Wheat-free and how
Healthy needn't always be boring when you can binge on these fun dishes.
Somewhere in the picturesque hills of Uttarakhand, a tiny signboard on a nondescript eatery read-'maduwe ki roti aur aloo ki sabji'. Costing `25.
The same meal in a fancy Delhi restaurant would read something like this- 'polenta mash on a millet bread'. Gluten-free. Costing Rs 250.
Even as more allergies have been diagnosed and health concerns have gone up gluten free wave has clearly hit India. And the best way to describe it would be 'old wine in a new bottle'.
What else can you call a time when age-old Indian flours are repackaged and sold to uninitiated city dwellers who have finally understood the wonders of authentic Indian flours.
Be it akki roti or pathiri in Karnataka and Kerala, ragi malt in Andhra, jowar bhakri from Maharashtra, kuttu and singhare ke aate ki poori and roti in Delhi and bajre ki roti from Punjab-desi food in the country has more often than not been glutenfree.
But as phrases like wheat belly have become household conversations, gluten free has donned a new fancy hat. At restaurants across the city, chefs are innovating with new flourless dishes.
Mail Today recommends a few must-try gluten free dishes in Delhi.
DIMSUMS
At Cyber Hub's Pra Pra Prank, there are very few underwhelming dishes-a rarity at a time when drama takes over taste at restaurants. So, it isn't surprising that they make a gluten free dish so delicious and absolutely stunning to look at.
The gluten-free dimsums are made with potato starch and coloured a bright purple with cabbage juice. Mushrooms with seasoning makes the filling to die for.
Rs 365 plus taxes At Cyber Hub
ALMOND FLOUR CAKE
With Honey and Dough's almond flour cake, there's no more any need to cringe at the thought of healthy cakes. The bakery serves a gorgeous flourless 'almond cake' that is super yum.
Sounds too good to be true? Well, a bite of this bake makes you believe that the goodness of almonds goes way beyond it's nutritional properies as it makes some of the best gluten free desserts.
Soft, fluffy and suprisingly light, this one is comes topped with coconut powder, almond flakes, and icing sugar. Chances are, you might ditch cakes with gluten after eating a slice of this one.
Rs 145 plus taxes at Honey and Dough outlets across the city
CHICKEN LASAGNA
"PASTA, that too glutenfree!," said a Smokehouse Deli loyalist who was visiting the outlet for the nth time. Even after years, the charm of going to Smokehouse Deli doesn't reduce.
Great food and warm service combined with its beautiful ambience makes it a favourite restaurant for many. So when this discerning foodie was presented with a plate of gluten free chicken lasagna, she was thrilled.
That the usual gluten in the lasagna is replaced by cabbage increased the excitement further. And the dish tastes even better than it sounds.
Part of the restaurant's Sony BBC Earth Healthy Binge menu, the pasta has layers of chicken and cheese and tomato -with cabbage camouflaged in the tastiest possible manner.
Cost: Rs 480 at Smokehouse Deli outlets
CARROT HAZE CAKE
What if we tell you that you can have your cake and eat it too?
Bien Manger, a delivery and pick-up only bakery in the city makes gluten free and vegan bundts that can well be treated like delicious superfoods in their own right.
Bien Manger calls itself a 'conscious bundtery that focuses on desserts that appeal to your taste buds and are good for health'.
When it's a combination of pure almond flour with fresh carrots, what else is needed to justify eating a cake even for breakfast? The cake is light, fluffly and with sweetness balanced perfectly and can be made vegan as well.
The icing on the cake is a light chocolate ganache and topped with fresh berries.
Cost: Rs 800 for a small bundt
MUTTON GALOUTI ON MINI KUTTU BREAD
This is a combination made in heaven-melt in the mouth mutton kebabs served on the most flavourful and buttery mini kuttu bread circles. Who would really care about gluten or no gluten here?
By serving some healthy, yet delicious food, this restaurant has clearly got its act right.
As if a visit to Fabindia was not pampering enough, the opening of FabCafe has given more reasons to spend hours together at this most loved ethnic brand store.
Of course, who can resist an experience which would mean treating yourself to delicious food and drinks in between trips to the trial room!
Most of the cafe's menu is gluten free and everything can be customised to be made vegan as well.
Our tip-do try the Himalayan organic honey and walnut tart after the meal.
Cost Rs 360 at FabCafe outlets