Atta Chicken – an ancient recipe made famous by Chef Oberoi again
Here’s a piece of culinary good news for fans of indian haute cuisine – from 15 to 22 August, The Fullerton Hotel’s riverside restaurant, Town Restaurant will host Chef Hemant Oberoi for a week long culinary promotion which will add a wide selection of Indian haute cuisine to the restaurant’s dinner buffet.
Who is Chef Hermant Oberoi?
He is a well-known multi-award-winning chef armed with more than 4 decades of culinary experience. Chef Oberoi was formerly the Grand Executive Chef at Taj Mahal Palace at Mumbai as well as a Corporate Chef for the Luxury division of the Taj Group of Hotels.
Under Chef Oberoi’s guidance, various culinary teams from Taj went to Osaka, Thailand, Belgium, London, Switzerland and America to introduce and promote Indian cuisine. Chef Oberoi is also the man who created several award-winning restaurants like Wasabi by Morimoto for Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces – the Mumbai branch has been ranked in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 3 consecutive years from 2013 to 2015.
Me with Rebecca Ko, one of the contributors to our sister site, Asia361.com and Chef Oberoi
Currently, as a consultant for Taj Group, Chef Oberoi continues to share his knowledge and passion for Indian cuisine and strives to bring the cuisine to world-class gourmet standards. Besides being a revered culinary personality, Chef Oberoi has also been the personal chef to many Prime Ministers and Presidents. His culinary guests include a list of some of the world’s most powerful people like Barack Obama and Narendra Modi.
A specialist in contemporary Indian and Western cuisine, Chef Oberoi has developed and presented many innovative concepts to the culinary world.
I was invited for a media preview last week and these were the items we sampled:
Amuse Bouche – avocado in panni poori tamarind dressing
Varqui Crab – tellicherry pepper, curry leaf crab, tandoori shrimps
Makai Shorbha – roasted fresh corn soup
Yes, those are popcorns in the centre
Mango lassi
Galouti Kebabs and Ganderi Kebabs
Melt in your mouth lamb kebab
Chicken kebab on sugar cane stick
Atta Chicken – chicken wrapped in chapati dough
The succulent fresh of the atta chicken
Uppu Kari – lamb curry
Guchi aur khumb – morel mushrooms
Beef raj Mirch
Yellow Dal
Naans
The chef calls this indian pizza – good stuff
As above, guests can expect an array of creations. Among the colourful selection are Mutton Shikampuri Kebab, Chicken Saagwala Curry, Sali Gosht (mutton curry served with fried potatoes), Jhinga Anardana (fresh prawns tossed on a griddle with roasted coriander seeds and kashmir chilies, topped with pomegranate seeds), savoury Haleem (slow-cooked lamb and lentil stew), Atta Chicken (slow cooked dough wrapped chicken) as well as freshly made Naan.
The Atta Chicken is highly recommended.
The dish was a common folks dish in olden indian, but was revived again recently by Chef Oberoi when he reintroduced it. The chicken is succulent and soft, with flavours of the spices slow cooked into the meat.
For those with a sweet tooth, complete your meal with delicious treats like Masala Chai Crème Brûlée (crème brûlée with a hint of Chai tea), soft and fluffy Hot Gulab Jamun (dumplings in a sweet syrup), and Kulfi Ice Cream:
Desserts
Masala Tea Creme Brulee
Kulfi – indian ice cream
In general, I find Singaporeans to be less adventurous in trying indian fine dining cuisines, maybe because of the misconception that everything is spicy. Quite the contrary, many of the dishes are not spicy or just mildly spicy. Some are even sweet. Real good food do not burn your tongues, instead they tease you.
Here’s a good introductory buffet to the art of indian haute dining, curated by one of the very best chef.
Town Restaurant’s Art of Indian Haute Dinner Buffet will take place from 15 to 22 August 2015, from 6.30pm to 10.30pm at $55 per adult and $28 per child (6 to 11 years old) from Sundays to Tuesdays, $69 per adult with a seafood selection, or $89 per adult with a free flow of draught beer and Singapore sling, and $34 per child from Wednesdays to Saturdays.
It also includes a local spread with favourites like Laksa (Spicy Noodle Soup), Singapore Satay (marinated chicken or beef on bamboo skewer accompanied with spicy peanut sauce) and Bak Kut Teh (pork ribs served with spicy broth).
For reservations and enquiries, please call (65) 6877 8128 or email town@fullertonhotel.com.