gosht which was passable, the main attraction being the undoubted quality of the meat, apparently sourced from outside Jaipur. A more subtely spiced preparation was the Murgh Angaar, consisting of chicken drumsticks marinated in garlic and ginger as well as onion juice and spiced with methi, javitri and turmeric.

In the curries the knockout was the nehari, it had a velvety smooth gravy of the most exquisite flavour, cooked more in the Hyderabadi style than the Lucknowi one, the fragrance of the potli masala overwhelmed one. I enjoyed eating it with the rumali. The Burani Gosht was unusual and had a slightly sweetish taste to it with a rich red colour and texture. The Chicken Do Piaza Begmati was possibly the least satisfactory. The colour didn't appear to be bright nor the texture. Oddly

enough one of the best do piazas I have had has been in Kolkata and the view that the do piaza is really one of the gems of the Mushirabad style of cooking is reinforced by the excellent recipe given in Camellia Punjabis classic book on the 50 Best Curries in which she talks of the Bengali provenance of this dish. Incidentally Camellia was on the other table.

We had the usual breads and I noticed that there is an excellent selection including the baqarkhani, the traditional savoury bread of Delhi, (typically eaten with qormah) named after one of the Governors, Baqar Khan. We were offered the Warqi Paratha, in the bread basket, a rich layered paratha, not dietary food by any stretch of the imagination. Missing was the marvelous Taftan normally served at the Dumpukht with the kakoris.

For dessert I particularly enjoyed the Shahi Tukra Asal, this is called asal because it is the original recipe made with the bread made with rice flour rather than wheat flour which gives it a crispiness you do not otherwise find. The sad thing about the standard shahi tukra is that it is inclined to become soggy and emerges as rather unsatisfactory bread pudding. This was not the case here, it was crispy and the rabdi was delicious. We also enjoyed the Hyderabadi Yaquti, a sort of phirni cooked with broken basmati rice and moong lentil, the moong giving it a certain edginess. All in all a magnificent finale to a memorable meal.