Baraat – Celebrate Indian Food, Greater Kailash 1, New Delhi

Restaurant Name: Baraat – Celebrate Indian Food, Greater Kailash, New Delhi
Phone: +919811114488, +918448558131
Address: 48, Auto Shopping Complex, Zamrudpur, Greater Kailash 1 (GK 1), New Delhi 110048 India
Time: 12:00 Noon – 01:00 AM
Meals for two: Rs. 300
Cuisines: North Indian, South Indian, Seafood
Facilities: Delivery Only, No Seating Available

This is one food delivery service with a difference, and what a difference! Started by an entrepreneur with no previous association with food, he approached Baraat without any preconceived notions. The food is delivered to your house in a sturdy cardboard box; each dish is packed in a colorful tin box, reminiscent of the Karachi halwa boxes of old. All chutneys are served in glass jars. The food is made in a cloud kitchen and delivered all over NCR. Baraat also caters to parties and office functions besides regular home deliveries.

Food:

We were impressed by the off-the-beaten-track offerings from south of the Vindhyas: somewhat of a rarity hereabouts. The Mangalorean fish curry (₹625 / 875; half/full) is a masterpiece of coriander powder and the merest hint of raw mango. If you visited that south Karnataka city and ate at a private home, this is the fish curry you would get: where the raw mango cuts the sweetness of the ground coconut, and the simple spices shine through. No less brilliant is the Goan prawn balchao (₹645 / 875). Balchao simply has to have tiny sun-dried shrimps in it: in Goa, weekly markets usually sell ‘cakes’ of these, but outside that state, it seems unknown. Dried shrimp add an irresistible flavour of the sea that cuts out the sweetness of the onion, and Baraat is the only known Delhi kitchen to use themand Goa-made toddy vinegar. Amritsari choley (₹325 / 495) had choley cooked to perfection: they burst on one’s palate with a plop and had the gentle flavours of anardana and dark roasted cumin. Both the rice preparations were top-class. Do not diss the karela pulao (₹375). The knobbly-skinned bitter vegetable we all love to hate has been turned into a hero here to the extent that it is barely recognizable, except as a mild aftertaste, though how that effect has been achieved is a mystery. The pahadi meat chawal (₹525) was the masterpiece of our meal. Far from having a commercial flavour, as so many cloud kitchens and restaurants tend to have, this one tasted like the labour of love of some old uncle who sets up shop outside a college in a small town.

Plus & Minus:

Tasty food that is easy to like yet not cliched in fun, reusable containers.