Samosa tartlets and chikoo ice cream at this British-Indian pop-up

Taneja, 46, shares his culinary approach reflects his journey. The Delhi boy, whose first professional cooking experience was at Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, relocated to London in 2003 where he got the opportunity to gain expertise in European cooking under the likes of the famed British chef Pascal Proyart, French chef Pierre Koffmann and the British father-son chef duo Michel and Alain Roux. The turning point in his career came when he worked under chef Atul Kocchar at Mayfair’s Benares from 2011 to 2015, before opening his own restaurant, Talli Joe in 2016, which shut three years later. After Taneja rejoined Benares in 2019 as the executive chef following Kochhar’s departure, he regained the restaurant’s Michelin star in 2021 and has retained it since. Koffmann’s encouragement led Taneja to use Indian spices with local British ingredients, and he continued to marry the two at his restaurant. On the menu at Benares, are dishes such as Cured Fish Chaat, Oyster Vindaloo, Malabar Scallops and Prawn Kasundi, among others.

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“I feel a strong connection to my roots, so being able to bring Benares back home feels like things have come full circle. I couldn’t be more excited," says Taneja, who comes to India a couple of times in the year and tries to dive deeper into Indian cuisine. “Every visit leaves me inspired," he says.

The collaboration was a long time coming, feels chef Shantanu Mehrotra, 48, of Indian Accent, New Delhi. While both restaurants have different perspectives – Indian Accent focusses on elevating traditional dishes with contemporary techniques – on how they approach the cuisine, Mehrotra sees a poetic synergy between them. “Diners in Mumbai and Delhi will get to see the amalgamation of the best of two cultures – British with Indian," says Mehrotra. He joined Indian Accent in 2009 and has been its executive chef for the past 15 years. He likes to experiment with familiar flavours without being gimmicky and pays attention to lesser-known ingredients.

Taneja believes that he is able to create the right balance between local produce and Indian spices by respecting both culinary traditions. There are dishes such as Tandoori Ratan (smoked Kashmiri Peppered Welsh Lamb Chop) with Kasundi King Prawn and Lamb Seekh Kebab, Murg Makhani, and Fish and Egg Curry (seabass and eggs in kokum curry).

So, what’s on the collaboration menu? Designed with seasonality in mind, the dinners will celebrate some of the signature dishes from both restaurants, along with a couple of new creations, which the chefs admit required a bit of back and forth. Taneja is bringing a handful of key ingredients, such as roasted chestnuts, truffle and a bespoke blend of herb oils made using produce from local UK farms along with a few carefully selected spice blends, to ensure their dishes remain true to the Benares menu.

“Interestingly many of the spices and ingredients we use in London are originally sourced from India, so it’s incredibly exciting to now be able to work directly with fresh, seasonal Indian produce. We’re especially thrilled to be using chikoo and small-grained rice such as the idli rice, both in season right now. We use idli rice to make sannas (steamed rice cakes) to go with the Oyster Vindaloo. We made it a priority to incorporate seasonal produce not only to enhance the freshness of each dish, but also to support local farmers," he says and adds, “We have a chikoo ice-cream in Benares but we use frozen chikoos for it. We were really excited to use fresh chikoos from India for the ice cream for the pop-up."

Expect to see Benares’ Sour Apple Panipuri and Fruit Chaat among the starters. “I’m particularly proud of our Samosa Ragda Tartlet (the classic samosa is reimagined as an open, baked creation). Our Rajasthani gatte features gram flour with ricotta cheese in a smoked clove yoghurt curry – a perfect example of our contemporary approach to traditional dishes. For mains, we have the Goats Milk Paneer Tikka with Beetroot Murraba and Chikoo ice-cream for dessert," shares Taneja. There’s also Mehrotra’s take on Kanpur Matha Aloo Chaat made with curd and a tempering of spices and gari (Japanese pickled ginger) and Five Spice Squash Curry as well as Indian Accent’s popular Daulat Ki Chaat.

Menu collaborations such as these unlock a world of possibilities for chefs and curious gourmands allowing a rediscovery of regional ingredients as well as introduction to global influences.

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The dinners will be held on April 15 and 16, 7 pm and 9.30 pm at Indian Accent, New Delhi, and on April 19 and 20, 7 pm and 9.30 pm at Indian Accent, Mumbai. ₹7,700 per person with taxes. 

Deepali Dhingra is a Delhi-based culture writer.