Themed Bites!

Cashing in on the recent international trend of the ‘Themed Restaurant’ are a host of interesting eateries across India where everything from a vintage train-themed restaurant to one where you can buy the plate you’re eating on are drawing in those seeking to dine with a difference.

By Raul Dias

Who amongst us doesn’t like an evening peppered with loads of fun, laughs and great food and drink thrown into the mix? Enter the themed restaurant where dining out is coupled with some true-blue innovation. All this, in a setting that is almost phantasmagorical and deliciously thematic. A worldwide phenomenon for the last few years, India is finally witnessing a mighty surge in the themed restaurant.
The latest to come knocking on India’s doors is the robot restaurant that has become a sort of mainstay in places like Tokyo and Seoul. Staffed by a posse of humanoids with names like Arya, Ramya and Zoey, and simply called ‘Robot Restaurant’, this eatery in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar neighbourhood is drawing in diners by the drove since it opened in August this year.
We take a look at a few other such themed restaurants across the country. Places where there sure is a lot of dining room drama—both on and off the plate!    

Frontier Mail
Turbaned servers dressed like train attendants help you climb onto your designated carriage from the mock ‘railway station’ recreated below, as they stack your coats and bags onto the overhead shelves. Said carriage is an exact replica—if a tad larger—of an actual train dining car, embellished with all the grandeur and glamour that was associated with train travel in the early 1900s. Yes, providing a unique dining experience, Frontier Mail at the majestic Noor Mahal Hotel in Karnal has been designed recreating the legendry Frontier Mail train that operated between Mumbai and Peshawar during pre-independence days. Wood panelled walls gleam in the light of crystal sconces, while you sit on richly-upholstered chairs facing a polished wooden table. Interestingly, the wooden planks one sees under the mock train compartment are the actual ones over which the Frontier Mail once used to run. Even the menu at Frontier Mail comprises of dishes from the regions through which the train made its initial journey. Here is where you get to indulge in everything from fragrant biryanis of the erstwhile North West Frontier Province to Indo-Western fusion dishes like blue cheese stuffed fish kebabs to even a Mumbai-style prawn curry. For afters, make sure to end your meal with a serving of the sublime paan-flavoured ice cream.

Noor Mahal Hotel, NH1, Sector-32, Karnal (NCR).
Tel: 09996787884 / 891 / 892

Plum by Bentchair
This new Mumbai restaurants takes the whole themed restaurant idea to another stratosphere with its sheer innovative brilliance. The result of the coupling between a hospitality and a furniture brand, Plum by Bentchair, which along with its sister restaurant of the same name in New Delhi’s plush Aerocity enclave, bills itself as India’s first true ‘retail restaurant’. Here the diner has the option of buying whatever catches their fancy in the breathtakingly beautiful and eclectic space nestled in city’s Kamala Mills restaurant super hub. From the furniture to the lights to the plates, everything is on sale. From the design aspect, the entire restaurant is a display area of different collections and is all about the minute details, which are colourful, kitsch and eye-catching. Every dimension is well-kept and blends into each other rather than being distinctive. As for the food, the Pan-Asian cuisine menu is composed of signature dishes like the black fungus and bamboo shoot salad, edamame truffle wontons and the divine East Asian curry pot, among scores of other yummies like their extensive range of sushi. Speaking of which, upping the ante as far as innovation in food is concerned, Plum sends out the wacky-yet-yum Nutella banana sushi for dessert.

3^rd Floor Trade View Building, Kamala Mills Compound, Lower Parel, Mumbai.
Tel: 022-61344237

The Bedroom at The Flying Elephant
With an oddly incongruous name like ‘The Bedroom’, this themed section at the even more strangely named multi-leveled The Flying Elephant restaurant in Chennai revels in its rather playful nature. We’re informed that the reason it is called The Bedroom is because it is the most private portion of the otherwise high-energy restaurant. Precariously perched at the topmost level with a vertigo-inducing view of the rest of the gargantuan restaurant down below, this section seats up to 20 diners and is kitted out with silver-gold accents on the luxuriant upholstery and a bright red table. The space exudes a quiet luxury and makes a sophisticated style statement with a sparkling chandelier that is its focal point. Menus at The Bedroom are specially curated for the space. So that one can expect everything from succulent andana kebabs or hot pizzas from the wood-fired pizza oven to the decadent pork belly—a signature dish at The Flying Elephant. Some of the other creature comforts diners can indulge in here include both a private butler and a private bar dispensing yummy ‘Prohibition Era’ cocktails that hark back to America’s swinging 1920s.

Park Hyatt Chennai, 39 Velachery Main Rd, Guindy, Chennai.
Tel: 044-71771655

Prankster
Calling itself India’s first food and brewery campus—all inspired by the collegiate way of life—the rather playful and whimsical Prankster in Gurugram packs a mighty punch with an unbridled feeling of youthful energy, all thanks to its campus-like theme. The cuisine at this cool-n-casual first-storied restaurant can best be described as ‘progressive nostalgic’ where the chefs attempt to fuse numerous indigenous dishes with contemporary techniques and a twist. The extensive menu is peppered with innovative dishes like the choley kulche doughnut which is served with a gaajar achaar mousse, sambhar cappuccino and the nitro dahi bhalla savoury ice cream that not only evoke childhood memories but gives the diner of today a creative and innovative experience which one won’t forget in a hurry. Choose to spend your evening seated at one of the many campus zones like the library, the mixology lab, the amphitheatre or perhaps at the hostel room that is perfect for a private party with its bunk beds and study tables.

8-9-10, Sector 29, Main Market, Gurugram (NCR).
Tel: 0124-4266653

(A differently edited version of this piece was first published in the November 2019 issue of The Week's Smart Life magazine)

Dining with a Conscience!

From restaurants staffed by members of the transgender and hearing-impaired communities to disabilities-friendly cafés offering braille menus and more, inclusivity is very much on the menu at a few such path-breaking eateries across India.

By Raul Dias

Third Eye Café, Navi Mumbai
This recently-opened café was launched with the intention of providing not just employment to the third gender, but also giving them a sense of identity and inclusiveness. With a staff of six transgender employees, including the manager and servers, this café dishing out everything from fluffy falafel with tahini yoghurt to a flavoursome butter chicken, truly walks the talk of its motto that’s emblazoned on its walls. It reads, ‘Be The Change You Want To See’.
Palm Beach Galleria Mall, Sector 19D, Vashi, Navi Mumbai 400703. Call: +91-9619204894

Kalakkal Café, Chennai  
As India’s first ever ‘inclusive’ cafe, this ramp-equipped café in Chennai’s Kotturpuram neighbourhood is an initiative by Vidya Sagar, an NGO working for children and adults with special needs. Offerings like their scrumptious burgers and the retro-cool ‘goti’ sodas can not only be ordered off a Braille menu, but also with the aid of their very artistic pictorial menus. But that’s not all. The café has tactile walls and even some eating aids via a few nifty apps like All Access where users can scan logos and QR codes to access audio menus.
No 1, Ranjith Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai 600085. Call: 044-22364712

Om, Bengaluru
A few years ago, Bhavna Jain was looking forward to doing something different at her vegetarian restaurant Om in Bengaluru’s tony neighbourhood of Koramangala. A chance encounter with a visually impaired Bharatanatyam dancer, led Jain to seek the help of EnAble India, an NGO that works with the differently-abled to come up with a Braille menu that she followed up with an audio menu shortly. Today, this modest eatery serving tasty thalis meals sees a steady stream of visually impaired and other differently-abled people making it their de facto hang out spot every day.
18, 36, Ground Floor, Raheja Arcade, Near-Heart Beats, Koramangala 7th Block, Bengaluru 560095. Call: 080-40989595

Sheroes' Hangout, Agra
Run by a group of enterprising acid attack survivors, this bright and cheery café has amassed serious street cred every since it opened its doors a few years ago. And that’s not just because of all that inspiring girl power, but also because of its reasonably priced food. Here, take your pick from a selection of all-veggie delights like the home-style bhindi masala and the Indian street food mainstay, the gobhi Manchurian! The café also serves as a venue for organised events for social interaction such as debates, book launches, social awareness conferences and music session among other socially relevant initiatives.
Fatehabad Road, Opposite The Gateway Hotel, Taj View Chowraha, Tajganj, Agra 282001. Call: 0562-4000401

Mirchi & Mime, Mumbai
Two of this fine dining Indian cuisine restaurant’s greatest calling cards are a well-curated menu—with delights such as a melt-in-the mouth mushroom galouti kebab and a guinea fowl done Lahori style—and its wait staff. The latter is made up entirely of well-trained hearing and speech-impaired individuals. All the diner needs to do is simply point at the illustrated menu card and indicate the number of portions. An easy-to-follow gesture glossary is also appended to the menu to facilitate other dining accoutrements like cutlery, crockery, salt, pepper and spices.  
Trans Ocean House, Lake Boulevard, Hiranandani Business Park, Powai, Mumbai 400076. Call: 022-41415151


(An edited version of this piece was first published in the 9th April, 2018 issue of India Today magazine)

A Decadent ‘Spa’rty

From volcanic stone massages and gold dust scrubs to exclusive pampering rituals for the discerning gent, Indian spas are upping the ante with a range of decadent and ultra-exclusive treatments. RAUL DIAS bring you a roundup of a few such hedonistic havens around the country that promise to leave the ‘Urbane Man’ rested and relaxed, while ensconcing him in the lap of luxury!

Kaya Kalp – The Royal Spa at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai
As one of the largest spas in the state of Tamil Nadu, the plush, 1,781 square feet Kaya Kalp –The Royal Spa, that is a part of ITC’s signature spa brand is a haven like no other! Here, the healing stones, music and therapists’ hands are all effectively integrated into an experience that is deep and meaningful to each person at an almost spiritual level. Each of the 12 treatment rooms—including a couple’s suite, two Ayurvedic suites and two Thai massage suites, are kitted out with luxurious accents and amenities to keep you pampered all through your therapy. Interestingly, the spa recognizes the vagaries of the fast-paced life of today by offering its range of express therapies for those, to whom time is a precious commodity! So, while each and every one of these five express therapies—including the very effective Kaya Kalp Mini Indulgence—on offer may be just 20 minutes-long, they pack in a mighty, relaxing punch.

Top Treatment
Indian Rose & Cardamom Salt Glow (Rs 3,000+taxes/40min): This luxurious body scrub experience—that is part of the Imperial Chola Ceremonies range of therapies—employs the use of the “Queen of Spices”, Indian cardamom, which is truly unique in aroma and a great purifier when enriched with sea salt and rose essence that helps in cooling the skin.

Iridium Spa at St. Regis, Mumbai
Aptly named in honour of the Greek mythological goddess, Iris and also for the rare, silvery-white metal—Iridium—this spa at the stunning St. Regis, Mumbai is a rare, luxurious cocoon located slap bang in the middle of ‘Maximum City’. Creating a much-needed ambiance of tranquility and relaxation, this idyllic sanctuary is THE place to rejuvenate and rebalance the mind and body. Exclusive to St. Regis, the Iridium Spa reflects the signature St. Regis refinement and unrivalled attention to detail. The spa houses nine serene therapy rooms (of which six are equipped with a luxurious steam and bathtub facility), including a luxurious Couple’s Suite for a more intimate setting, with internationally trained therapists and custom-blended elixirs to offer a bespoke transformative experience. Gentlemen, don’t miss the specially designed quartet of treatments for today’s men who recognize the power and importance of grooming.

Top Treatment
Gold Body Therapy with Cane Sugar (Price on request/90min): This ultra-decadent treatment involves an invigorating exfoliation using a gold-sugar scrub, made using fair-trade cane sugar to refine the texture of the skin by eliminating dead cells. The final touch is a massage with fragrant oil enriched with gold particles.

Rait Spa at Suryagarh, Jaisalmer
Named for the sand that seems to be everywhere in Jaisalmer—Rajasthan’s ‘Golden City’ as it were—this spa is part of the majestic Suryagarh, a hotel that encapsulates the regal spirit and romance that defines this land to the hilt. The Rait Spa wing of the hotel itself is a wonderful mélange of the ancient heritage architecture style with its intricately carved jaali screens and mother-of- pearl inlaid marble and sandstone flooring and modern fittings in its five therapy rooms like steam cubicles and in-built whirlpools. The spa garden flanking the structure is an oasis of calm, so imperative for post-therapy ‘blissing-out’ amidst birdsong and the gurgling of the ornamental fountains. Besides a host of traditional treatments, Rait uses IMRS (Intelligent Magnetic Resonance System), a health care system developed in Germany to balance your magnetic field thereby subtly adjusting bodily cadences and improving overall metabolism. These electromagnetic pulses incorporate bio feedback and use colour and music therapy to work on all four levels of brain wave activity, ensuring better cell organisation and promoting overall wellbeing.

Top Treatment
Shell and Stone Massage (Rs 4,400+taxes/1.5hrs): Extricating the healing properties of tiger-striped seashells from the Philippine islands with volcanic stones, this therapy improves blood circulation by draining toxins and improving metabolism. Heated sea shells with lava powder are employed by the therapists to give you an experience that masterfully blends the healing properties of naturally occurring elements with expert massage techniques like the long strokes and deep-kneading techniques to help release accumulated tensions.

Shillim Spa at The Hilton Shillim Estate Retreat & Spa, Shillim
Perched precariously atop the Western Ghats in the village of Shilimb—an hour’s drive up the winding mountainous roads from Lonavala, this verdant retreat has one of the largest and most comprehensive spa facilities in Asia with 17 treatment rooms, each offering holistic and Ayurvedic practices in a unique and magical environment that is supposed to help you establish healthy habits for life. This multi-award winning spa encompasses 70 acres and offers a range of exquisite treatments, and also comes with its own meditation cave and a relaxation center, as well as a salon and yoga pavilion. The spa is based on the four principles of the conservation and strengthening of life, sustenance of health, healing of the ‘whole’ person and finally the celebration of the gift of life!

Top Treatment
Walnut and Asparagus Body Scrub (Rs 4,500+taxes/55min): This body-firming spa scrub experience uses walnut paste mixed with the Ayurvedic herb gotu kola (centella asiatica). Both elements, known for their medicinal properties, help in body-firming and skin exfoliation. The cumulative stimulating and astringent effect is said to remove excess of water stagnation. The scrub is followed by an asparagus body mask that further helps in tightening and firming the skin, as asparagus is known to be loaded with nutrients such as vitamins A, C, E and K, fiber, folate and minerals.

The Elevation Spa at The Tamara, Coorg
One of the plush resort’s newest additions, The Elevation is more than just a mere spa. A 100-year-old plantation bungalow forms the core of this tranquil oasis that has six treatment rooms and a temperature controlled pool just beyond to luxuriate about in post treatment. The spa’s forte is a range of Ayurveda-based treatments using edible ingredients like coffee, fresh coconut, sugar and wild rice, besides the de rigueur Western-style massages and scrubs. As The Tamara, Coorg is part of a functioning coffee estate, the Signature Coffee Therapy is a must-experience. The ritual begins with a scrub made from plantation-grown ground up coffee beans that are loaded with natural antioxidants that work wonders in revitalising and nourishing the skin and thus leaving one in a balanced and relaxed state. And that’s just how you will feel after an hour’s worth of pampering. And not to mention, smelling like a freshly-made cappuccino!

Top Treatment
Kalpa Anubhava Coconut Indulgence (Rs 6,250/2hrs): This über-indulgent two-hour session begins with a freshly grated coconut and sugar scrub, followed by a relaxing massage using cold-pressed coconut and cucumber oil. This ritual is said to stimulate the nerves and blood vessels beneath the skin, while calming muscle tension. Designed to re-activate circulation and the flow of energy, it ends with a continuous stream of warmed oil poured onto your head to bring a dose of calm back into your stressed-out existence. 

(An edited version of this article first appeared in the December 2017 issue of Urbane magazine)

Restaurant Review: Batlivala & Khanabhoy, Chennai

(Published in the July 2017 issue of The Week's The Man magazine)

A-N-A-T-O-M-I-Z-E: Messob Platter

By Raul Dias

I’ve always believed that Chennai is a great food city for the experimental diner and this fact has been proven to me time and again. And that super muggy April afternoon was no different, as I sat down to a traditional Ethiopian meal at Abyssinian, the eight-month old Ethiopian cuisine restaurant in Alwarpet.
Having eaten Ethiopian food—in Liverpool, UK of all places during my student days there—I had a fair understanding of what was in store for me and my rather clueless friends. Called a messob platter, the main meal is meant for four people. And this is had sitting down at a traditional low table and stool set, with all eating from the same large steel platter.
Onto this, a soft, spongy neer dosa meets appam-like bread called injera (which can be made from an indigenous Ethiopian grass called teff, rice and in our case ragi or finger millet) is first placed as a lining (and more rolls on the side) onto which each diner gets their own daub of yummy dishes.
And thus began a procession of delectable offerings like yebeg bozena shiro, a delicious mutton and chickpea powder-based dish, slow-cooked with Ethiopia’s popular — and spicy — red berbere sauce. Mesir wot, a divine (and beautifully coloured) combination of split red lentils simmered in spicy berbere sauce was next. The simple, yet flavourful fasolia followed, which is dish of string beans, sautéed with carrots and caramelised onions.
The main ‘star’ of course, was Ethiopia’s national dish, doro wat—a thick chicken stew with boiled eggs, a sweet onion base and loads of berbere. Not to be left behind was the doro tibs a very light, fragrant chicken preparation seasoned with rosemary. Balancing all the meat-y excesses was shiro (chickpea stew), dinich wot (curried potatoes) and finally yatakilt wot made up of curried vegetables.
We ended this almost-three-hours-long meal with a splash of traditional, strong Ethiopian coffee into which one can add sugar or salt and Ethiopia’s version of ghee called niter. Accompanying this was the de rigueur bowl of popcorn that no post-prandial coffee drinking session in Ethiopia can ever be complete without!

(This column first appeared in the 25th June 2017 issue of The Hindu newspaper's Sunday Magazine section on page 8 http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/messob-platter/article19132504.ece)

Pop-Up, Stay-Up!

By Raul Dias

Known for its ephemeral, fry…err, fly-by-night novelty, the pop-up restaurant concept has been well and truly woven into the Indian dining scene’s ever-dynamic culinary tapestry over the last couple of years. With everything from Mumbai’s über-popular regional food championing pop-up, The Bohri Kitchen ‘shape-shifting’ everywhere, to Delhi’s tapas-serving outfit aptly named The Pop Up flitting from the Asiad Village to its recent perch at PCO, the pop-up restaurant is, rather oxymoronically, here to stay!
But ever since its humble origin as supper clubs in the London and New York of the 1960s, there have been all sorts of pop-up restaurant spinoffs; from food trucks to the newest being the trend of the permanent pop-up. Brick and mortar places that have cropped up from the germ sowed by their erstwhile pop-up avatars and that are imbued with the same ethos of dishing out—pardon the alliteration—fast, ‘frou frou-free’ fare intrinsic to the pop-up concept.  

Thalassa
This Greek taverna run by Mariketty Grana has had a rather mercurial trajectory over the last decade or so. Starting off as a Goa-based souvlaki delivery service, plied on a single motorbike to a small moussaka-selling stall at the Anjuna Flea Market to a permanent cliff-side restaurant in Vagator, Thalassa sure has come a long way. And after its six-month stint as a pop-up in Mumbai a few years ago, at the now-shuttered Olive Bar & Kitchen Mahalaxmi, Thalassa is back dishing out its iconic oregano-rubbed roast chicken and prawns saganaki at a newly opened standalone restaurant in the city’s Khar (w) neighbourhood.

Yakiniku

Introduced for the first time ever in Chennai in December 2015 for 10 days as a pop-up, Yakiniku has now found a permanent home at the Hyatt Regency Chennai as a dinner-only yakitori restaurant. At the helm of things is Chef Shohei Nakajima sending out everything from takoyaki octopus dumplings to the fried eggplant, miso sauce, sesame seed-redolent nasu dengaku.

Sweetish House Mafia (SHM)
Every weekend, a few years ago, suburban Mumbaikars would be seen waiting patiently at different spots around Bandra and Juhu for a powder blue Tata Nano to pull up and bestow onto them its bounty of cookies, the most anticipated of all being the signature SHM s’mores cookie with its marshmallow fluff core. Today, SHM, still run and owned by Neha Arya Sethi (who, earlier preferred to go incognito, employing the moniker ‘Miss Sweetish’) not only has three intimate and homely, permanent outlets in Lower Parel, Oshiwara and Pali Hill—serving coffees, milkshakes and yes, cookies—but also counters at PVR Cinemas’ snack bars.

Queimada at The Bagel Shop
Initially planned as a short-term pop-up food festival to celebrate the woefully underrepresented cuisine of the local East Indian community of Mumbai, Queimada is fixed firmly at Pali Hill’s The Bagel Shop. With a menu designed by East Indian chef Lester Pereira and Neale Murray—a Bandra food hero, Queimada named after khimad, the East Indian iteration of a spiced hot toddy, serves up an array of ignored classics like mutton kuddi curry and duck moile, best mopped up with the fried dough balls called fugias!  

Desi Deli
Taking her love for the classic American street food—the hot dog—and fusing it with decidedly local Indian flavours, home chef Lolita Sarkar knew she had a winner on hand way back when she used to sell her desi dogs at her pop-up stand at some of the Mumbai’s most happening weekend flea markets. Soon enough, her fiendishly good mutton boti kebab-studded jungli dog and chicken 65 burger found a place on the menu at her Bandra outlet, which was soon followed by an Andheri outpost.

Waiting in the wings…

Guppy by Ai
Like Thalassa, this Delhi-based Casual dining Japanese restaurant too had a six-month short turn as a pop-up at the erstwhile Olive Bar & Kitchen Mahalaxmi, Mumbai. It’s now a few months away from properly debuting in Mumbai at BKC, as it readies itself to dish out its signature Guppy pork belly with a mustard-miso sauce. 

(A shorter, edited version of this piece was first published in the 13th March, 2017 issue of India Today magazine)

A Slice of India!

From the bakeries of Allahabad and Puducherry to homes in Mumbai and Goa, cakes made with typically Indian ingredients like ghee and petha can be found jostling for space along with the more ubiquitous varieties, making for interesting confectionary chimeras.  

  

By Raul Dias

Incredible as it may be to believe, but until I was around 10, I thought that ghee was the only shortening agent employed in baking a cake! It was only when I began to get ensnared in the vice-like grip of a multitude of cookery shows—thanks to the satellite television invasion of the early 90s—did I discover butter as being the de facto, world’s favourite cake fat. All this, much to the chagrin of my Anglo-Indian grandmother who resolutely refused to make the switch, insisting that her spiced fruit cake could only be made with lashings of shudh desi ghee.
Thanks to the forced WWII frugality thrust upon her in the form of grocery rationing, as a young homemaker, she came up with several recipes substituting the expensive and tough-to-procure butter with the easy-to-prepare homemade clarified butter. Recipes, along with a larder of rather strange ingredients, that would remain intrinsic parts of her baking repertoire, forever.     
Speaking of strange, long before it became fashionable to add a bit of puréed pumpkin (and grated zucchini, too!) to impart a rich, moistly dense crumb to a fruit cake, my Nan would chop up bits of her favourite sweet—Agra ka petha, or sugar candy pumpkin—in lieu of the more ‘kosher’ candied peel and tutti-frutti. Along with ghee and a sprinkling of spices like sonth (dried ginger powder) and javitri (mace), she’d lovingly make her legendary fruit cake that both my mum and I have tried to replicate rather unsuccessfully over the years since Nan’s passing. 
But on a recent trip to Allahabad, I came across a version of a spiced rich fruit cake that could easily step in as a worthy doppelganger to the one I’ll sadly never savour again. Once a stronghold of thousands of Anglo-Indian ‘railway’ families, Allahabad today has barely a dozen or so left. But what they’ve left behind is an edible legacy of sorts in the form of the Allahabad Cake, which is what I discovered at Bushy’s on Kanpur Road. This modest, 54-year-old little bakery still makes a scrumptious, Indianised version of a traditional fruit cake using nutmeg, saunf (fennel seeds), cinnamon, caraway seeds, ghee and a marmalade that the person at the counter told me is sourced from Loknath ki Galli—Allahabad’s foodie haven.
The mava cupcake is another Indianised cake treat most of us grew up eating here in India. Dried whole milk or mava is the chief ingredient of the moist, eggless cake that’s flecked with cardamom seeds that go pop in the mouth when bitten into! This classic tea time delicacy has been made famous by the Irani and Parsi bakeries of Mumbai and Pune—particularly Merwan’s that has several branches in both cities and by Mumbai’s iconic Sassanian bakery at Marine Lines.
Made with copious quantities of salted butter, eggs, semolina and the main star ingredient—desiccated coconut powder—the bhaat cake is Goa’s pride and joy (see recipe). A vestige of Goa’s Portuguese colonialists, this dense, intensely coconut-y calorific treat has its underpinnings in Middle Eastern confectionary, given its remarkable similarity to the basbousa semolina-orange blossom water cake of Egypt, that is understandably bereft of the very coastal Indian ingredient—the coconut.
Another close colonial cousin of bhaat is the East Indian thali sweet that uses an additional ingredient in the form of almonds ground in rose water. And alluding to its name, this festive treat is both baked and served in an inch-high steel thali. Once ready, diamond shaped slices are cut and eaten more like an Indian mithai than a cake.
On a year-long work assignment in Chennai a few years ago, my weekends were mostly spent driving down to Puducherry, both, for bar essentials restocking, and to partake in the wonder that is the vivikum cake. Also known as the Pondicherry cake, this more-ish treat is prepared by Puducherry’s Franco-Indian Christians for Christmas, though one can find it all year round at bakeries such as La Boulangerie and Baker Street. Made with ghee (there we go again!), eggs, semolina, nuts, brandy-macerated raisins and zesty lemon peel, the alcohol in the cake helps lengthen the vivikum cake’s shelf life. Not that longevity matters in this cake… err, case!

Bhaat Cake Recipe

Ingredients
500 gm granulated sugar
250 gm salted butter
250 gm semolina
250 gm desiccated coconut powder
1 tbsp rose essence
1 tsp baking powder
6 whole eggs
200 ml water (room temperature)
25 ml water (heated)

Procedure
* Put 200 ml water and sugar in a thick bottom pan and allow to melt over a medium flame.
* When melted, add butter and allow to combine.
* Now add desiccated coconut powder and semolina and cook for five minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature in pan itself.  
* Add baking powder to heated water and pour into the cooled batter.
* Add rose essence to batter and keep aside.
* Beat the six whole eggs till frothy and add to batter combining well.
* Line a 1kg-bearing cake tin with butter paper and bake in a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes at 180˚C.
* When cooled cut and serve on its own. 
 

--Recipe courtesy Ann Dias

(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 5th February 2017 issue of The Hindu newspaper, India http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/Cake%E2%80%99s-colonial-cousins/article17193172.ece)