Kathmandu :

Think of the North Indian cuisine, and centuries of culinary tradition comes to mind. But Ghar-e-Kebab wouldn’t have been the elite North Indian restaurant, hadn’t the culinary art undergone an avant-garde amendment in the hands of the executive chef, Ajay Pathak at Hotel de l’ Annapurna.

“The art needs to be modified as the tastes change. And especially since people are more health conscious these days, one can’t just do without affecting a little bit of change,” says Pathak.

And under him, it’s not only his dexterous magic that adds to the flavour of the cuisine, but also the entire innovative idea that accentuates the delicate delights of the culinary tradition unique to India.

At Ghar-e-Kabab, the chef captures the spirit of the festival ‘Garam Masala’, that was inaugurated on August 4, with a magnificent and matching fort-like ambience that stands as the doorway to the more exquisitely ornate interior with an improvised Taj Mahal and Qutb Minar.

As you gear up for the repast, you know you’re in for a feast fit for kings. Starting with the ubiquitous jalijeera, you have a selection of scrumptious delicacies as you wonder what to dig into, what with the music that just creates the right atmosphere for connoisseurs of culinary art.

A master chef from a premier Delhi hotel who specialises in Hyderabadi cuisine, has been flown in especially for the festival. In addition to various Indian delicacies like tandoori promfret, murg shama tikka and sabz methi pulao, the restaurant has added tandoori jhinga, rara ghost, ghost saagwala and kadai chicken for the festival.

The chef especially recommends Ghost ke mulayam Kebab (lamb chunk marinated with garlic and lemon juice spiced with royal cumin and mace, and cooked in lagan and finished in tandoor) for starters, which has a soft texture and easily melts in the mouth. For vegetarians, the Chef suggests Multani paneer tikka, which is a mouthwatering slice of cottage cheese stuffed with mushroom and spring onion and cooked in tandoor.

But even exciting is the array of entrees that you can’t just resist to binge on once you’re done with the starters.

Indian Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, who seemed to be relishing the dinner at the inaugural function said, “It’s a genuine North Indian food and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s simply delicious.”

(The festival is on till August 19)