Home food away from home

Indian food has always been considered as rich and flavourful with lots of spices and a high content of fattening agents like ghee, butter, and oil. But Tabla restaurant situated on Hanworth Road in Hounslow takes an opportunity to overpower this myth. They believe in rich, but rich & healthy food with the delicacies of their restaurant service. It all depends on what and how you cook it. “A dazzling array of fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, fish and spices, each with its own medicinal properties makes Indian food a delight,” says Deepak Mehan, managing director of the restaurant. A chartered accountant by profession, Deepak has shown a great interest in making Indian cuisine a formative mode of communicating with the migrants in the UK market. He thrives to provide home food away from home.

He believes that fattening agents never lead to taste enhancement, but it is the ingredients and how the food is made which makes the difference.

There are various techniques laid by this restaurant which makes it one of the hubs for Indian food lovers, especially British citizens. Strict instructions have been laid to the chef in the kitchen to use healthy sunflower oil for most of the cooking methods, minimum use of frozen products, and daily use of fresh vegetables.

He believes that using his techniques the chef is able to convert the same high-calorie dishes to lower calories without minimizing the actual taste. Like baking most of the products rather deep frying, tempering onions in water or brown stock made with vegetables, using the micro oven for easier fatless cooking, using skimmed dairy products while cooking for day to day operations. Suppliers of the restaurant are local establishments resulting in fresh stock every day and results to market development for economic growth in the community. All spices used in the restaurant are bought raw and then converted into a powdered form in the kitchen itself.

Chef Rawat, the head chef is responsible for the development of new techniques to make Indian food more palatable and delightful. He always believes in using non-stick pans, small wok(kadhai) for deep frying, and salient use of pressure cooker for cooking fast. He also believes in making desserts from fruits or using artificial sweeteners to make the sweet balance suitable for dietary requirements. His meals of the day always include a variety of food as a diverse balanced diet is a healthy diet. Rawat’s cooking methods result in more monounsaturated fats leading to the growth of better skin and less unsaturated fats which can diminish the chances of heart diseases.

You can find a vast range of parathas, chapatis, and roties in the restaurant menu instead of only naan bread so the meal is balanced with more usage of wheat, a great source of vitamins, minerals, and proteins. Also, the usage of boiled basmati rice omits the content of starch and leads to a memorable meal. The Chefs also believe in using raw ginger and garlic rather than fried flakes and more usage of spices like aniseed, fennel cloves, and carom seeds.

They never underestimate the value of using vegetables in Indian cooking. The right vegetables, cooked by either steaming or boiling and then flavored by the use of various spices provide not only a great taste but a diet that is low in both fat and cholesterol. The use of nuts is very nominal to make the dish rich and flavourful.

Chef Rawat also works on portion size so that no or minimal wastages are left at the end of the day. He believes in making fresh gravies and sauces every day to make the dish more palatable and a tasty, mouth-watering relish. Recommendations by the chef and a healthy meal of the day are the salient features of the restaurant.

He also believes in explaining to the customers about the method of cooking right from scratch so they are aware of the ingredients being used and in what quantity.

The Tabla Restaurant has been designing a well-thought menu with more plant-based dishes as they are rich in fiber and contains fewer fats and cholesterol. A vegetarian diet constitutes a slew of both these recipes which results in a fit meal at all parameters. To the introduction of these flavourful and healthy meals, Tabla also offers lunch thalis at £ 4.95 and £5.95 for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food patrons and lovers.

You can also find a wide variety of both red and white wines which have thoughtfully been recommended to compliment the meal you order. Wine makes a meal rich and complete and which is why the restaurant emphasizes choosing the best qualitative wines at marginal prices. Tabla also offers herbal teas and filtered coffees. The specialty of the house is the ”masala chai” brewed tea with a mix of Indian spices and herbs.

So next time when you want to make your evening a memorable one and want to relish yourself with one of the great cuisine of all times, Indian, Tabla is the destination of your Broadway.