Chatora! indeed…by Atul Singh

We experience the world through our five senses and the sensations within us. A mish-mash of “all that jazz” and accompanying feelings is what we call experience. 

My experience of Chatora started several weeks before I ever got there, when I decided to visit London to celebrate my niece’s graduation. While there, I figured I will visit my classmate from school, at his Michelin Star rated restaurant called Chatora. Aside from being aware of the awards and accolades his restaurant had earned, I had seen the pictures of some of the sumptuous dishes he had shared with us in the past. They had always left me mesmerized at the quality of the presentation and attention to detail. It was a double edged sword though since it set my expectations really high. 

The one hour ride from from central London to the restaurant, increased the anticipation of enjoying the delicacies as well as meeting my friend and team-mate from my school basketball team after close to 35 years. So we snaked our way through the narrow London streets to Richmond for our much anticipated dinner and meeting. 

The restaurant was packed to the gills when we got there. It had a warm feel and three different zones where customers were being served, in a place that looked cozy and warm from the outside. There was an air of efficient operation with the wait-staff moving about busily but not frazzled, serving the tables when we got there. That it was Saturday night explained about half of the reason. The other half was clearly that this place was in demand.

We were promptly greeted, seated and served with a plates of appetizing Papads along with some home made Chutneys. I ordered some wine as well but that wasn’t going to tell me about the proficiency of the Chef. The Chutney was. So I took some liberal dollops onto my plate and tasted them with and without the Papad. They were distinct in taste and texture from each other but each packed a punch of flavor that lit up taste buds with their blend of spices and base. 

Good food is supposed to engage multiple layers of your taste zones without attacking any, I have been told. It is supposed to awaken them like gentle kisses from your lover and not alarm them into attention. The three Chutneys did their job of fanning that fragrance and taste into my senses, while subtly sowing the need for more.

And more of it came. It come in the form of appetizers that truly exceeded expectations. Whether it was Basil infused Paneer from the tandoori grill, which was incredibly soft and creamy with the most unusual but delicious flavours of sweetcorn and green-pepper; or the baked cauliflower appetizer with mustard oil flavored dressing. 

Both these dishes caught me by surprise due to their ingenuity. I had never seen corn go with Paneer for example, nor Cauliflower with Mustard-Oil. But boy did they complement each other. The Chaat themed appetizers were full in flavour but not overloaded. From the crispness of the crunch in Dahi-Poori to the amount of masala or Chutney; they balanced and highlighted each other’s strengths like good friends do, awakening the taste buds in full earnest. A good Chef in the background had to have found a way of training these intense flavours to play ball with each other, instead of competing. 

I have a friend who knows how to make Dal Makhni like God. I think she learnt it from God herself when both of them were in good mood too. So my intuitive standards for a good restaurant, is for one that makes the simplest, most day-to-day food, authentically accurate. Chatora passed that test with flying colors with their Kali Daal. You can’t get to that level of taste without grinding the ginger garlic paste yourself, without first bhuno..ing gourmet “khada masala” in the right amounts and then letting the daal cook with some of it too. The richness and variety of flavors that kick up your palette has to have become one with the Daal before they have a prayer of becoming one with you. That requires authentic Indian cooking. Kudos to Chatora for making that home kitchen type song play out so well in a commercial establishment. Then there was Paneer Lababdar in tomato and fenugreek sauce. I had a fear of ordering anything that sounded rich. In my past experience it typically ended up being overly creamy and appetite killing. However since my niece liked paneer we ended up ordering Paneer Lalabdaar as well as Aubergine Poppyseed which essentially was Baigan Bhartha in garlic and ginger sauce. Both dishes filled the mouth with their taste of a blend of spices in warm embrace with one another, while making it their life’s purpose to magnify the taste of the Paneer and Baingan respectively. They lit up senses I had and those I did not know I had. Paneer Lababdaar, far from being overly creamy, had a nice tomatoey, tangy taste with the Paneer intensely steeped in the spices and flavors of the sauce. Baigan Bhartha, which happens to be my favorite dish of all, had more gravy than usual, had intense but not overpowering taste and combined really well with tha naan and roti we had it with. Whatever spices or ingredients the gravy had, aside from ginger, garlic and tomato made it joyfully flavorful.

Furthermore, the unique Artichoke Mushroom Biryani was served, as it was baked, in a dough covered bowl. That arrangement infused the flavors of the vegetables and accompanying mix if deftly applied masala, richly through the perfectly cooked and moist Biryani. It was paired with a smoky Raita. Each spoon of the combination flooded the mouth with a novel and delightful taste of the humble rice living up to its full potential of a Biryani-Life.

For dessert we had Gajar-Halwa paired with Honey Ginger Ice Cream and three flavors of Sorbet. The pairing of the dishes with the right kind of sauces, including in the dessert, to balancing and enhance each dish was done at the level of a culinary art form. I was told that Chatora had sixty-five different sauces that were paired with the dishes to make them come alive even more. It made me walk away with a new appreciation for that aspect of an enhanced gourmet experience. Just a touch of this and a dash of that to make the core flavors go bada-bing, bada-bang in your mouth. We experienced all of this even though we were only able to access one fourth of the menu due to our vegetarian food choices. 

Overall the aesthetic value of the presentation, the authenticity of the taste and the warmth of the place made for a delightful evening. Now several hours later too, it hasn’t made me feeling sleepy or heavy, as Indian restaurant food tends to do many a times. The evening ended up being a perfectly paired sauce to the main dish of seeing my niece graduate from a top ten institutions, globally, in her field.

So well done Jamshed, well done Chatora. Clearly you have broken the code for doing Indian food just right and the acknowledgements you are getting from customers and those in the know, are surely just the beginning. I was further amazed that this place was just three years old. 

Wishing much success to you, your staff and all those associated with this fine enterprise.