Take a culinary journey through India with Ushna

Ushna Indian restaurant. Courtesy of Ushna

The award-winning Indian restaurant Ushna at Souk Qaryat Al Beri in Abu Dhabi will launch their culinary journey through India menu today as part of Gourmet Abu Dhabi.

The special edition menu highlights cuisines from four regions in India. The menu gives helpful descriptions of the cuisine from North, South, West and East India and, for those who want to know more about food from a specific region, the waiters are full of knowledge and eager to share.

We got a sneak peek at the menu last week — and it’s well worth your time to carve out a night this week to give it a try. There are nearly 40 items on the menu, most of which have not been seen before in Ushna.

We tried two of the three soups, yakhni shorba and thakkali saar (a vegetarian staple in Tamil homes). My favourite was the yakhni shorba — mutton cooked overnight and served in a rich, spicy broth. The meat was tender and literally fell off the bone in the bowl. We tried a handful of starters, including the brun maska, which is described as “soul food for the adventurous”. This tasty trio of buns each came with a different topping: minced lamb, lamb liver masala and lamb brain fritter. All three were well done and loaded with sweet and spicy flavours.

The lamb brains were not what we expected. I thought they’d be tough, chewy and, well, not pleasant. Instead, the texture was soft (but not mushy) and, although it was a bit gamey, the sweetness of the sauce balanced well with the richness of the meat. I think it helped that the brain to bread proportion heavily favoured the bread so we had a healthy dose of the taste of the sweet, soft bun along with the morsels of meat.

Among the 11 mains on offer are Bengali prawn curry, Goan baked lobster, Mangalorean sea bass curry, mutton and roselle stew from Andhra Pradesh, kakori kofta (Awadhi-style lamb dumplings in saffron gravy), chicken dhansak (a lentil-based curry with a combination of Persian and Gujarati influences) and pindi chole (Punjabi-style chickpeas). The dishes are rich, vibrant and all worthy of a taste, but my favourite mains were the chicken dhansak (perfectly-cooked moist chicken chunks in a gravy richly — and uniquely — flavoured with squash) and the kakori kofta, which was filled with tender chunks of lamb and saffron.

The dessert standout is the gulkand aur rasmalai, soft paneer dumplings served with cardamom foam and red rose jam. Other desserts on offer include a ghewar fritter served with pistachio ice cream and rose caviar; and a modern take on traditional carrot pudding in the form of candied carrot rosettes.

The culinary journey through India menu will be available through February 20.

• Starters range from Dh49 — Dh135; mains range from Dh55 — Dh170 (for the Goan baked lobster). For reservations, call 02 558 1769. www.facebook.com/UshnaFineDining