Sampling Dal Moradabadi at Ignis, New Delhi

While this isn’t a food blog, we’ll make a concession and still write about a meal that I thoroughly enjoyed at Ignis, which is a multi-cuisine restaurant in Delhi’s Connaught Place (or Rajiv Chowk) area. It’s above the good ol’ Volga restaurant and, according to a friend, offers the most spectacular view of the market area especially at night time. That the restaurant faces the Central Park only makes the view better.
Ignis still awaits its liquor license but since my husband and I are not too high on the booze quotient, it made for a good choice. Though I was tempted to try mushroom cappuccino (a soup), we settled on what my husband called “nouveau Indian” food. My eyes did veer towards some interesting salmon dishes, a promising starter of chicken and olive parcels and what have you. But what we ordered finally was also an extension of the scrumptious fare offered at Ignis. And though we went totally desi in our order, opting for olive and parmesan naan (one of my favourite Indian breads) along with regular butter naans, we took thick tomato gravy with fenugreek chicken fare and a simple daal. In fact, I loved the way we got our Dal Moradabadi. It reminded me of how the delectable Khowsuey is served at The Kitchen, another favourite haunt at New Delhi’s Khan Market. (Address: 75, Khan Market, New Delhi. Contact: 011 - 41757960/1)

Since we’re a wellness blog, I knew instantly that this is one dish that will make it to SPAlendor. It’s a good idea to replicate the serving style at home too. What we ate was a simple arhar dal served with seven accompaniments including roasted garlic, freshly chopped coriander leaves, amchoor (dried mango powder), ginger juliennes, squeezed juice of half a lemon, a tangy coriander chutney and a dry red chilli.
It’s something we could do at home too. Cook a pan of lentils with salt to taste (salt should never be added after dishes are prepared, it should be added during the process of cooking) and let everyone add their desired flavor. While I’m not too fond of intensifying my dals with too many flavours (unless it’s very badly cooked and bland) it was a nice feeling to keep adding the accompaniments that we got at Ignis.
So, then, bon appétit!

Where: Ignis, B Block, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, Above Volga restaurant, New Delhi
How much: Meal for two (without starters or drinks) with just the main course: Rs 826including taxes