Cré Olé asked chef Syed Nurunnisa of Rasam restaurant, Level 2, Building 0-4, City of Grand Bazaar, Valsayn, to choose the dish of the week.

With the full range of authentic sub-continental North & South Indian cuisine to draw upon, Syed insisted on selecting a five-course halal meal she might herself request in her native Hyderabad. She began with Kovalam seafood soup followed by tandoori zinga as appetizers. Her main course comprised both lobster masala and lamb Mapala curries and she ended a rich meal with the traditional simple Indian dessert of kulfi.

The Kovalam seafood soup was a thick soup containing finely chopped shrimp, crab, squid and kingfish, with more sizeable morsels of all floating in the bowl. It was almost unbearably delicious and set the palate ablaze for the tandoori zinga, large juicy shrimp, marinated in spiced yogurt and baked until crisp outside (but tender within) in a tandoor oven.

Syed served the lobster masala, the more dramatically presented of her main course dishes, spilling out of its shell on a large platter. It tasted better than it looked. The lamb was almost as good: large, tender cubes, mildly spiced and marinated, cooked in brown onions with poppy seeds and served in a rich, creamy cashew nut sauce. Syed chose side dishes of meloni tarkari (mixed curried vegetables) and garlic and plain naan breads to accompany her main course.

Syed closed a rich, filling meal, with the traditional cone-shaped dessert of kulfi, “Indian ice cream”, the main ingredients of which are almonds and flavoured milk.