Tigers Experience at Kausstubh - South Indian Vegetarian - Saket, New Delhi

Well Kausstubh came to me after i had done three of the top South Indian restaurants in Chennai , so the flavors were still lingering around, the study of South Indian cuisine  was deep and fresh , the authenticity of dishes was well understood and yes yes  the head was also nodding left to right hahahaa .... 

Kausstubh - the South Indian Vegetarian restaurant  serving  authentic South Indian cuisine from the states of Tamilnadu, Kerala, AndhraPradesh, Chettinad and Karnataka located in Saket behind Pollo and TC ... actually an hidden jewel . The baby of Himashu Maheshwari a thorough business man with a vision - he is clear about the business model - hire the best , get the best location , serve limited and pure food , he comes from a Marwari family where vegetarian food rules - i must say his knowledge of South Indian food was impressive. Today he has two outlets one in saket and the other in Noida , both doing well he had nothing to complain about - has great expansion plans into four biggies and then a series of small outlets QSR models .  He and the team take a lot of care in Hygiene and quality of ingredients they source . Simple modern interiors - no agarbati , no carnatic music hehheheheh

The Man behind the amazing conceptualization of the dishes  Chef  K. Paramasivan ya pyar se KP .He spent a lot of time with us explaining his beliefs , his fundas behind each dish , the  closeness to authenticity of each dish , his narration of the dishes  was absolutely divine . He took us to the origins of each dish and shared with us his modification of the dish to match the north India palates - i argued with him till the end on this one .. why change the construct of the dish to suit palates ? how will we ever learn what is the closest to the authentic dish ? Why have north Indian food at all in a South India dining place ? ps yes they do have a North Indian Section which i just ignored-   Market rules , survival wins .  KP is an ex ITC Dakshin chef he was a part of the launch team , KP  huge amount of talent behind him of over a decade , he has spent time in most of the kitchens in South India to understand how to merge the home style cooking inot the commercial band wagon .The Gm Kunal who is from assam but was instrumental in launching Dakshin - every courteous and a well informed person . Kunal knew his food extremely well . KP sources most of the masalas from Delhi but sources the secret masala from back home in Madurai .  Kp is a typical simple south Indian gentleman - humble ,soft spoken,intelligent and FULL of Knowledge on cuisines .

I must compliment Kausstubh for the design of the menu - Big Font , Pictures of the dishes , North Indian translation , easy to understand . Super well thot of  Menu . The menu has regular North Indian dishes also - i didn even bother looking at that section . 

Very interesting starters 

Butter Milk - Freshness galore ; Rasam - could have been better with more bit of tomato floating around ; The Fried cocktail idilis perfect for a sun downer snack - fried with gun powder  eaten with fresh coconut chutney; the cheese Paniyaram - always loved them - soft gooeey and just yum served with a freshly ground tomato chutney. Great starters for sure , building up a story for things to come .

Dosa's they are there just for sake of being there , really not required when you have such amazing South Indian Vegetarian food available . I would never opt for them . But since i ate them my favorite of the three was the Crushed Garlic Dosa ... 

Veg Kothu Parontta 

This is a dish im sure we North Indian would love to try at home - put all the cooked veggies in a pan add the broken down parontta to it try and mash them together and serve with onion raita , as easy as that hahahahaha Nice concept for the fussy veggy eaters . This is a street food of Tamil .

The Gorgeous Multi State Thaali

On  a serious note i have an aversion to Thaalis - i feel they complicate the palate and leave you in confusion .... but then how else would i have tasted all the states delicacy in one go - so made an exception and went for it - trust me it was so worth it .

The Sampling Thaali - Very Elaborate and Regional : had A Malabar Parantha, Idyappam, Potato Kara Kari, Keerai Kuttu (Dal Palak) ,Kai Kuruma (Veg Qorma) ,Kai Stew (Vegh Stew) ,Beans Thokran,Carrot rice , Rasam, Sambar , Plain Yogurt , Kalan Masala (Mushrooms), -- whoops that was a lot - Each zone of South India on one platter what more would you want . Each state of South India so well represented by the dish of the state - amazing colours , original flavors and authentic.

Sambar - Totaly Home Style - thick , perfect combination of sour and sweet 

Rasam - A bit disapoointed - actually am used to the tomatoe rasam with bit of the veggy in it 

Stew - With beans was yum 

Mushroom  Curry - SPicy , nice with parontta

Potato Curry - yet again perfect flavors went well with the parontta

Dal Palak - Very distinct flavor was amazing with the idyappam

but nothing like samabr chawal and beans and carrot rice with a bit of rasam.

What i liked was the instructions by KP what to eat with what .... Parontta with the Mushroom and kara kari; idyappam with veggies , the carrot rice with sambar and rasam - the greedy me asked for extra plain rice to relish the sambar .

Malabar Parontta and Idyappam 

Malabar parontta , flaky and crisp the way it shud be . The Idyappam  or String Hoppers- white noodles stuck together are they hahahaha well if they are like noodles then im sure South India is the inventor of noodles across the world since we are ancient and much before the chiense arrived .The literal meaning of Iyappam is idi which means broken down and appam is the steamed pancake fo the broken down version is called idyappam . Can also ve called nool appaam , nool = string . Not bad at all .

Perfect Appam

Have not seen or had a more perfect appam = just right thickness , evenly cooked and was a pleasure to eat with the Stew . 

Well to be honest my excitement to eat at kausstubh was that they had food from all different states in South India . Went there with no intention of eating dosa for sure . The Experience was super ,very simple place good location , great Chef and Promoter . Next time going and relishing the Ala Carte Menu and not thaali - but for a first time experimenter the thaali is a great option to visit the aromas and flavors of South India . 

I would recommend Kaustubhh to people who want to go beyond Dosa's and have no clue that south indian states make the most amazing vegetarian meals - which are scientific and contain ingredients which stimulate each part of the body .

Overall Tigers Experience :

Food : Superb (I did have two deserts , one of them was delicious - have forgotten the name , forgotten to take pic hence no review , but a must try )

Service : Aiyo , Very Good

Ambiance : Modern , chic and South Indian 

Value For money : Very easy on the wallet 

Going Back : Yes every Month . 

Thank You Team Kausstubh , Thanks Kp , Thank you Kunal and Thanks for having us over Himanshu.