Post pandemic, people are more open to experimentation and quality, and willing to pay more for unique, high-quality, crafted experiences that are upscale yet casual
In the 19th century, when Lucknow was the epitome of cosmopolitan luxury, a banquet hosted by nawab Muhammad Ali Shah, the then titular ruler of Avadh, reputedly served 70 types of pulao, including the “navratan”—with grains of rice coloured (with natural vegetable extracts) as nine coloured gems! At Bawri, Goa’s latest outpost for luxurious dining—in Assagao, where else—the pulao is once again a centrepiece.
At the end of a long evening filled with dishes signalling a long lost past, the likes of jackfruit haleem, sigri-grilled kakori, judiciously spiced nihari, and a deliciously inventive silken bheja (a Mughal-style goat brain preparation) stuffed inside black rice dosa, comes the raan biryani. It is meant to be the showstopper, combining two star Mughlai/Avadhi dishes—a whole leg of lamb and the Avadhi pulao, here tweaked to cater to pan-Indian tastes as the biryani. Chef Amninder Sandhu, chef-partner, comes bearing it on a long salver, and then carves out the raan at the table.