Delhi belly

The signage of Delhi restaurants used to be fairly uniform. Mughlai-Chinese-Continental, it said stolidly, as if daring you to find a food category that didn&rsquot fit into these. And indeed, chicken, the capital&rsquos favourite bird, was available in all three culinary avatars, represented by tomato-butter gravy, chilli-garlic sauce and a white b&eacutechamel &lsquobake&rsquo, respectively. Variations were few and far between, and generally short-lived. Even restaurants like Ritu Dalmia&rsquos Mezzaluna came, saw and died it just wasn&rsquot time yet. In the 1990s, that was just how the kukkad crumbled.

Now, it suddenly seems like it&rsquos time. In the last decade, Delhi has discovered that, like its enormous personality, its enormous appetite accommodates much more than tandoori chicken. And as you&rsquod expect of a city that absorbs thousands of migrants a year, there&rsquos a full cacophony of cuisines here, all rich in histories and recipes. That catch-all signboard has been chased off by speciality Sichuan, Korean, Bengali, Turkish and Vietnamese establishments, and new menu descriptions are long footnotes celebrating pedigree and technique Kinnaur apples, Tsukiji tuna, beetroot foam, anjeer smoke.

All this interest in origins means smaller restaurants are finally getting their due. The state bhavans are stepping up to claim what&rsquos been theirs for decades, pieces of Delhi&rsquos culinary legend that Andhra Bhavan pan-roasted mutton fry (23382031 meal for two Rs 200) or those Sikkim House momos (26115171 Rs 250).  At Assam Bhavan&rsquos Jakoi (24355555 meal for two Rs 400), a Guwahati-based chain has taken over the dining room, with superlative results try the zesty maas tenga (sour fish). Other little eateries abound Rosang&rsquos (Manipuri, Mizo and Naga specialities 9811898923, meal for two Rs 200) or Tamura (Japanese 9873659961 meal for two Rs 1,400). But hip Gunpowder (26535700, meal for two Rs 1,000) in trendy Hauz Khas Village clearly leads the pack.

But first of firsts in Delhi is 1911 (23341234 meal for two Rs 3,000), named for the year in which the city became the capital of British India. Their lithographs, paintings, war medals and the insignia of dozens of princely states practically demand that you pay your respects to the city of New Delhi with a gin and tonic out on the veranda.

And that city&rsquos generous, shiny new heart is best seen in Lajpat Nagar. This roundly Punjabi enclave of tiny houses, big markets and nose-to-tail parking has always welcomed refugees. It&rsquos home now to a crew of tiny neighbourhood restaurants Tibetan, Afghan, Turkish and even Iraqi. Try Afghan Restaurant & Direct Pizza (9810905799 meal for two Rs 200) or Kabul Restaurant (9711319057 meal for two Rs 250) for Afghani naan and meat-stuffed manto. A little more upscale (just barely) is Afghan Lounge (49502058 meal for two Rs 600). At Anatolia (65160121 meal for two Rs 500), views of the Bosphorus and Cappadoccia surround you as you eat hummus and aubergine kebab. Both name and d&eacutecor are more prosaic at Iraqi Restaurant (9999943759 meal for two Rs 400), but the menu is not we loved the rotund fried bulgur-wheat kuba stuffed with minced meat, spices and raisins.

Over in Shahjahanabad, opposite Jama Masjid where the air simmers with tandoor smoke, stands the mouth of Matia Mahal, fondly called Gali Kababian. Framed certifications attest to how good Karim&rsquos (23264981 meal for two Rs 800) velvet mutton seekh kebabs and nargisi koftas are. There&rsquos even some passable Kayastha-style badam pasanda. The paya and nihari at neighbours Al-Jawahar (23269241 meal for two Rs 800) are just as good. And Gali Kababian is full of other possibilities, the best of which are sutli kebabs so soft they&rsquore tied to the skewers with thread.

Meat reigns in this lane, but walk into Paranthewali Gali (meal for two Rs 100) for a 200-year-old trio of vegetarian-only parantha shops. Squeeze in to any of them for desi ghee paranthas stuffed with karela and lemon (average), papad (intriguing) and peas (amazing) or the sweet khurchan.

Not that there&rsquos any shortage of dessert around here. In the summer, there&rsquos kulfi from Kuremal Mahavir Prasad (2323-2430 from Rs 25) and Lala Dulli Chand Naresh Gupta (23235926 from Rs 25), chief among which is the stunning fruit kulfi&mdashhollowed-out apples, oranges, mangoes and kiwis stuffed with flavoured kulfi. Don&rsquot skip the chaat from Lala Babu Chaat Bhandar (23282806) and Ashok Chaatwale (23827740)&mdashgolgappas, dahi bhalla, matra (chickpea) chaat, shakarkandi (sweet potato) chaat and paapri chaat. Finally, there&rsquos daulat ki chaat, that Delhi confection which isn&rsquot a chaat at all a cold morning&rsquos milk foam whipped to solidity, glinting with saffron, brown sugar, silver varq and khoya. At Ghantewala&rsquos there is fresh piste ki lauz, a rich emerald jewel of a barfi (Rs 1,050 per kg) and old famous Jalebiwala&rsquos super-sized jalebis (9811020546 Rs 30 per plate).

A mere Metro ride away is Moti Mahal (23273011 meal for two Rs 1,400), the birthplace of the city&rsquos mascot, the butter chicken. And just a few streets down on Asaf Ali Road is Chor Bizarre (43663600 meal for two Rs 1,200), whose very palatable pan-Indian menu is overshadowed by the Kashmiri taramis that reveal a banquet of majestic wazwan selections tabak maaz, succulent haaq, gushtaba, rogan josh.

At the other end of the spectrum stands a worthy trio of high-style desi restaurants. Marut Sikka&rsquos Kainoosh (9560715544 meal for two Rs 3,500) whips up excellent tapas- and thali-style Indian food, while the Taj Mahal&rsquos Varq (23026162 meal for two Rs 5,000) is even haute-r, with Bailey&rsquos rabri and Varqui crab in layers of mustard seed-dotted filo. But my favourite is peaceful Indian Accent (26925151 meal for two Rs 3,500).

That said, the possibilities for prettied-up food are endless. Should you go to pan-Asian Mamagoto (45166060 meal for two Rs 2,000), for their gimmicky but charming d&eacutecor, Chiang Mai &lsquotrain station&rsquo noodles and mirin-marinated eggplant Diva (29215673 meal for two Rs 3,500) for Ritu Dalmia&rsquos cheerful Italian food and wine Smoke House Grill (41435530 meal for two Rs 3,000), where smoked cocktails (smoked melon and cinnamon) accompany smoked food (smoked duck in raspberry emulsion, baked pumpkin and miso ravioli), or ai (40654567 meal for two Rs 4,000) for brunch-time black cod and gari ginger martinis Even cocktails come spiced-up and pricey. The Blue Bar&rsquos mixes are expensive, but outstanding try the (hideously-named) monkey gland, absinthe, orange and dry gin and the demure (but deadly) left field&mdashTanqueray, elderflower and balsamic vinegar (both Rs 450). Then there&rsquos summery, kaffir lime-inflected Bangkok gin and tonic at Mamagoto fruity white wine sangria at Indian Accent livened up by a green chilli and addictive kala-namak vodka-nimbu lemonades and green tea Zen mojitos at new ape-on-the-block Red Monkey (9910808654 from Rs 325). Choosing is so hard.

Between Portuguese (Casa Portuguesa, 26671270 meal for two Rs 3,000) and Tibetan (Lhasa Sakhang, 99104 33580 meal for two Rs 250), there&rsquos plenty to fatten yourself on in this city. And Delhi&rsquos personality infuses everything, even the most removed of cuisines there&rsquos chicken tikka maki sushi, tandoori chicken pizza and chicken dosa. That Mughlai-Chinese-Continental state bird isn&rsquot going anywhere just yet.

Well said

Tucked away in a leafy, residential part of Friends Colony, Indian Accent at the Manor Hotel (011-26925151) is one of the most convivial places in the city for a meal. The obliging staff show no trace of that patronising air when you admit to not knowing what a mille-feuille is. But that only partly explains the growing stream of loyalists. The big reason, of course, is the fabulously inventive food.

The menu offers dressed-up Indian food via the rest of the world, flitting between amla confit, galangal, truffle oil and parmesan papad. A tip the tasting menus (which come with wine pairings) are a good way to avoid having to make that agonised choice between foie gras galawati kebab and wholemeal phuchkas with five kinds of &lsquowaters&rsquo raw mango and mint, pomegranate and tamarind among them.

That notoriously excessive foie gras-stuffed galawati kebab deserves a moment to itself, though. It sounds like an uneasy mishmash of two already overwhelming meats, but it&rsquos an expert three-part harmony rich galawati, followed by sumptuous foie gras, tailed by a little blitz of green-chilli-strawberry chutney. Then again, the silky red snapper moily with a thin but filling pine-nut poriyal, and this summer&rsquos addition of spare ribs in a meetha achaar glaze with toasted kalonji seeds deserve your attention too. And how could we ignore that aloo-zeera sabzi gussied up as addictive zeera anardana gnocchi

It&rsquos carefully thought-out food and you&rsquoll probably spend some time pondering the menu, but there&rsquos nothing complicated about eating here. The food is all reliably good and it has a sense of humour, visible in the now-vanished toffee chyawanprash cheesecake and the flaming Old Monk Valhrona rum ball, a little nudge-nudge-wink to Delhi&rsquos favourite dark drink.

Indian Accent&rsquos charms are self-evident an elegant restaurant, a sunny lawn, determinedly friendly staff and novel, well-cooked food.