Food to Singh about!

By-Khushwant Singh
It is cent percent true when they say you can take a Punjabi out of Punjab but not Punjab out of him. Try separating his famed burrah from him, and you will know what I mean.
Jokes apart, those who have travelled abroad would vouch how welcoming is the feeling when while browsing through a menu of an Indian restaurant you find a dish named after your pind, city or state. I usually order an extra scotch promptly as thumbs up to the chef who has turned my obscure town into a global entity and for momentarily transporting me back to the hustle-bustle of apna Punjab.
Two of my relatives in Australia, who own separate restaurants, have some chicken dishes named after Hoshiarpur town.
A chef himself, Ashok Sikand my father’s first cousin runs a restaurant in Melbourne’s high-income suburb, Eltham, under the name Ginger Garlic and serves a chicken dish Hoshiarpur da Kukkarh.
A boneless marinated chicken cooked in a yoghurt-based curry sauce with methi, tomatoes, ginger and garlic, the dish as per my chachahas been inspired by his frequent visits to our farm. “You father would cook this most amazing finger-licking chicken and I couldn’t resist naming a non-vegetarian dish after Hoshiarpur,"he had said while explaining the evolution of Hoshiarpuri Kukkad in Australia.
Though Kukkadrecipes and Hoshiarpur have nothing in common as its prominence is only due to soothsayers or litigious people, the town yet again finds mention in the menu of a Sydney restaurant. Owned by two young boys from Hoshiarpur, Harman and Varun, Kings Restaurant and bar serves Hoshiarpuri Achari Chicken. Cooked with aromatic homemade flavours of spices in the Tandoor, the chicken is the Chef’s special on the menu.
Ask Harman why he named a chicken platter after his hometown- he squarely blames my incessant bar-be-cue parties for this. “Bro it’s a great way to keep connected with one’s roots, replied Harman when I reasoned that Hoshiarpur and chicken have no connection, whatsoever.
If you are done with Down Under and happen to be in Edinburgh in Scotland visit Roti on Morrison Street which has a Punjabi Duck on its menu. Initially started by Tony Singh, who was former chef of the Queen’s Ship, The Royal Yacht Britannia, the Punjabi duck is pan fried seared and served with ginger sauce, South Indian cabbage and croquettes.
Tony Singh despite having visited Punjab only once in his lifetime is a true-blue Punjabi.
“It is because the Scots and the Sikhs have an affinity for each other, he had said in his heavy Lothian accent as we sipped our scotch in his restaurant.
I was however saddened to learn that Tony Singh, who incidentally runs one of the best eclectic restaurants in Edinburgh under the name Oloroso, has sold Roti. Though the new owners are believed to have retained the old menu, I cannot vouch for the food quality anymore. I remember fondly the days when Roti was being set up and Tony and I would spend evenings tasting the chef’s preparations.
Bombay Palace restaurant, in New York City serves Lamb Bhuna Punjabi. Owned by Sant Singh Chatwal, whose biggest claim to fame is escorting the Clintons in and out of India, the dish does evoke a feeling of nostalgia, especially if you happen to be alone in New York City. The chunks of lamb, cooked with onion, tomatoes, fresh herbs and spices is described as a Punjabi delicacy and the chef does justice to the claim.
It was last year that some friends took me to an Indian restaurant in Cleveland city. Each one of us was about four Black label whiskies down when a man wearing an apron turned up on our table and asked if we were from Punjab.
“Yes,” I had replied.
“I knew it all along because nobody orders so many rounds of hard alcohol in America,” he had remarked.
After exchanging a few pleasantries he had bid us good bye but not before ordering to a waitress the following- “Jenny, three complimentary Amritsari Machis for the folks from The Poonjab.”
We got back home, Singhing.