Mumbai, India
It was a festive Lohri afternoon and to top it was my excitement for my forthcoming trip up to Punjab that I decided to experience ‘Rivaayat’ at Maya, the Indian restaurant at the Trident BKC. Rivaayat is an initiative started by the Oberoi group in early 2015, objective being to bring back very local recipes through people who have been staunch proponents of the cuisine. Maya is known to showcase regional cuisines at regular intervals and this time they come with Punjabi Rivaayat in association with Chef Sweety Singh from Delhi.
Lunch at Maya was a full house and I had to wait over a glass of Kesar lassi which was lightly sweetened thus not hampering my appetite. I picked the set meal comprising Sarson Ka Saag, Aloo wadiyan (Potato and lentil dumplings), Pindi Choley, Masale wala Kathal, Maa Rajme ki daal and Kadhi Pakoda, Makke di Roti and Bharwan Kulcha. For appetizers was Chukandar di tikki which has the crunch of beetroot, a rich khoya aur rajme ki seekh, the decadent paneer tikka with a mint and cashew filling and tandoori forest mushrooms with a dry fruit filling. When you speak of Punjabi cuisine, most people would refer to an overload of butter, ghee, cream, Khoya and all things rich and this meal gave me an exact opposite perspective, it was rich not heavy ,subtle on spices whilst being very alluring. Yes it had butter and ghee but just to add another nuance or facet to the dish and not be the highlight of the same. Chef Sweety reinstated that it was the kind of food his father served in his Dhaba in Delhi in 1950’s and he continued to treasure the original after joining his father and expanding into a full-fledged catering business.
I ended my meal with the classic winter time Punjabi favourite Panjiri, a sugar free Khajur halwa and Gajar halwa with some orange zest. Chef Ashish Bhasin, Executive Chef of the hotel said “Rivaayat is a unique initiative which highlights the richness of traditional Indian cuisine that has been honoured by time. After the immense success in Gurgaon, it is now our turn to ensure Mumbai experiences these delicious Indian recipes.’
Rivaayat-e- Punjab is on till the 21st of January
Set-meal (for lunch only): RS 1500++ for Veg and Rs 1800++ for non-veg
P.S: Lined up next is Rivaayat-e-Lucknow. Any thoughts on the cuisine?
Indian Gourmand 
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