Osama Jalali - Connecting the world through his food - " Shahjahanabad Classics" .

It was long overdue to meet Osama Jalali in person whom I along with many address him as "Osama Bhai" . Finally got a chance to meet him and perceive his Shahjanabadi Classics curated by him and and his family at a food trail hosted by Le'Meridien, Gurgaon . 






Knowing Jalalis -

Osama Jalali is a food critic , food consultant , contributes for The Hindu and other publications . He has reviewed more than 2000 restaurants . With parental roots to a princely estate in Rampur , Uttar Pradesh, he was born and was raised in the bylanes of Old Delhi which was also known as Shahjahanabad. Osama Bhai's grand father was the head mufti in the Fatehpuri Mosque and his father graduated as a Doctor from Medical college set up by Hakim and nationalist Ajmal Khan. While his father practised medicine lifelong in the walled city,  his mother Nazish Jalali collected all the recipes with natural medicines from the kitchen shelf . While talking to his mother Nazish Jalali who is better known as "Ammee", she told me that" Khana Pakane ka hamein shauk hai aur hum chulhe ke paas se tab tak  nahee hattei hain jab tak  khana pura tayyar nahee ho jata hai " ( Cooking is my passion and I never move away from the cooking area untill I complete my cooking ). His wife, Nazia Jalali  is a quiet and shy person but as a team they form a strong team "The Jalalis" .

"The Jalalis - Osama Jalali with his wife - Nazia and Ammee- Nazish 

Coming back to food , I had been to Jama Masjid and Batla House for Muslim delicacies . I didn't know that all these years , food which I was eating at these places are street food . I was served with a menu which I never got to see in any of the Old Delhi outlets. I was feeling fortunate to sit next to Osama Bhai and relish the food which I never had before. He was explaining me about the ingredients and process of each dish served to me. I could see the joy in his face when me along with fellow bloggers appreciated each of his dish . 

Starters .

So in starters I had Shammi Kabab, Kacche Keeme ki Tikkiya , Qeeme ki Goli , Seekh Kabab, and Fish tikka . The accompaniments served with these starters were something to talk about . There were Cranberry chutney, Mint Chuntney, Pyaz Aamchur ki Chutney and Annaras (Pineapple) ki Chutney. I shamelessly finished two bowls of Cranberry chutney. In vegetarian starters Kathal Ki Gilauti , a blend of Jackfruit and Channa dal was mind blowing . Mewa Kabab was a mix of dry fruits with exotic spices . It was very mild and delicate . Paneer Tikka was a normal chunk of Cottage Cheese roasted on coal. 

Main Course 

For main course I had *Aloo Gosht - a very mild curry of mutton cooked on slow fire with big pieces of Potatoes . This dish is very common in eastern region too. I always pick one big piece of Aloo from the meat curry. All the juices and spices seeps in the potato and taste delicious .

 *Haleem - A slow cooked dish of mutton and broken wheat . I was touched with the hospilitiy of Osama Jalali when he was teaching me how to eat the Haleem with its accompaniments ( lemon juice , fried onions , green chillies etc) .
*Hari Mirch Qeema- A mild curry of minced meat with a strong aroma of green chillies but not hot to the palate . This dish was amazing and I took two servings of it .
* Saag Kofta - Soft chicken dumplings dropped in spinach gravy. A very different dish as the Koftas were not fried yet not gave the raw smell of chicken .
*Urad ki Dal Gosht - Never imagined  that it could be a Shahjahanabadi cuisine . We cook the same dish in my Assamese cuisine . The difference is they cook the dish with whole Black lentil . Again a very mild dish with a strong aroma of Jaiphal . 

* Chicken Korma- It was a curd based dish with a strong aroma of golden fried onions . 
I am not a veggie person but still I relished the Mughlai Paneer which had an essence of Green Cardamom.  Along with these dishes I was served two types of "Bhartas" ( Mashed ) . Aloo ka Bharta which was boiled potatoes sauted with cumin seeds and red chilli powder . Channe ki Dal ka Bharta - It was an amazing dish ., which was boiled channa dal mashed like a puree and sauted with ghee and other exotic spices . I can say it was rock star of the savoury dishes . Btw I had all the above mentioed dishes with Khamiri Roti , made with yeast .

No Mughlai meal is complete without Biryanis, so had Tahiri which was rice preparation with Potatoes and mild spices. Murg Biryani- There were no traces of oil or ghee and it was again very mild preparation with an essence of Kewra .

Meetha 

 For Desserts , I didnt enjoy the "Aloo ka Zarda" , which was very new to my palate . But I had two serving each of Shahi Tukra and Gulathi . I still can feel the taste of Gulathi which is a blend of rice paste cooked with milk and nuts on slow fire . At the end Osama Bhai asked me  to try the  Zafraan too , which was with less sugar and soft rice preparation with tuttie fruity . 

* The festival is on till tomorrow ie 20th of September with a cover charge of 1650/- 

It was pleasure meeting the Corporate Chef of Le'Meridien, Gurgaon " Tanveer Kwatra" along with Jalalis .