Singh Sahib – Food from the Undivided Punjab

Singh Sahib is a restaurant in the Hotel Intercontinental Eros in Nehru Place, New Delhi. It claims to serve authentic food from the undivided Punjab. The decor is mostly heavy wood, glass and brass, which looks classy but stops short of going over the top. Live Indian music and a glass portal looking into the tandoori kitchen completes the scene. All in all, a lovely place to bring business associates, prospective in-laws, the partner for a romantic evening or perhaps Mum on her 50th birthday onwards. The service is unobtrusive and efficient.

I must confess I literally ate the food blind, while noting down individual flavors, textures and appearances. There’s just so much a guy knows about a certain genre of food and that’s that. My notes were meant to help me write as informed a review as possible after I sifted through pages of information from cooking texts and old, translated books accompanied by notes from hours of verbal conversations. It’s taken me the better part of two months to write this review. When you go to a restaurant that serves food from a certain era and geography, the standard parameters just do not apply! As a result, I needed to scour the Internet for references and speak to relatives who lived in the undivided Punjab to really understand what food and food culture were like at the time. My inputs came from a few people, most notably my grandmother Mrs. Usha Khullar (U.K.) who lived in the Sheikhupura area of Punjab. Other contributors included Mr. N.K. Khullar (N.K.K.), Mrs Balbir Kaur, Rawalpindi (B.K.) and Mr. Deepak Rai, Sheikhupura (D.R.).

Armed with my new found and perhaps suspect knowledge, I’ll say the food at Singh Sahib isn’t 100% authentic food from the undivided Punjab. Having said that, it is probably one of the most if not the only restaurant in all I’ve visited that even come close to recreating a culinary experience comprising food from the undivided Punjab. Sporting a very unique theme bound to make many quite nostalgic, Singh Sahib combines a delicious menu, fine wines and live music into a package that most will find hard to beat.

Our dinner menu for the evening was Multani Paneer Tikka, Bhatti da Murgh, Murgh Tikka Potohari, Sofiyani Tandoori Jhinga, Raan Peshawari, Ghucchi aur Khumb da Kamaal, Meat Beliram, Butter Chicken Masala, Methi Pulao, Tariwali Macchi, Tadka Daal, Vegetable Raita and Dil Pasand Seekh with Kulfi Falooda for dessert. Yes, that was quite a bit of food on the table and we enjoyed every last bite!

UK (18 years old at the time): Tandoors were present in nearly every house in the vicinity, though only one would be lit for every 6 – 7 houses. When lit, neighbouring housewives would pop in with their roti dough and ask for their rotis to be cooked too. Hence the origin of the phrase Sanjha Chulha. Interestingly, the tandoor was most often used in summers whereas winters would see rotis being cooked on iron griddles in coal burning mud stoves. Rotis thus cooked were partially cooked on the griddle and then tossed on coals from the mud stove to be inflated. There were five basic types of stoves or similar devices used at the time.Wood burning stoves, young/soft (kaccha) coal angithis, old/rock (pucca) coal angithis, wood dust (lakkad ka bhura) stoves and pats (upple) of cow dung (gobar) burnt in a padholi (round, temporary brick formation). The cow dung stove was preferred when cooking sarson ka saag as it burnt for quite a while, producing heat of low intensity. A special type of wood called Macchiti was preferred when used in tandoors.

The Multani Paneer Tikka comprised spicy mushrooms, cheese and spring onions encased in an amazingly tender wrap of half a centimeter thick cottage cheese then roasted in a tandoor. Delectable, to say the least.

UK: Multani cooking wasn’t very different from normal cooking though the people were said to be quite aggressive! Peshawari cooking on the other hand featured food high in ghee and spices.  Peshawari food was usually served on special occasions.

Bhatti da Murgh or the ubiquitous Tandoori Chicken was average – chicken marinated in a spice mixture and grilled in a coal oven (tandoor). The Butter Chicken Masala too was par for the course. Problem is, both the dishes were quite well executed and tasted excellent. Unfortunately, they feature in every North Indian restaurant menu and most do a fair job of delivering. Individually therefore, they were very good. Comparatively however, they rated average for restaurants of Singh Sahib’s class. The Peshwari Murgh Kebab was highly spiced and roasted in a coal fire. Combining a spicy and smoky flavor it was a delight to eat. Another noteworthy dish was the Murgh Tikka Potohari – a mixture of minced chicken, herbs, black cardamom and kebachini. Kebachini or kabab chini (Cubeb, Piper cubeba, or tailed pepper) is a berry quite similar in look to black pepper that is dried and ground for use. It’s taste is similar to both allspice and black pepper. More here.  (Thank you for correcting me Nikki!)

DR (16 years old at the time): We would go bater (quail) and titar (black partridge) hunting during certain times of the year, especially when the sarson (mustard) crops were ripening. Thousands of birds would come in flocks of 6 – 7 birds each, at which point we would take out our guns, fit tractors with large trolleys to hold the entire group and go a-hunting.  Deer hunting happened in a similar fashion. We only needed to fire the gun and half the birds would drop dead due to the sound! When cooked at home, the birds would be marinated in spices and made into a tariwali dish (with liquid or curry – not with curry powder, which is a British invention). When in the bush, the birds would be cleaned, coated with salt and chili powder and basted with white butter while being roasted over a wood fire and accompanied by copious quantities of local liquor. The next morning all imbibers would be desperately hunting for yogurt as it was said to offset the effect of the alcohol. Meat wasn’t a luxury then and if we were expecting guests, a young goat yielding six to seven kilos of meat would be cooked for every 6 guests. Goat brain wasn’t popular at all at the time, though chaap were. Meats in order of preference were mutton, chicken and fatty river fish. UK: Meat was exceedingly rare and when eaten thorny fish was first in the list, followed by chicken and then mutton. (Sid: A bit conflicting as you can see)

The Ghucchi aur Khumb ka Kamaal was a gravy dish that combined morels (ghucchi) and button mushrooms (khumb). Delicately spiced and brilliant with steamed rice this dish is a must-try when you visit Singh Sahib. The Sofiyani Tandoori Jhinga comprised large, cleaned prawns lightly coated in a subtle mixture of spices and then char grilled in the tandoor. Juicy and mildly crunchy on the outside, this dish holds very well on its own. You could also try it with a mouthful of white rice with a piece of crisp papad (poppadom).

UK: I remember ghucchis being quite commonly available along with dhingris (oyster mushrooms). Mostly ghucchis were made into ghucchiya da chawal. I do not recall any curries made with gucchis. NKK: Dhingris as per my memory, were most often cooked with choley (white chick peas) resulting a dish called dhingri choley. BK: Ghucchis were cooked with white chana dal.

The stars of the evening were the Tadka Dal and Meat Beliram, without doubt. I can see some raised eyebrows as I write this. How can the humble tadka dal be the star of an evening? Showmanship, that’s how. That the dal was good is one thing. The fact that it was presented with such panache is quite another. As you can see in the photograph, there was an entire little show all around the dal and I’m sure quite a few other diners ordered the same thing just to see the show. I’m not going to spoil it for you – you’ll see it when you visit. The Meat Beliram. Very good. If you’re looking for a quick lunch or dinner, just pop into Singh Sahib and order the Meat Beliram and a couple of tandoori rotis. You’ll leave with a contented smile on your face, a satisfied glow to your person and sigh every once in a while when you recall the taste. Exquisite. An old recipe from Beliram, said to be one of the best Indian cooks of the era, he lived in Lahore Pakistan.  One of Jiggs Kalra’s favorite recipes, here’s Mr. Kalra’s rendition of the recipe just in case you want to try this at home.

UK & BK: I recall the name Beliram as associated with food, though I’m not sure what he cooked. DR: I recall Haveliram, but those were Lassi people I think. UK: I recall chicken made into curries, never cooked in a tandoor. Food was much spicier then than now, and we never drank tea (Sid: Not surprising as Indians didn’t drink tea culturally. It was a British propagated habit that spread quite fast all across the country. Obviously, UK’s area hadn’t caught on yet). Evening drinks usually comprised Sattu or Sardai (small cardamoms, almonds, melon seeds, khus khus, sugar and milk). BK: I recall dried rose petals used in Sardai.

Jiggs Kalra’s Recipe for Meat Beliram

• 1.2 kilos assorted cuts of lamb
• 1/2 kilo onions, 50 grams garlic
• 5 cloves
• Salt to taste
• 125 grams ghee (clarified butter)
• 600 ml yogurt
• 70 grams ginger, 10 chhoti (small) elaichi (cardamom)
• 2 sticks cinnamon, 10 grams Kashmiri deghi mirch (chili powder that has more color than heat)
• 15 grams coriander seeds (dhania)

Preparation

1. Clean and cut  into 1.5 inch chunks; clean the chops.
2. Whisk yogurt in a large bowl.
3. Peel, wash, and slice onions. Scrape, wash and finely chop ginger. Peel and chop garlic.
4. Mix all the ingredients, except coriander seeds and ghee, with yogurt and leave the lamb chunks in the marinade for 1 hour 45 minutes.

Cooking

1. Heat ghee in a haandi (large cooking utensil)
2. Add coriander seeds and saute over medium heat until they begin to crackle.
3. Add the lamb, with the marinade then bring to a boil stirring constantly.
4. Cover and simmer, stirring at regular intervals, until the meat is tender.
5. Uncover, increase to medium heat and bhunno (saute) until the fat leaves the masala. Adjust the seasoning.

Serve
Transfer to a serving dish and serve with tandoori rotis.

To conclude, Singh Sahib is definitely worth a visit and you would do well to read a little about the cooking and flavors of the times before you visit. It will increase your appreciation of the food and magnify the sheer decadence of the evening. Bon Appetit.

- Sid
PS: If you behave well and ask nicely, the Chefs may just allow you into their inner sanctum and show you their magnificent kitchens.