A tasting menu is the kitchen telling you a story in the order it wants it told. Chef Mukesh's Mughlai tasting menu runs to eleven listed courses, and it follows the arc of a Mughlai meal — light and sharp at the start, rich and slow in the middle, sweet at the close. Here is each course in the order it arrives.
In this article
The Opening: Amuse Bouche and Broccoli
1. Amuse bouche — Peanut Butter Beetroot Tikki. A single bite to open: a crisp beetroot tikki with a creamy peanut butter centre. It is the least traditional thing on the menu, and it is there on purpose, to tell you this is a kitchen that knows the tradition well enough to play with it.
2. Charcoal Broccoli, Truffle Malai Cream, Roasted Nut. Broccoli charred over the coals and dressed in malai — the cream-and-spice marinade of the Mughlai tandoor — lifted with truffle, with roasted nuts for crunch.
From the Tandoor
3. Mawa Paneer Tikka or Basil Pesto Paneer Tikka. A choice between two paneer tikkas: one stuffed with mawa, the slowly reduced milk that runs all through Mughlai cooking, and one marinated in basil pesto and char-grilled.
4. Soya Boti Shan-e-Lebab. Soya boti served on a soft thepla with a lemon cream and pickled red cabbage. Of all the courses, it is the one that shows most clearly how the kitchen treats a vegetarian protein: marinated, grilled and dressed the way a kebab would be, not apologised for.
The Main Courses
5. Mawa Paneer Kofta or Soya Keema Meatball. Another choice. The kofta is paneer and mawa in a rich, aromatic brown gravy; the meatball is soya keema in a masala gravy. Both are the Mughlai kofta tradition, reading it two different ways.
6. Dal Tajnuma. Black lentils cooked slowly into something dark and creamy. It is the dish we would ask you to judge the kitchen by, because it cannot be hurried.
7. Veg Biryani with 8. Kurkuri Boondi Raita. Basmati and vegetables, layered, sealed and finished on dum; the raita, with crisp boondi, is the cooling counterpoint it needs.
9. Breads — Nawabi Naan, Pudina Laccha Parantha or Tandoori Roti. For the dal and the kofta.
Two Desserts
10. Shahi Tukda Taj-e-Zaika. The Mughal kitchen's bread pudding: fried bread soaked in reduced sweetened milk, here crowned with a Banarasi-style rabdi foam.
11. Gud Khoya Sheermal with Malai Kulfi and Roasted Nuts. Sheermal is the faintly sweet, milk-made bread of the Mughlai table; here it is filled with jaggery and khoya and served with kulfi. Bread at the start of the sweet course and bread at its end — it closes the meal on the same note the tradition does. More on both in Mughal Desserts.
Booking and Practicalities
The Mughlai tasting menu and the seven-course Indian street food tasting menu are both listed with current prices on the tasting menu page. Every course is vegetarian, and Jain adjustments can be requested when you order. Allow a relaxed evening for it rather than squeezing it in before a train, and book ahead on +91 90688 89658, especially at weekends and in the cooler months.
For a group, a tasting menu has one more advantage: everyone is served the same course at the same time, which is why it works so well for private dinners.
