Tattva - 3.5

Go Green The Organic Way 

Tattva is one of those organic vegetarian places that a proud carnivore like myself hides from in the fear of it stealing my soul. If you think that harsh, to put things in to perspective, my alma mater is "everything tastes better with bacon". But when the praise for Tattva came from people other than those resembling a Fab India catalogue or whose axillary hair exceeds the hair on their head, I was intrigued.

Immediately I scouted every picture I could of the food on the internet and was surprised to see it actually resembled, well, food! Next I went through the menu. Toastie, more toastie, mango salsa. There it was, the first whiff of tattva's fresh, effortless, innovation — sago tabouleh w/ sprouts pomegranate and peanuts.

The very next day I walked to the exteriors of Hauz Khas Village and found the single-storey white house with a bright green door. I expected a lot more natural light than the windowless room provided but luckily they somewhat compensated with white walls and furniture. Livened up by bright upholstery, and made interesting with eclectic paintings.

I was met by Anuradha who is on the floor, in the kitchen and the mastermind behind Tattva. She said she first taught herself as much as she could about good nutrition. After which came the trying and testing of recipes, and then scouting and acquiring organic and sustainable produce.

I apologize about the bad pictures in advance . On top of not having any natural light the place was very dimly lit. 

We started with a simple salad of beets and spinach, mind you when it says beets and spinach, you will pretty much get only that. The annoying literalness, however, was forgiven by the freshness of the veggies and robustness of that peppery vinaigrette. Yet, we needed something more inspiring that soon came in the form of a platter of chickpeas, dates (were out and replaced by dried figs), steamed and seasoned carrots, with a yoghurt dressing. Be sparing with the yoghurt dressing because it can overly sour the already sour chickpeas. They could be a little more open-handed with the figs/dates, as the sweetness does give respite to the sour, but overall a refreshing dish that packs a tangy punch.

As enjoyable as all this was, it was getting a little too "healthy" for my liking. Time for some cheesy Toastie Melts. A duo of leek & parmesan and olives & mozzarella toasties took its time to arrive. The olives were a tad bitter, but we very happily devoured the leek and parmesan toasts, and would have gladly got another plate of just these.

Three dishes down and two hours later, came the second phase of our meal. Yes this would be an appropriate time to let you all know not to come with time constraints and impatience! Or you can always cool your head with their deliciously refreshing lemonade and raw mango juice — both to my satisfaction had just the right amount of sugar — which is a tad!

Still quite hungry, we pounced on our trio of green dips that followed. They were out of broccoli so it was replaced by a basil pesto that was unneededly sour, a sort of chimichurri, but made with mint, which was my favourite especially with the soft warm whole grain bread and lastly, the coriander hummus though faultlessly creamy was sadly unremarkable to taste.

The platter of kebabs was certainly more satisfying. The three kebabas came with three accompanying chutneys. I am not crazy about paneer like most of the country and yet I really enjoyed the delicately but sufficiently seasoned paneer cutlets, soft on the inside with a nice crispy crust on the outside. I knew my confused brain was unable to keep up with the veggie onslaught when my lentil cutlet, combined with all the garam spices, almost tasted like a 'galouti'. Either way, that's a sure pass in my books then! The raw banana cutlets were quite disappointing. I expected something a little more unusual; however what I got was a chickpea like patty, a little similar and a little inferior to my 'galouti'. Combining the raw banana with potato may have been a better idea to set them apart.

Next came the Spaghetti with Lentil Bolognese and I was certainly curious to try their rendition of a meaty favourite of mine. Whole wheat spaghetti tossed with lentils, carrots, celery, and topped with cheese — almost all the ingredients in there to fool you. To be honest, I was a little tired of eating legumes, so better planning next time. But that doesn't negate the tastiness of this dish or stop me from recommending it.

When the world has been trending conscious eating for almost a decade, does Tattva push the boundaries? Probably not. But the fact that a hedon like me was enticed and fairly satiated by this meal says a lot. You owe it to yourself to try Tattva's wholesome and unpretentious food at least once. It may just be what your body was in need of all along.

*They also have a little shop that sells a few organic and healthy eats to take home*

Budget: Moderate - a little more expensive than I expected

Alcohol: No

Outdoor: Yes

Delivery: min. Rs.1000

Contact:

+91 8860244640

12 Noon to 9 PM - Closed Mondays

* Originally Published in the Sunday Guardian - http://www.sunday-guardian.com/a/13806 *