OFF TO THE FRONTIER!

When you walk into Frontier, The Ashok, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, the all Black look - walls, ceiling, furniture, linens -  arrested only by the well lit snaky white curving trails on the floor and the snazzy lighting is like stepping into a futuristic world, somewhere in space. Thrown in the swanky open kitchen and one couldn't get a more contemporary dining ambiance. Which is where one gets a little thrown off initially, because the mind focused on gorging on authentic North West Frontier province cuisine, expects the regular rugged decor complete with music from the region. The ultra chic interiors are an expected departure, but after sometime even the incongruity is appealing! After all, which dining out Bible has prescribed that the cuisine and decor should be a boring twin-set!

Then again, to rephrase Tina Turner's song, 'whats food got to do with it?' Especially when the turnout of the dishes is a continuous sensory experience. The restaurant proudly claims that, 'it's about the food from the land, where the men are tough and the meat is tender.' There couldn't be a better slogan than that. The dishes are all about succulence, sparing use of spices and hearty tandoori way of cooking. Regular patrons by now have the restaurant's signature dishes on their fingertips - Pathar Kabab, Kabab-e-Bannu, Jhinga Samarkand and the majestic Raan-e-Alishan.

We kick start the evening with Pink Panther, a pretty pink mocktail of guava juice, black salt, salt, pepper and a splash of Limca, simply tingling and a nice feminine contrast to the robust fare and all the black environ. Later we go for Kala Noor, another refreshing mocktail with Sprite and Frontier's secret Kala Noor mix, a very apt choice to go along with a fare of Pathar Kabab, Kabab-e-Bannu, Moti-e-Zameen, Dal Dera Ismail Khan and Murgh Daraanpur. The accompaniments include Pudina parantha, Keema naan, Tandoori roti and Kulachi Naan.

As the binging  proceeds, what is most impressive is that the basic ingredients - the lamb, chicken, lentil, vegetables - are not swamped by overabundance of spices and oil; instead the intrinsic taste triumphs. Take the Pathar Kabab for instance, the subtlety of the spice is remarkable. Tender beaten pieces of lamb, rubbed with spices and cooked on a hot sizzling stone, cliched as it may sound, it is indeed a melt-in-the-mouth affair. Then there is the Kabab-e-Bannu, tender pieces of chicken marinated in egg, vinegar and pepper and cooked in a tandoor. The marination mix might sound bland but reserve your judgment till you bite into it! What is equally interesting about Kabab-e-Bannu is that all the chicken pieces are jointed, could be the egg at work, and it needs a little push of the fork to separate them.

Kabab-e-Bannu

Pathar Kabab

Black lentil or Kaali dal is a perennial North India favourite, but unfortunately more than  often it is doused with so much butter and cram that the after taste is more of the dairy products that leave behind a greasy trail. Frontier certainly knows its dal and how! For a dish from a rough terrain zone, Dal Dera Ismail Khan is a study in subtlety and improbable as it may sound, sophistication.  The dal is clearly simmered for hours with regular seasonings and butter, but rest assured that the taste is not about butter but all about the dal, a wonder of slow cooking all right. No wonder, Frontier proudly flaunts it as its speciality. In fact, all you need is a bowl of Dal Dera Ismail Khan and a kulcha or naan to feel that undeniable sense of bliss that comes from good food. And a plate of Murgh Daraanpur on the side! Once again an affair of tender pieces of chicken breast stuffed with cheese, minced chicken and spices and cooked in a tandoor. Come to think of it, isn't it quite a smile inducing picture to visualise the Buzkashi playing hardy denizens getting off their horses to dine on fare that takes delicacy to another height?

Dal Dera Ismail Khan!

I first fell in love with the name, Moti-e-Zameen, literally pearls on earth. A tandoori salad with slices and chunks of onions, capsicum, tomato, pineapple and cottage cheese on a seekh with a dressing of Frontier's understated but  delicious spice dressing roasted to perfection. While a North West Frontier province speciality restaurant might mislead one into thinking that it will be non-vegetarian all the way, that is actually not so. In fact, the vegetarian fares are a plenty and equally scrumptious. The  Bharwan Aloo, potatoes stuffed with delicately flavoured cheese and cooked in a tandoor, the wipe-your-plate Khatte Baingan, eggplant cooked with special spices and served with an option of gravy are sure to win over even the most die-hard non-vegetarians.

Moti-e-Zameen

Bharwan Aloo

Dessert or Shireeni? The latter obviously scores over with its poetic connotations but even in plain English the taste meter is the same. We opt for Intekhaab Sheer-e-Barf (chef's special Kulfi) and Sheer-e-Murmuri, the eternal Indian favourtie, phirni. The proof of the pudding, it is said, is in the eating and we did, scrapping up every last bit. What was out of the usual was the slight grainy texture of the phirni which gave it more punch.

The evening was indeed  an exciting culinary trip into the North West Frontier province!