Tigers Experience - The Youth Brigade - Mahabelly

Mahabelly By Chance - Yes By Chance - Client meeting got over at the bar next door , had read a few reviews about this new entrant by the Youth Brigade , so landed up there . The Food mall behind DLF Mall in Saket is very interesting corner ,has seen a number of changes ever since it opened , today it has TC Cafe , Rajdhani , BBQ nation etc and Mahabelly .. earlier used to be a food court . The funny part is that i have had two meals there and both i have eaten alone .. i know my nature can never eat alone wonder why Tiger became so greedy all of a sudden and ventured to eat at Mahabelly all alone .. well i did and i loved it . The first time i went was just a couple of beers down hence  had the guts - tho  before entering i called a couple of Mallu friends to accompany me ,but who comes last minute .  Anyway entered only a couple of table occupied . serious mallus feasting , the manager recognized me greeted me and made me feel at home . like always never checked out the menu just blatantly told the manager "Please get me one chicken , one mutton and maybe some beef too " hehehehehehe So what he gets me is chicken roast , erachi (beef)fry and the mutton moplah biryani . And the second time i went was for the greed of the amazing cuisine. 

The ambience nice not very mallu influenced but modern trendy with the touch of youth playfulness , the chairs and tables made from wood from down south ,not very comfortable .. hard wood - need to loose weight i guess, the music thankfully not the typical carnatic drag .. upbeat and nice . The menu simple black n white easy to read an understand , the team small but all there. Quite an simple art gallery with a whole lot of "CurryCreatures ".

So while the order is getting ready i see two lanky looking dudes walking in going to the cashier desk , i understood these are the men behind mahabelly - post reading so much about the Mallu Educated dudes. Anyways i got this opportunity to interact with the these two Stephenians who have ventured into restauranting . Very open to suggestions , super belief in what they are doing , a bit nervous - anyone would be when you have a the axe of the rent hanging on your head . Very creative  and determined .  So Thomas Fenn sat down with me and answered by several questions thru the course of the meal . 

So here is what they have to say about 'Mahabelly'.

The Concept

A specialty restaurant serving authentic Kerala cuisine fuelled by a wide variety of flavours , textures, and tastes. Culinary influences include Syrian Christian, traditional Nair, the Malabar region’s Moplah, coastal cuisines, and the ever famous fare from the toddy shops of Kerala. The restaurant offers an exquisite menu staying true to its traditional roots and heritage that will excite and captivate a South-Indian, local as well as a cosmopolitan audience.

The theme of the restaurant draws its inspiration from Kerala pop culture such as Malayalam cinema, performing arts, traditional lore and artefacts.

Why/How did Mahabelly come about?

Zachariah & I came to Delhi in 2006 to study at St Stephen's College. Over a period of time, we increasingly missed the food that we grew up on and couldn't find a place in Delhi that came close. Sure, there were small shacks in the INA market that served some decent fare, but they weren't places that you could take your family and friends to. There were also a few mid level to high end restaurants that served food from the southern states as a whole rather than specialty restaurants. The idea was perhaps conceived as early as then. Post college we went on to pursue our respective careers, but the idea of an authentic Kerala cuisine restaurant kept niggling at us. It also helped that there was a mini revolution of sorts in the Delhi food scene with new restaurants, concepts and consumers mushrooming all over. The time was ripe.Neither of us had any experience in the F&B industry but we had a clear idea about what the product should be and more importantly what it shouldn't. We figured that starting up something would be a very exciting journey if nothing else. 

A lot of brainstorming, hard work, blind luck and three months later Mahabelly was born.

Regional Cuisine is slowly catching up in Delhi , and high time it did. Education of the foodies is very essential , India has so much to offer and learn from in the culinary bracket that one could spend a lifetime doing so . The idea is to be open to the food , the flavours , cooking styles . Kerala cuisine is found in places like Sarai Jullena , Khari Baoli , RK Puram etc .. and aren't we glad that we have places like Mahabelly now in upmarket areas and more accessible to us foodies . I personally think it is a slow climb for regional cuisine but definitely here to stay .

The Entrance

Backgrounds

Thomas Fenn is a graduate from St Stephen's College, New Delhi. He has worked as an Analyst with an infrastructure consultancy Feedback Infra Pvt Ltd for two years before taking over Operations, Marketing & Business Development for the Stellar Children's Museum, Ambience Mall Gurgaon since it's inception in 2012.

Zachariah Jacob is a graduate from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi and completed LL.B from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. He has been working as Manager (Law) with IFCI Ltd., New Delhi which is a Govt. owned Public Financial Institution since 2012. He is also a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Banking and Finance (CAIIB).

WOW what a youth Brigade , Educated , Talented , enterprising , visionaries , determined and top it all adventurous .. absolutely amazing . With such backgrounds , getting into the food business and that too in a punju dominated city .. its incredible . Dumping a job for a passion is a wow and then making a success of it is the cream .

Brilliant Interiors

Family History in Food

Zachariah's family has a rich history in the food business. His father Jacoby Jacob is a founding partner of Hotel Aida in Kottayam in Kerala with over 30 years of experience in the field of hospitality, food & beverages. The wisdom, support and mentorship that Mr Jacob provided was indispensable in the project especially when it came to defining the business side of things.

Beautiful Wall Art

Amazing Wall art what an collection of Mallu Sketches .. each worth taking a picture off . This keeps you busy while the food is being prepared.'Currycreatures'.

Chefs

At Mahabelly, we don't have any celebrity chefs or the like. These are men and women who have put their nose to the grind at small restaurants and cooked their way through.My sister Ann Thomas (who's a home cook herself) took a month off work to help us

conceptualise the menu and standardise the recipes of almost all the items that we serve at the restaurant today. The result is a certain uncanny honesty that we bring to the table.

So while the dishes are cooked homestyle they are the popular dishes one would eat down there in Kerala. They mentioned a word above called standardise - now this is an art ... You have to keep in mind the portions , the cooking time in mind while being in the food business . 

Erachi Double FRY

Erachi Double Fry

Outstanding .. actually outstanding , beef well cooked , no smell , amazing coconut flavors , chewy  .The meat so well cooked that it could shred so easily . Have you heard the lastest fad about healthy eating they say coconut oil is the healthiest and one must have a tea spoon of it everyday .. and the mallus are proved right .The dish was a winner and i could see the other two tables also gorging on it .

Chicken Roast

Roast is a crazy word in a foodies dictionary - everyone interprets it differently - the brits , the muslims all do it differently and the  Punjabis also they put a lot of Pyazza in their roast to make a chicken do piyazza  or dry subzi but how this was handled by the chef is just fantastic . Onions well roasted perfect mixed flavors , thick gravy , tangy and robust . hehehehe whatever that means lol . It tasted amazing with the malabar porotta .

Appam & Malabar Porotta

A Special mention here the Malabari Porotta was not the usual , was crisp flaky and yet soft in parts .. wasnt the kadak types which u normally get . The appam was crisp from outside soft from inside .. well done .

Mutton Moplah Biryani

The most talked about Biryani in town , so while the hunt for the best biryanis is going on in the country moplah is one of the very different biryanis i have ever had .. a well cooked mutton preparation hidden well under a bed of rice .. loved the sweetness of the combination . Biryanis are solely related tot he muslim dominance in areas , they tried their own versions with the ingredients available locally and that's the difference in a Moplah Biryani 

Veg Stew

Now this was one dish i was so familiar with and TRUST ME THIS WAS THE BEST STEW I HAVE EVER HAD ..... a touch of pepper , a hint of sweetness ,deliciously flavored with coconut gravy a real to die for dish with a nicely made fresh appam .

Caramelized Banana With Ice Cream

Well well like i said earlier a foodie must have an open mind , I had a picture or rather palate looking for ripe bananas - but what iw as served was almost raw caramelized banana - which were good .. kept the desert together . A Nice try , but shud have ordered a payysam .. silly me .

Need to try their Regular Thaali  and also Specials of the Day - the spread looks very interesting for sure . 

Future

We have our hands full with just one restaurant right now :) Our plan is to consolidate Delhi NCR and then span out.

Tigers Overall Experience with the Youth Brigade .. Keep the good work up and do anything to sustain and scale up Mahabelly , you have a winner on hand . Your food excels , the service needs to be tightened a bit , valet parking needs to enforced , fill up the blank spaces , ass some cafe sort of food for the time pass people and the last thing is make noise to welcome people to try authentic Kerala cuisine .

PS - please call me for breakfast one day i believe your chicken dosa is quite commendable . The advise to other foodies with amazing palates is that be open to discovery , dont have pre conceived notions about the food .. let the senses decide .

Mahabelly - MA A-05, Restaurant Block, DLF Place Mall, Saket, New Delhi, India

Tigers Experience of ZAMBAR - Cyber Hub Gurgaon

And I'm Going to Make you Droooooooooooool!!!!!

Research done on the restaurant , I always do extensive research on every restaurant i go to review - Chef Aruns baby , Lite bites flagship chain , none had a bad word to say - Chef Arun the adventurer - Journalist to a documentary maker , to a chef Wow now thats whats called following a passion is all about . Infact i have done a study during my MBA days about what alternate carriers preferred by professionals, to elaborate alternate carriers they would like to take if they were not doing what they are doing today and trust me the findings were amazing - Lawyers wanted to become Chefs, CA's wanted to be DJ's , Engineers wanted to be artist etc etc .. So i firmly believe that there is a hidden profession in each one of us and it is Passion led . So Chef Arun you have proved my finding right . Thank you . What he enjoys at Lite bites and specifically at zambar is the liberty to experiment - every chefs dream to be given the freedom of experimenting with the menu, his way  ... very few get this opportunity . Kudos that you made full use of it and are living your passion . 

Chef Arun - you are a genius or a magician .... your simplicity , your research and humbleness spells beautifully in Zambar .. was a wonderful experience in total.

The Gorgeous Interiors

This is called adaptability they open in Cyber hub the most swankiest place to be in, all corporate honchos floating around , expats , call center executives , high heeled kitty party ladies , professionals like me fixing meetings there - Zambar launches a all day menu , quick thaali concept , a dosa on the move ... in a chic yet traditional atmosphere , to get the people in . Zambar Cyber hub is done up like houses of the rich society from the  chettinad areas of Tamilnadu hence called Chettiyar Houses of Tamilnadu ,design on the lines of  Karaikudi heritage town declared by tamilnadu government - houses are built with limestone .  Beautiful colorful posters on the walls ,open kitchen , alfresco seating also available to please your eyes while you eat . Very comforting yet zing ambiance . 

The Accompaniments 

Tomato Chutney , Coriander Mint Chutney , gun Powder with Gingelly oil (Sesame Oil ) gawd why was i always under the misconception that they served Desi Ghee with Gun Powder - Thanks Chef for correcting me . The Gingelly Oil is used in almost Chinese, Mid Eastern cuisine as a taste enhancer.  The gun Powder is a proprietary recipe but the basic  is lentil , dry chilies and spices also know as Podi . Freshness , Flavors the essential component of the chutneys , gun powder enhances almost every dish  . 

Fresh Coconut Chutney

Why a special mention and a special standalone pic of this coconut chutney - freshly ground by hand and not the grinder which spoils the fun of the crunchy  coconut - very lil daal , something different and new to me . A very Homey Type of a Coconut Chutney.

T Rasam and Butter Milk

Hot n Cold Shots of Zambar ... the Tomato rasam though tasted very original and authentic would have been even better if it had a few pieces of tomato floating in it  for  the crunch... the butter milk was ok ok .... a bit thick .  I normally skip this to do justice to the main course . 

Kerala Chai Kada (Tea Shop) Chilli Chicken

Nice .. like the  litpita chicken in tangy sauce .. fun finger licking chicken often served at tea stalls in Kerala as claimed by the chef  but essentially a chilly chicken with more tomato in it for the finger licking to happen . Trust me u cant eat the chicken dish with a fork and knife you have to dive into it with all your fours . But actually want to confirm if this is sold at tea stalls , if so .. baby im moving to Kerala.  Well cooked chicken , super textures and flavors . 

Batata Malige

Simble - South Indias answer to Fries - potato wedges sauteed in spices as simple as that . Instead of the regular chinese crispy potatoes try this for a good change .... good starter. A perfect crowd pleaser. Would go amazingly well with a beer.

Squid Rings with Sea food filling

This was a drool - The size of the squid impressive the filling even more impressive - together a chewy squid with amazing flavors of the sea . Im guessing here now - fish , prawn and more squids were the main fillers  tossed in dry masala . The masala essentially had a mix of khada masala - finely chopped  coconut , tomato onions . for a minute thought oh god these are spring rolls until i attacked one of them . Just delicious and innovative . Was quite fed up of fried squids . A very ambitious dish .

Andhra Kosta Salan- Chillies

Flash Fried Large chillies with Seasame , Peanut and coconut served on a bed of the same gravy .. i have a strong feeling that the chillies were soaked in vinegar before being cooked .. they had a sour taste to them ... like the bottled Jalpenos . Loved it .. not much chilly so easy on the tongue .  A very hyderabadi salan. Would love to go back for more.

Achamma’s  Lamb Curry 

Very Very simple Lamb Curry - ACHAMMA’S LAMB CURRY: grandmother’s recipe of a simple, yet tasty, lamb curry. Lamb Simmered in coconut milk with spices....  with the idyappam its a perfect mix -Now this dish is chef Arun Grand mas secret - how did he get the recipe - wonder how many months it took him to master the same .. point to ponder . Well  getting back to the dish lovely spices simple for sure but enjoyable , the palate never got confused .. the lamb soft and succulent . A true homey .

Simble Veg Stew

Who doesn't love appam and stew - i actually prefer the vegetarian one ... becos i love coconut . Smooth as silk , fresh and pure . The appam perfectly cooked , even on all fronts .. i don't like the one which is thick in the centre . Its a technique to get an appam right.  Stew to me means brewed slowly cooked with perfect timing ... yes thats what a good stew shud be .rich coconut flavors drove me mad .

Coastal Prawn Biryani

The Pefect Moplah or  Mappila Biryani - Prawns my lord prawns -  A biryani from the Muslim Community of Kottayam Kerala .... whats different about it .. huh well the original is called Neychoru and with the influences of the Arabs the moguls it got extended to be called a biryani ...  the prawns were succulent , the grains very distinguished , the masala in which they cooked the biryani were very Kerala which made the biryani just perfect in the sens it was not totally dry , slightly wet , spicy and the spices made it very interesting .. this too is served with the raita like back home . Each grain of rice was sperate , the masalas well blended in the dish - the praws absorbed the falvors well and cooked just right.

Mangalorean Chicken

The Parontta

Chef Arun and Chef Vijay hated me for this one - the closest south india can get to the North Indian Palate . hahahhaah the closest they get to the Punjabi Butter chicken Flavor but yet not  there. Thick rich tomato gravy , grilled julienne of chicken  floating in butter awesome with the paronta . Just remember when ever we go out to eat we always have tha one friend who cant look beyond Butter chicken and daal makhni - dont know about the daal but just quietly order this chicken and kep them happy , silent while you enjoy and cherish your fab South Indian Coastal Meal . The paronta was nice and flaky ... thats the way I love it . BTw this chicken dish does not have coconut ... very gassi style .

The Desert Sampler 

Coconut Jaggery Pudding , Payasam/ Kheer, Pongal and Rava Kesari - the best of the best from South India , all home made inthe Kitchen of Zambar .

Coconut Jaggery Pudding with Hot jaggery 

The Coconut Jaggery Pudding is now my favorite for sure in South Indian deserts as it is I love Coconut and mixed with jaggery topped with hot molten Jaggery sauce was DIVINE . The Pudding was well set like a good souffle .. the topping of the sauce gave it the very international feeling LOL 

Chef Vijay amd Rajeev

The men who i praise a lot .. Chef Vijai, Chef Aruns right hand man as im told has learnt all his tricks from the master chef who was not well that day , good in a way , i got a chance to meet vijay who is equally passionate and knowledgeable about the food . Thank You Chef Vijai . Ah yes Rajeev the man who was attending to us ... very courteous friendly like all south Indians .. helped decide what to eat . He was well informed about the cuisine on the menu and explained all dishes perfectly . 

Host Sonali and Of course Tiger

Sonali the head of Marcomm for Lite bites the gracious host ... must compliment her for the choice of bloggers she makes ....she chooses simply the best to taste and write the best ,hahahahahaha doesn't it say a lot about me does it ?  Sonali has been with the food industry and has great  knowledge about food  , very impressive  .....hahahahahaha  good choice sonali and thanks for having me over .  A perfect Host.

Sonali thanks for the Mist Affect hahahahahaha well the story behind this is tat we were eating int he open and suddenly the DLF guys at Cyber Hub have this Mist spray all over the place - though it felt like Simla but they shud realise that the water may spoil the fun of the food .... luckily for us the mains was over and we were enjoying  the filter Kafi . 

Beautifully Designed Menu 

Now this is what a drool menu is all about ... visual  treat , beautifully designed ... you see exactly what you are going to get .. actually i  did compare the two and they matched , very seldom does this happen . This is how a good menu should be made ... big pictures to make the foodie drool . 

Did Ya Droool  Ya ya .. that was the Idea .

Tigers Overall Experience: 

I have done Zambar before with a foodie group , ate a thaali there liked it but was not really impressed , but this time when i ordered ala carte i was blown over .

Ambiance : Chic and traditional - comfortable seating , Indoors and outdoors available 

Food - Full compliments to the Menu for its design , its collection of dishes to cover the coastal regions of India, Great mix of home recipes ,Perfectly spiced , Innovative , Authentic , Traditional and Fresh 

Service - Super Duper

I came back home told family about zambar and its food , and challenged them to find anything better than this in delhi . Incidentally we covered 6 restaurants down south last month to get a feel of authentic south indian cuisnie and trust me Chef Arun you have nailed it. 

Tigers Experience of Zambar - Ambience Mall - Gurgaon

Ambiance Mall Gurgaon

Do i cal it an Ethnic Experience  or do i call it  Ethnic yet Chic  or Ethnic with a twist - Zambar is truly a good experience  Traditionally designed a typical houseboat feeling with modern amenities.We need more of these kinds in Delhi for the delhite to move away from the Dosa and Idli concept of south Indian cuisines  Southindian cuisine have flavors to be chewed and enjoyed slowly . Each dish is beautifully mixed with flavors and i am made to belive that these receipes are coming from families way back the years . Fantastic.

Stone ground Chutneys  - nice flavors and they didn kil me - stone ground is the best way to eat chutneys and masalas - why the chutney i guess because it still has the crunch of each ingredient - these modern gadgets have actuially ruined the traditional flavors . 

Malabar Chicken Soup and Rasam  - The chicken soup was a new for me - never had something like this for sure - not very southy tho - chicken broth with rice in it - taste was fantastic 

Mutton Sukkha - i loved this starter - Sukka mutton , bhuna ghosht - well marinated mutton in freshly ground masallas - actually wanted more but but - had to do justice to the Thaali .

The Thali - Eight Dishes - Sambhar , Rasam , Stew Thoran,Andhra Pappu Chettinad Korma,Achammas Lamb Curry, Mangalore Chicken roast,Vellapatti Fish Curry,Tharavaram Prawn Curry , served with appam paronta  - soemone wil hate me for what im going to write - I personally dont like thaalis , becos the dishes confuse my palate - too many flavors and as it is South Indian food has several masallas etc - so a bit confused about what i was eating and in the end all started tsating the same - net net im not a thalli person at all - i prefer two dishes and happiness . Having said that the stew was sweet which surprised me , lukcy for me Chef arun was around and he expaliend that they use fresh coconut milk to make the stew hence sweet - i buy that . Rest of the curries , well interesting but cudn do justice to them . And yes the appams intially were not upto the mark but the second round was divine. 

Signature desert of Zambar  - I loved the one on the top left - with coconut milk ,Jaggery ; the one on the right was a paronta based innovation quite delicious.

Items eaten but no Pics : Mushroom on papad , Moplah Prawn Biryani - just awesome .

Overall Tigers Experience :

Ambiance - hmmmmmm south indian with a modern touch . Nice buzz 

Decor - very interesting , more kerala type boat house 

The Company : Educative

Seating : Tight 

Smells - Southy 

Service : Polite , efficient team 

Interaction : Wonderful with Chef Arun 

Food: Learnt for the first time that they dont use master gravy funda - everything is fresh and authentically grounded.

conlcuded : Im not a thaali person , will go back for sure to try two dishes at a time .