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Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. And I always thought

steps were only essential to solving tricky

theorems or shedding that midriff lard. Who

would have thought that you took three steps to a

scrumptious roll too?

At Rollmaal, the new roll place in New Delhis

Defence Colony Market, you do just that. Step 1:

Choose your roll

(rumaali roti, ulte

tawa ka parantha,flaky lacha, Malabar

parantha). Step 2:

Choose yourmaal(filling)

vegetarian: Rs 99;

chicken: Rs 130;

mutton: Rs 150. All

served with choorma,fried green chillies,

chutney and spiced

onions. Step 3: Feel as

if you are in an

Epicurean heaven without a hole in the wallet.

The squat 15-seater restaurant looks straight out

of a retro film. At the entrance, nearly 200 rolling

pins peep from a glass pane; nearly 300 bhopus

(trumpets) hang from the ceiling; the seats are rus-

tic, music is Bollywood and the waiters wear khaki

kurta/pyjamawith a brown Gandhi topiand red/

whitegamchato complete that classic 60s look. Amoustached, vest-wearing, beefy Rollu is the mascot

chef and the tagline question is: Rollke andar kya

hai? Cheeky? Yes. But the food is so yummy and theprice so reasonable that you forgive the cheekiness.

And the loud Hindi music.

The step-wise rolls are the Rollmaal Classics.

From First Class Rolls, pick from Chettinad

Southy Mind It Roll, Bombay Franky, Keema Pav,

Bun Samosa with Pindi Chana. In Doosra Maal,

the options include biryani, dal makhni, muttoncurry. Therespeene ka maal(ice tea, desiremix

and colas) and only two things inmeetha maal(honey datephirniandgulab jamun).

At Rollmaal, youd want to roll over and pretend

youre hungry. Again.

PREETI VERMA LALRollmaal, A-28 Defence Colony Market, New Delhi-

110024; Phone: 011-41017360/61, 9873736881

Timings: 11.30 a.m to 1 a.m.

Average price for 2: Rs 350/-

SONAL VED

Adeconstructed platter

looks like a Jackson

Pollock painting. All

chaos and confusion at

first glance, but look

deeper and youll see an

underlying method to the madness.

The deconstructed dish, as legend goes,

was born in an Eton dining hall when a cookdropped a tray of meringues on the floor and

instead of putting them to waste created a

deconstruction. But it was Spanish chef

Ferran Adria of the award-winning elBulli

restaurant who made it a science.

Now, chefs across India are breaking

down classic recipes and giving them their

own twist. Deconstructing food essentially

means taking individual elements of a

classic dish such as an apple pie or a lasagne

and separating them to create a fresh and

contemporary form, says chef Azad Arif of

Mumbai-based restaurant, Otto Infinito.

At his modern Mediterranean diner,

deconstructed Caesar and Waldorf salads

rule the menu with various elements such

as the dressing, vegetables, fruits, cheeses

and croutons scattered across the plate

instead of being sensibly tossed together.

At Bangalore-based Caperberry, chef

Abhijit Saha breaks down the classic

Insalata Caprese, a classic Italian salad

with chopped fruit and cheese, into tomato,basil and olive oil sorbet, balsamic jelly and

molecularly treated mozzarella spheres.

Both Arif and Saha say the key to

deconstruction is to ensure that the

individual elements are recognisable by

themselves but work in cohesion.

The taste and flavour of the dishes

remain the same as their classic

counterparts, only texture and form differ.

Delhi-based chef Rajat Tuli of Double Tree at

Hilton Gurgaon, says, If you make

tiramisu and set it in a bowl, all the layers

come in contact and there is interaction of

flavours. In a deconstructed dish, the

components come alive since they have been

freshly made and plated. You taste the

biscuit, coffee concoction and cream

cheese independently.

According to a recent survey by the

Canadian Restaurant and Food Services

Association, deconstructed desserts areamong the top food trends in the industry.

Chef Milind Patel, who heads the kitchens at

Kitsch and Harajuku at Pune and Goas The

O Hotel, says the dessert course is the best

place to introduce deconstruction. As we

are a country of dessert lovers,

guests are more likely to try

deconstructed apple crumble

thanmurg makhaniwith dis-

sected gravy, meat and spices.

As commonly decon-

structed desserts such as

carrot cake, trifle pudding

and Black Forest cake have

few elements, they are easy toassemble. On the other

hand, a classic lasagne or a

seafood pie has several

ingredients that need to be

cooked in synergy and not separately for

accurate results, he says. Mumbai-basedculinary consultant Nidhi Behl of Tout de

Suite says that deconstruction is a healthier

way of presenting food. The sultry spring-

summer weather begs for light and refresh-

ing food. Deconstruction is the perfect way

to break down last seasons hearty recipes

into simple and effortless fare, she says.

Chef Sheldon Engineer of Punes

Cocopara agrees and explains how he breaks

down the substantial Shepherds pie to suit

the appetites and weather here. The dish is

served as one portion of gently-cooked lamb

mince with a piping of mashed potato and

sprinkling of crumbs instead of a heavy-duty

buttery base stuffed with meat. Duringdeconstruction, all the elements are cooked

lightly to retain flavours and are usually

served in smaller portions since there is so

much to display, he says.

Delhi | Rollmaal

BUDGET BITES

Restaurants that fill you up

without emptying your pockets

Chef Milind Patel saysthe dessert course is thebest to experiment with.Guests are more likely totry deconstructed applecrumble than murgmakhani with dissectedgravy, meat and spices

MY APPLE PIE ISIN PIECES

ITSY BITSY:Chefs feel thatdeconstruction isa healthier way ofpresenting food,especially duringsultry spring andsummer whenthe weather begsfor light andrefreshing food

DECONSTRUCTED SPRING GARDEN

Ingredients for faux soil

Q2 slices of bread (toasted)

Q1 garlic clove (minced)Q1 tbsp kalamata olives (minced)

Q1 tsp fresh herbs (minced)

QSalt to season

QOlive oil to saut

Ingredients for dressing

Q1 garlic clove (grated)

Q cup balsamic vinegar

Q cup extra virgin olive oil

Q1 tsp fresh herbs (minced)

Q1 pinch sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for salad

Q3 beetroots (baked)

Q2 red radishes (thinly sliced)

Q cup broad beans (boiled)

Q kg baby carrots (peeled)

Q1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

METHODQIn a bowl, mix all the dressingingredients and whisk well. To make fauxsoil, tear bread slices and blend in afood processor. In a pan, heat olive oiland saut minced garlic for 2-3 minutes.Add herbs and bread crumbs and stir.Remove from fire and add minced olives.Mix well and keep aside.

QTo deconstructDrizzle salad dressing on the base of yourplatter and scatter broad beans on top.

Lay beetroot wedges in a zigzag patternand top it with baby carrots and radishcircles. Scatter faux soil on the salad andserve immediately.

(Recipe courtesy: Nidhi Behl of Tout de Suite)

TAKE YOURSALAD APART

Chefs across the country are

deconstructing classic recipes

and plating them with a twist

SHARMILA GANESAN-RAMTIMES NEWS NETWORK

Afew months after 26/11, a couple

injured in the attacks on Leopold

Caf in Mumbai returned to thewell-known Irani restaurant.

I have come back to finish my beer, the

husband said. For two weeks now, such

anecdotes have been making patrons at

Londons Dishoom restaurant stare into

their plates a tad longer than an Irani caf

owner might appreciate. After polishing off

theirkeema puffs and brunmaska, theseLondoners start reading the curious text on

their plates. In it, they find a man comparing

the soft bread slices of Caf Excelsior to

Cupids cheeks and also imagine another

man smirking as he recalls that some cafs

came with small wooden family cabins which

were mainly used by courting couples.

Theres even the story of a gentleman who

fell in love with a waitress at a caf and the

amusing one of a man who would shout,

cuckoo so that the young

waiter, who only spoke Farsi,

would figure out that he

wanted an egg.

All of these are real stories

contributed by a bunch ofnostalgic Irani caf lovers from

Mumbai. As part of Dishoom

Plates, a campaign by Ogilvy One

UK along with Dishoom restaurant,

the agency gathered stories from the

older generation in Mumbai and

the UK, from oral accounts as

well the internet. Of these, 80

were chosen and baked onto

plates in various shapes

a chilli, a slice of bread or

even a beer bottle. Reading

them after a meal has the same

effect as ingesting sweet caramel

custard; a smile is sure to follow.

Everyone asks about Irani cafs

after reading these, says Shamil

Thakrar, who calls himself the

founder-wallah of Dishoom,

which has outlets in both

Shoreditch and in CottonGarden, London. Thakrar is

not a Parsi hes of Indian

origin but was born in Uganda

and then moved to the UK

but his idea is to introduce

Londoners to this quaint, thinning

slice of mid-century Mumbai.

And everything about his

two-year-old restaurant

pays homage to these

eateries that came with the

faded elegance of highceilings and chequered

tablecloth. Thakrar grew up in

Kings Circle and has fond

memories of Irani cafs. Often,

outings involved a horse ride at

Chowpatty beach (which

Thakrar pronounces as

chapati) and a quick meal

at a caf or two nearby. It

was the most democratic

place where the taxiwallah

could rub shoulders with

rich lawyers, recalls

Thakrar, who moved to

London a few years ago.

But on each of his subsequent

visits to Mumbai, he saw these

paragons of social democracy

slowly disappearing. Frothy

coffee was fast nudging out

the comfort of Iranicutting chai. The city was

running out of social

spaces that forced the rich

and the poor to mix. Caf

Naaz and the quirky Bastaani,

which had a long list of donts,

including No leg on chair, were gone.

Where there were once more than 400 Irani

cafs, fewer than 20 remained. Clearly pining

for this quaint bit of Mumbai, he decided to

recreate a part of it in London by opening a

restaurant chain inspired by Irani caf

elements. This, decided Thakrar, would also

force Londoners to think of a Mumbai beyond

clichs such as Bollywood, cricket, the days

of the Raj and curry. South Mumbai, with its

gothic architecture and decor so redolent of

England, provided a fair bit of design

inspiration. Thakrar also scoured the citys

Chor bazaar for chairs and old photos.

Soon, two recreations of mid-century

Bombay haunts materialised in London. One,

with all its disheveled corners, in the bohemi-an Shoreditch and another in the upmarket

Cotton Garden locality. The menu includes,

among other items, warm baked biscuits

along withkeemapuffs (just like the ones at

Sassannian), berry pulao, lamb rann burgers

andkala khatta. The waiters are called babus

and the captains, bade babus. And though the

stencilled text on the windows lists Do not

sit more among other donts, the plates

campaign makes that one difficult to follow.

Most patrons of Irani cafs have their

favourite caf stories. Thakrar is no exception.

During one visit to Mumbai, Thakrar

encountered the famous owner of one

well-known example, Britannia. Do you

know how old I am? asked Boman Kohinoor

Irani of Thakrar and went on to answer the

question himself. As old as this hotel.

When Thakrar asked, What can I have to

drink? the Irani caf owner launched into an

impromptu rhyme Nimboopani is nice

and sweet. Ideal to beat the Bombay heat.

Thakrar plans to keep the campaign torecord such vignettes going. The restaurants

website encourages visitors to share stories

and memories, of which the best are still

being chosen to be baked on to the dishes.

Incidentally, at his restaurants, there is no

signborad that says, No stealing of plates.

Dishoom recreates the charm of Mumbais Irani cafs in London the quaintly worded rules,

the berry pulaos and the many stories of their quirky clients

Brun-maska in Britain

The waiters are called babus and thecaptains, bade babus. And though thetext on the windows lists Do not sitmore among other donts, the platescampaign makes that difficult to follow

PHOTOS:PREETI VERMA LAL

PHOTOCOURTESY: JENNIFER VAGIOS

17 WINE & DINESATURDAY, APR 13, 2013 A TOAST TO TASTE