From the LOST recipes of Rajasthan…..??? :Khatibah Rehmat

Somebody has truly said that before being a chef a person is always a very good foodie within thyself. One can never ever cook fabulously if they, first of all, do not love to make other people feel great with their meals and for that, they have to pull up their socks, tightened up their shoes and get ready to move out from their daily holiday mood. This is how Chef Amit Kumar Singh thinks about the culinary life which he shares with the world. A man who comes from a very small town of Bihar is a graduate of Hotel Management Institute – Dehradoon is a super chef at Ananta Spa and Resort – Pushkar. At an age of 33, he speaks about his first training along with his mother where he used to scramble egg yolks and egg whites altogether. The well-known dish which he prepares is Herb Crushed Norwegian Salmon Steaks. Chef Amit basically looks after the western cuisine which he cooks.

“Laal Maas”, a kind of lamb prepared with rich and exotic flavours of ‘Random Rajasthan’, was not less than a food coming down from the heaven and is presented on my platter with great love and hospitality. This tantalizing dish made me mad so much that, I skipped my next meal in order to maintain those flavours throughout the day and all through that winter night. I noticed a balance between salt, absolute – red chillies and whole ground spices were so well that the dish was like speaking for its own cause of tastiness. The enriching red colour of Laal Maas came out from the red chillies of Kashmir which is prepared in a way that, it is entirely de-seeded and the outer layer is ground which gives a beautiful red colour to the actual Laal Maas. I owe Chef Amit Kumar Singh the Executive Sous Chef of Ananta Spa and Resort – Pushkar, who gave a multiple and balanced twist to the original Laal Maas of Rajasthan, it is also known to be coming out from the lost recipes of this colourful state. A person I noticed was a gentleman who speaks quite less but believes in giving best of best food quality as well as services to his guest counts. The tandoori roti, the butter naan, baked moong daal papad, onion salad and the lovely mocktail all were helping each other in enhancing the overall flavours.

Well, as I entered the Ananta property, Mrinal a gentleman on the reception showed me his entire resort on the eco-friendly car. The detailing on each and every room was really noticeable. It was so pleasant that for a while I thought of staying back over here for some more time. All thanks to Chef Saurabh who was not present over there but still managed my visit and all other staffs equally managed as a whole. The thin crust pizza was being prepared in a natural oven using peanut wood and to prepare pizzas with its smokey flavour. A small portion of open kitchen was given to the Italian section in the poolside area of Ananta. The special part about this particular place was that the entire resort is covered with mountains on two sides and from the evening till late winter nights when the fog falls on the poolside area it looks as in you are directly greeted from the angles up in the heaven.

An open barbeque kitchen is also there in the poolside area where people enjoy their roasted starters while sitting and enjoying the weather. I shall say that people must visit this pocket-friendly resort and enjoy its tantalizing dishes in their Oasis restaurant where one can get almost all flavours of Rajasthan. The best part about Chef Amit Kumar Singh is that whenever he sees a guest he recognizes them from their gestures and languages from where they actually belong to and then he gives that particular dish a magical mix and make it according to their taste buds. Laal Maas is actually the signature dish of Oasis restaurant at Ananta Spa and Resort – Pushkar.

Interview taken by: Khatibah Rehmat

Interviewed: Chef Amit Kumar Singh

Picture Courtesy: Team Ananta Spa and Resort – Pushkar.

Special thanks to Chef Saurabh.