The culinary disposition of Punjab, in contrast to its geographic panorama, stays undivided. It spells the fusion of hearty, sturdy and fiery palate coupled with cooking methods that date again to the Harappan civilisation.
Fortunately, you would not have to journey again in time to style the heritage of Punjabi delicacies. It has a brand new tackle — Kikli in New Delhi’s Connaught Place. Co-owned by Chef Amninder Sandhu, who’s the pressure behind Bawri (Goa, Mumbai) and Dining Experiences at Tipai (a boutique wildlife escape in Maharashtra), Kikli holds the key to Punjab’s lesser-known flavours and dishes that transcend the common butter rooster, kulcha, pindi chhole and makki di roti teh sarson da saagh. It affords katlama that sits proud in the lanes of Lahore as Pakistan’s well-known avenue meals since 1947 and it digs out the secrets and techniques of Patiala’s royal kitchen.
The unfold at Kikli, which holds the key to Punjab’s lesser-known flavours and dishes
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“About two years ago, I decided to create a restaurant that is all things Punjab,” says Amninder, speaking about the inception of Kikli. Between Mumbai and Delhi, she zeroed in on a heritage web site in the capital’s Connaught Place and roped in inside designer Ariane Thakore Ginwala to design her new enterprise as a “stripped-down version of a haveli”. She needed the restaurant to deal with totally different seating areas, from courtyard and bar to eating part and an open kitchen, which complemented one another and beguiled the curious visitor’s consideration to particulars. “It took us nearly nine months to build it,” she says of the venue spanning almost 8,000 sq. toes that might be operational from July 28 and can accommodate almost 130 folks.
The restaurant to deal with totally different seating areas, from courtyard (left) and bar to eating part (proper) and an open kitchen, designed by Ariane Thakore Ginwala
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With Kikli, Amninder leverages three issues — her Punjabi id, camaraderie with Sarvesh Kaur (the late granddaughter of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala) and her information of conventional slow-cooking methods. “In 2018, when I opened regional Indian restaurant Arth in Mumbai, Sarvesh shared her heirloom recipes with me. These were handwritten notes from her mom. She helped me find my rhythm in cooking and it continues to dictate my culinary choices,” she says.
One of the 11 sections on the menu, titled The Royals, options Patiala shahi paratha (proper) and Patiala shahi raan (left)
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Though Arth was compelled to close throughout the pandemic as a result of of unexpected monetary setbacks, Amninder says that some of the dishes from its menu are actually half of Kikli. One of the 11 sections on the menu, titled The Royals, options Patiala shahi paratha, mewadar keema and kofta alubukhara. The different sections are Salaad, Chaat Pakode Centre, Buns, Meat And Fish Corner, Bade Mazedar, Hara, Rotiya, Pulaaaw, Mithiya Cheezaa and Lassi.
At Kikli, chef Amninder has put in a hara, on which dal is cooked in a single day
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Amninder recollects, “Another interesting thing about Arth was that it was a no-gas restaurant and I cooked everything on open fire. At Kikli, I have installed a hara, on which the dal is cooked overnight.” It was throughout her go to to a 120-year-old farmhouse in Bathinda, Punjab, the place Amninder noticed a hara. “It looks like a hearth, works like a slow cooker and has a smoking chamber. It has two wells where you put paathiya (cow-dung cakes) and coal,” she explains, whereas including, “Kadhai-based dishes at Kikli are made in sarbloh utensils made by third-generation blacksmiths. The chutneys are ground in danda kunda (mortar and pestle).”
Plum Bajra Papdi
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Kikli’s menu champions native components, like ajwain patta, moongre, kaali gaajar, shalgam, chappan kaddu and khapli atta. “It has papdi chaat where the papdi is made with bajra. Also, in Punjab, coriander seeds, anardana, crushed chilli and amchur is used a lot. For most dishes, I have made my own masala. Also, the vegetables are sourced from Smiling Earth Organic Farms in Selakhari Haryana,” provides Amninder.
Kikli serves katlama, that sits proud in the lanes of Lahore as Pakistan’s well-known avenue meals since 1947
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She likes to assign totally different intervals of historical past to the borders of Punjab, whereas describing the origins of some of the dishes on the menu. “For instance, katlama, a bread, was sent to each other’s homes during Baisakhi; on the menu, it is called Kikli katlama. You will find katlama at various places, and if you come to think of it, in the mid-19th Century the Sikh Empire extended from Gilgit and Tibet to Sindh and from Khyber Pass to the Sutlej. So, our culinary heritage is expansive,” she shares.
Drinks from Kikli’s bar: (Left to proper; prime row) Ambi; Thand-ayi; and Jugaali Chaa
(Left to proper; mid row) Rooh Royale; Patiala Pista; and Thand Rakh
(Left to proper; final row) Cider Singh; Brine Baaz; and Falsa Shalsa
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The title Kikli comes from Punjab’s people dance. She says, “It was suggested by my brother and I think it fits. Even as a dance form, kikli is not for the faint-hearted and is almost like martial art. I feel, the restaurant’s co-owner Dhruv Chawala and I are also performing kikli as we run this venture.”
Churri gur ice cream
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A meal for 2 at Kikli, situated at Ok 11B, Connaught Outer Circle, New Place, Ok Block, Connaught Place, New Delhi, and open from midday to 1am, is priced upwards of ₹1,500 approx. (with out alcohol).
