| It is certainly not impossible to dine out, even in tandoori-land, sans chicken. In the absence of chicken spring rolls, chicken biryani and chicken seekhs, chefs and diners are discovering new possibilities. |
| Ploof, Delhi's only seafood restaurant, for instance, is doing brisker business than ever "" though chef Manav shies away from thanking the fowl. |
| Weekly supplies at the restaurant include 100 kg of lobster and 50 kg of crab, but even these are running short. |
| So one piece of advice would be to snap up the red snapper, pomfret, tuna, bekti, squid and prawns from their substantial selection, especially since the restaurant has an interesting new menu now. I would recommend the chef's lemongrass-flavoured prawns satay, or the crab in butter-garlic sauce any day. |
| If you want to cook-in, on the other hand, cook-books and the Internet in particular are spilling over with seafood recipes "" from regional ones like the Kerala meen moilee to interesting twists like grilled salmon in a roasted tomato sauce (salmon pairs well with Mediterranean flavours) or one for "teriyaki shrimp and scallop kebabs" that I saw on the net recently and am quite willing to try out some day. |
| Only, as Manav warns, remember three things while cooking fish: undercook, never overcook; no long marinations, five minutes in some lemon juice, olive oil and salt is just fine; and use only one defining ingredient for the cooking, a little dill or lemon grass perhaps, but don't douse it in masala or you'll never get to taste the fish. |
| On the other hand, a substantial portion of humanity refuses to touch fish on grounds that it (1) smells, (2) is expensive. For these people, there are vegetarian options aplenty. Manav offers vegetarian sushi as also a wonderful take on the chicken spring roll "" asparagus wrapped in veggie rolls (though bacon wrapped asparagus tops that any day, but we'll come to that later). |
| And then you have Little Italy, a "pure veg" Italian restaurant in Defence Colony with a seriously fancy menu, including an elaborate wine list. So a vegetarian's idea of fine dining may not necessarily be restricted to the dosa-idli joint. |
| I may not approve of Maneka Gandhi but I disagree equally with the other type of "animal lovers" when they claim that vegetarian cooking offers nothing beyond paneer. To all these people, I say, potato, potato, potato. |
| Honestly, forget "exotic" vegetables, the humble tuber offers endless possibilities "" bake it with cheese or stuff it in paranthas, and if you are particularly calorie-conscious rustle up a potato poha, the way the Maharashtrians do (grate potato, put it in a karahi with a little oil, sprinkle peanut powder liberally, add salt, and top it with a garnish of fresh coriander and freshly grated coconut) for a quick meal. |
| Still not convinced? Well, despite PETA and John Abraham, the best way to eat veggies and fruits is with meat. But it's a good thing to forget pretenders like a chicken and pineapple "Hawaii" pizza for a while. |
| Ham and pineapple, it should be. Or try ham with coconut and kiwi, if you want to be innovative. Or pork pita pockets "" if you want to eat some healthy salad! And no, pork isn't unhealthy. These days, thanks to better breeding and leaner cuts, it is the "other white meat" on everyone's diet diaries. |
| If you are still apprehensive, browse through www.porkpeople.com, "where food is the focus and pork is the star". Roasted pork tenderloin, claims this website, has only 162 calories as compared to a roasted chicken breast with 165 calories. |
| So, if you don't care about being unhealthy, feast on the real thing "" mutton pulao and not the vile "chicken biryani" that is served at every dhaba. In the end, I hope that we have finally bid adieu to one more retro dish "" the "chicken steak". |
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