Fiery, familiar flavours of Indonesia

Spicy and vibrant dishes of the South East Asian country find place on the lunch and dinner buffets at the coffee shop, Seasonal Tastes till October 5

Indonesia has found the perfect way of adapting the heady flavours of Indian spices and herbs and the aromatic accompaniments of South East Asia and the resultant cuisine is intense and high on taste quotient. You have the lemon grass and galangal vying with the ginger, garlic, turmeric and cumin making for a deadly combo that immediately appeals to the Indian palette.

As a part of the food promotion, there are at least four salads, soup and appetisers, four main course dishes, rice and noodles and desserts on the lunch and dinner buffets. The treat starts from the salad counter itself - ‘Tofu with bean sprouts’ and the ‘Steamed carrots, beans with spicy coconut’ and for the meat eaters there is ‘Shrimps with raw mango and coconut’ and ‘Fish with lemon grass and greens’. The use of raw mango and the abundant use of coconut is obviously a regional habit that finds a reflection in the entire coastal belt cuisines of India and so, relishing the food comes naturally.

What more, Chef Muhsoni who has specially flown in from Indonesia seems to have a magic hand as he conjures up one delicacy after the other that are, a profusion of tastes and aromas. The ‘Sea food soup’ – ‘Sop Udang Chumi’, for example, is deliciously spicy, infused with the inimitable taste of shrimps and fish and spiked with Indonesian chilli and fragrant lemon grass. Appetisers like’ Jagung Goreng (crispy fried corn kernels tossed Indonesian spices)’, ‘Ayam Suir Bumbu Tomat Dau Cahe (grilled chicken breast flavoured with kafir lime and tomatoes)’ and the Indonesian variant of a ‘Satay’ that is juicy, spicy and much more intense than its Thai counterpart; main course dishes like ‘Terong Balad – diced eggplant sautéed in tomato based sauce’ and ‘Ikan Kakap Asam Manis – steamed fish topped with lemon grass and galangal flavoured sauce’ that can be had along with sticky rice and the signature dishes like Nasi Goreng and Mie Goreng, made using a variety of noodles and tossed to perfection along with greens, herbs and spices – are all on the menu and a must try.

Desserts reiterate the innate connect Indonesia, its way of life and its cuisine, has with the Indian sub-continent. ‘Dadar Gulun – stuffed pancake rolls with coconut and jaggery’, ‘Biji Salak – sticky rice cake dipped in brown sugar sauce’, ‘Kue mangkok – Tapioca cup cakes’ and ‘Pulam hitam – sticky rice pudding reduced with coconut milk’ are delicious to taste, unique, yet so very familiar; just like the rest of Indonesian fare.