India's regional cuisines provide a cultural melting pot that hits the spot in London's Fitzrovia
Sitting at the tiny chef's counter in Pahli Hill in Fitzrovia, London, a very untraditional mango lassi in hand, Avi Shashidhara pops his cheery face over the pass to talk about the first bite of his new tasting menu – a snack of Scottish crab in a deep-fried dough ball.
It's his take on a Mangalore bun, he says, a light dough made from banana purée, yogurt and cumin seeds, which is deep-fried and then filled with a spiced crab mixture made from tomato, ginger and coconut.
"We used a lot of crab at River Café, often on toast," says the head chef, who spent a decade there. "This bread reminded me of my time living and travelling around India, where it would be eaten with spicy chutneys. It's a bit playful, but it sets the tone for the rest of the meal."
Accompanying it is a classic Indian drink – a mango lassi, but not as you know it. It is made from distilling Desi Daru mango vodka, Alphonso mango, yogurt and sugar. Lime is added to split the mixture, which separates as it sits in the fridge for a couple of hours. The resulting crystal-clear liquid is strained off to make a refreshing aperitif, with a curl of mango fruit leather on top of a giant ice cube. It is worlds away from the fruity, milkshake-like drink originating from Punjab.
Shashidhara's cooking may be playful, but he also describes it as "home-style, comforting and soulful". The restaurant is named after one of Mumbai's oldest neighbourhoods, where residents share food with neighbours and the apartment blocks are a melting pot of regional flavours and culinary traditions.
Shashidhara opened the 60-cover Pahli Hill, which is owned by Azure Hospitality, as head chef back in early 2020, and we all know what happened then. It won a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2021, and Shashidhara also competed in this year's Great British Menu, where his papadi chat starter made it to the banquet.
His idea for an intimate chef's counter came off the back of his new-found TV fame. Each of his seven dishes have been shrunk down from the à la carte, although he offers to switch plates according to guests' preferences. Guests rarely forgo his papadi chat, though. Inspired by Axel Scheffler's illustrations in The Gruffalo, it continues the playful theme.
Shashidhara says: "Chat is a street food dish, eaten after work, before dinner, almost like going for a pint after a long day. It's a true representation of what Indian food is: super colourful and flavoursome."
A fried cracker sits at the bottom of a bowl, topped with yogurt, datterini tomatoes, finely chopped onion and two chutneys – mint, chilli and coriander; and tamarind. Chickpea flour and water is combined and fried until crispy to create little sprinkles of texture, and it's finished off with pomegranate seeds, roasted pumpkin and beetroot, and fresh coriander.
The Gruffalo-inspired brief – "scrambled snake by the lake" – saw the addition of a deep-fried chakli made from rice flour and roasted chickpeas, chillies, sesame and cumin seeds. The coiled savoury dough crisps up when deep-fried and can be crumbled over the chat.
The menu incorporates fresh, seasonal ingredients as it weaves its way through grilled scallops with palourde clams, spring peas, fresh coconut, curry leaves and coriander, as well as the house chicken tikka and a biryani made with Cornish lamb.
A dish from Parsi cuisine – patra ni machhi, or fish steamed in a banana leaf – marinades wild seabass in fresh coriander, mint leaves, lemon juice, coconut, garlic, oil and unripe sour mangoes, before baking it in the leaf. Shashidhara tops it with crispy straw potatoes.
Meanwhile, he has begun using rump for his lamb dish, which is robust enough "to hold the spice and flavour of the lamb". He infuses it for 24 hours with cinnamon, rose petals, star anise, black pepper, cardamom, mace and stone flower – a lichen that gives an "intense earthy aroma" that is balanced by the fragrant rose petals – and serves it with a mint, coriander and yogurt chutney, and crispy curry leaves.
The menu ends on an impossibly light mango cheesecake. "It's showcasing the in-season mango. At the moment it's Alphonso, but we'll move on to mango from Sicily," the chef says. "It's like tasting the best mango you've ever eaten. And, like the rest of the menu, it's about letting the ingredients shine."
From the menu
- Papadi chat: yogurt, pomegranate, tomatoes, pumpkin, mint, tamarind chutney
- Hara kebab, spinach, spring peas, Roseval potato, bird-eye chilli, tamarind chutney
- Mangalore bun and Scottish crab sukkha, fennel seeds, degghi chilli, ginger
- Pahli Hill tandoori chicken tikka, cucumber, coriander and mint salad, fresh horseradish
- Grilled scallops, palourde clams, spring peas, fresh coconut, curry leaves, coriander
- Chargrilled lamb cutlets, dried rose petals, stone flower, crispy curry leaves, mint
- Home-style fish curry: wild halibut, mussels, tomato, mango, tamarind, coconut
- Cornish lamb biryani, Bombay onion and coconut raita, banana chilli, aubergine salan
- Desserts: Alphonso mango cheesecake; carrot halwa ice-cream, coconut cake
£100 per person, £170 per person with wine pairing
79-81 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7SJ
www.pahlihillbandrabhai.com
