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An oasis amidst rising commercial and residential complexes is the best way to describe the Clay Oven.
The fine dining Indian restaurant located in Adliya has been attracting flocks of Indian Mughlai cuisine lovers since 2005.
The venue has four floors in total with common dining areas on the ground and first floors, a pub cum party hall on the top floor, accommodating groups of up to 50, and two special private rooms, one called the Maharaja or the king's room, which is a private dining area for two to four people, and the Maharani or queen's room for groups of up to 12.
There is also a garden seating area which can accommodate up to 16 in good weather.
Vinay Shetty, restaurant manager, said: "We have adapted the Rajasthani style of royal dining. In palaces in the olden times, the queen used to dine heading a table with her courtiers.
"But when the king ate at the palace he would dine alone with his queen."
And it is not just the theme. The cuisines available at Clay Oven are mostly from the northern parts of India including Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttaranchal, Haryana and Punjab.
The menu includes vegetable cocktail samosas, fish amritsari, murg chaat, prawn chatpati and paneer sashlik as starters. Main course offerings include dum aloo chutney bhara, bhindi do pyaza, aloo jeera banarasi, Rajasthani gatta curry, Punjabi chicken curry, chicken kadai, kofta dil bahar, gosht roganjosh and balti gosht.
Side dishes like jeera rice, sabz biryanis and motia pulao and bread roti, naan, kulchas and romali rotis are also available.
Most famous of all the dishes are the venue's special kebabs including murgh tandoori, kalmi kebabs, reshmi kebabs, mutton seekh kebabs, champ hariyali, fish Charminar seekh kebab and tandoori prawns.
Dessert includes favourties such as kesari rasmalai, naram garam jamun, shahi kheer, pista kulfi and gajar ka halwa.
The menu, with all its regional delicacies, was created by Chief Chef Gulzar Miyah, 28, from Delhi.
Mr Shetty said: "It was a coincidence how Chef Gulzar joined us. My brother Vivek, who lives in Australia, had the chance to speak to Chef Gulzar's brother who worked in a restaurant there and he mentioned that he had a younger brother who worked in India and was looking to move outside the country in search of a job.
"The time coincided with us looking for staff for the opening of the restaurant and we brought him to the island."
Chef Gulzar belongs to a family of chefs and cooks. He has three brothers each in different parts of the world in the same profession.
His specialty, however, is sweets from various Indian cities having gained experience from the age of 16 when he began as an apprentice in a kitchen.
He has also worked in West Bengal, Kerala and Jharkhand aside from Delhi.
The Clay Oven is open daily for lunch from 11am to 3pm and in the evening from 6.30pm to midnight.
Here Chef Gulzar shares a favourite recipe with GulfWeekly readers.
Vegetable tawa masala
Ingredients:
Mixed vegetables including carrots, beans, cauliflower, green peas, capsicum
Cottage cheese
Tomato
Onions
Ginger and garlic
Red chili powder
Turmeric powder
Garam masala
Jeera or cumin powder
Kasturi methi or dried fenugreek leaves
Cream
Butter
Sunflower oil
Salt to taste
Procedure:
Heat the frying pan, pour the oil and when heated sautŽ onions, tomato, garlic and ginger. After three minutes add the vegetables, then add salt and stir. Add the spices and finally add cream and butter. Stir after two minutes. Remove to serving dish and garnish with grated cheese and chopped coriander leaves.
