Readers accustomed to my columns on politics, geopolitics, and defence may be surprised to see me change course. Yet there is another subject close to my heart in which, I say with suitable modesty, I understand at least as much: food. When work takes me to Delhi, meetings can move and plans can change. One appointment I try to keep is dinner at Indian Accent.
India is one of the most exciting places in the world to eat. Its flavours, colours and aromas do not fit into a neat description, nor should they. The pleasure lies in the variety: a familiar spice in an unfamiliar company, a regional idea carried into a new setting, and a dish that makes you stop talking for a moment. For someone who usually arrives in Delhi with a business agenda, that moment is a welcome change of pace.
Indian Accent, at The Lodhi, has a particular gift for creating it. Its cooking is inventive without asking diners to forget where the flavours come from. The menu evolves, drawing on the seasons and on the kitchen’s appetite for new combinations. That means I do not return expecting an exact replay of my last visit. I return to see what the chefs have thought of next. A favourite may be gone; something better may have taken its place. This is a risk I am very happy to take.
For a first visit, I would choose the six-course Chef’s Tasting Menu and give the evening the time it deserves. Small plates and intermediate courses follow one another with a sense of rhythm; together they become a meal rather than a collection of samples. There is pleasure in letting the kitchen decide the order. I have attended meetings with shorter agendas and considerably less satisfying conclusions.
If time is tighter, the four-course lite tasting menu offers an appealing introduction. Its current vegetarian selection includes pulled jackfruit with masala oat roti and greens and a choice of baked paneer with tamatar chaman and kale. On the non-vegetarian side, the Kolhapuri chicken with masala oat roti and avocado catches my eye, as does seared John Dory with Kerala moilee and asparagus. The Kinnaur apple with nut crumble and jaggery sounds like a fine way to finish either journey. If ordering à la carte, look out for the potato chaat with black truffle. Menus change, so ask what is being served when you visit.
Some might dismiss this as ‘fusion,’ a word so broad that it tells us very little. The better question is whether an unexpected pairing makes the food more interesting while keeping its Indian character. At its best, Indian Accent answers yes. No single dining room can represent all of India’s kitchens, but this one holds an imaginative conversation with their traditions, one plate at a time. I will return to geopolitics soon enough. In Delhi, I will also keep this appointment with the unexpected.