The time has come to reclaim the word Bhai. I remember those days when it was such a term of affection. But Bollywood — and those underworld gangsters — went and spoiled it all. For me, though, Bhai continues to a much-used and much-loved word.
And that explains why I was elated when I got a call from an outlet called Irfan Bhai. This is a place that does home delivery – which is something that we are in great need of in these days of a complete lockdown. It is run by Cross Border Kitchen, which describes itself as a “multi-brand, multi-kitchen, multi-format, internet-driven food and beverage company”. I was happy to have met Irfan Bhai. The food is Lucknavi, and the dishes are mostly cooked with whole spices. The menu includes all kinds of qormas, biryanis and kababs (though there are some good vegetable dishes, too). For my dinner the other day, I had Badshahi Qorma (₹ 475), Khichda (₹ 365), Shami Kabab (₹ 325), Bhindi ka Salan (₹ 225), Malai Kofta (₹ 365), and Taftan Roti (₹S 70) I love khichda — a delicious mix of grains and meat. Actually, I am very fond of the combination of these two ingredients. Haleem, for instance, is one of my favourite dishes, and I love dalcha, a mix of pulses and meat. This khichda was superb — thick and tasty. The grains had soaked in the flavours of the meat. It had been slow cooked with whole spices and then garnished with fried onions and mint. The Badshahi qorma was nice, as it wasn’t as spicy as the Delhi Qorma, and the gravy was not very thick.
The two vegetarian dishes, surprisingly, were excellent. The okra in the Bhindi ka Salan was in a tangy onion-tomato sauce. The cottage cheese dumplings in the Malai Kofta were soft, and the gravy had been cooked with tomatoes, green chillies, coriander and ginger, and tempered with turmeric and fenugreek. I had it with the taftan roti — traditionally prepared with flour, milk, yoghurt, a pinch of sugar, and eggs.
The shami kabab, however, was not the best I have had. The meat didn’t have the right balance of spices and was a bit too dry.
What I liked about the dishes was that the flavours were well rounded and nothing was overdone. Qormas can really be in your face, and this wasn’t the case with Irfan Bhai’s fare.
The menu includes dishes such as Handi Kofta (meat dumplings in a yoghurt-based gravy), Murgh Stew (chicken slow cooked with peppercorn and onions) and rogan josh. The vegetarian section includes Aloo Salan (with baby potatoes), Moong Mughlai (dal cooked with dill leaves, ginger, and green chillies, tempered with white cumin seeds), and Sabz Bukhari – biryani cooked on dum and served with fried baby potatoes.
Irfan Bhai’s base kitchen is near Vasant Kunj (Ph: 9873333058). It is open on weekdays from 11 am to 12midnight, and on weekends from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. To check what’s on offer, log on to Irfanbhai.com, and order over Zomato.
“Umda laga?” the website asks. Jee, huzoor. Or should that be Haan, Bhaijaan?
The writer is a seasoned food critic
