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Ikk Panjab, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi – Revisited [25/02/2022]
At my first ever meeting with Rajan Sethi eight years ago, he told me that he appreciated excellence in every sphere, however obscure. “That is why I drive a Mercedez Benz”, were his words, “because that car represents the pinnacle of excellence in technology.” At that time, I found his words a trifle precious, but after following his restaurants over the years, I have had to conclude that they were not without merit. Take Ikk Panjab for instance. Every last arte-fact in the restaurant has been painstakingly collected from several sources, by Sethi himself, to form a veritable museum of the state as it was before Partition, when, in the British Indian records, it was spelled Panjab, rather than the commonly used spelling of today.
Ikk Panjab, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi: Food
It is very difficult — if not impossible — to make chaat as tasty in a restaurant kitchen. However, the Ram Laddoo (₹ 285) is crisp despite the bed of whipped curd and sweet chutney plus a sprinkling of chaat masala. I regret not having ordered the dahi bhalla, aloo chaat etc but the Kotkapura chicken (₹ 975) was irresistible. Made in the eponymous town near Chandigarh, a whole chicken is marinated with spices, then wrapped in a thick fold of dough before being cooked in the tandoor. The (not inconsiderable) skill lies in be-ing able to cook the chicken perfectly, inspite of not being able to see it. The version at Ikk Panjab is a succulent bird with spice that has penetrated into the tender, optimally cooked meat. Exactly how the kitchen manages that feat, I don’t know. Also, I don’t know of any other restaurant in the capital, that has the guts to have kharode ka soup (₹ 275) on their menu, but Ikk Panjab has been put together by a team with passion and integrity, and the server told me that it is regularly ordered all through winter. Now, we come to the one dish that, in west Delhi, makes or breaks an eatery: butter chicken! This is the version that I like the best. It is tart because of the tomatoes they use; creamy with ghee and/or cream and chicken lightly cooked in the tandoor.
Plus & Minus:
The menu represents the state in its entirety, from Peshawati chicken rolls to Kotkapura chicken to enormous jalebis at Tam Taran Gurudwara.
