Pune’s Koregaon Park is a cultural hub that draws many foodies. Some of the iconic eating places within the neighbourhood is Malaka Spice, which has been round since 1997. Established through Praful and Cheeru Chandawarkar, this Pan-Asian eating place is encouraged through their travels round Southeast Asia. The intensive menu shines a focus on fashionable and area of interest cuisine from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, and Cambodia. Malaka Spice additionally takes delight in its farm-to-table means and champions sustainability in numerous techniques. After we visited Pune lately, we had the risk to drop through and style a few of its signature and seasonal delights. Learn extra about our enjoy under.
Picture Credit score: Malaka Spice
Malaka Spice has two institutions in Pune (Koregaon Park and Kharadi) and two in Nashik (Vallonne Vineyards and Gangapur Street). The unique area at Koregaon Park boasts an inviting atmosphere with indoor and out of doors seating. Regardless of the warmth and humidity of early summer time, we loved our ceremonial dinner outdoor. There are strategically positioned coolers, making sure abundant air flow. An abundance of crops alongside the fringe guarantees you momentarily disregard the concrete jungle. The lights isn’t frustratingly dim – simply shaded sufficient to create a way of intimacy and heat. The indoor area has its personal benefits: native artists show their masterpieces on probably the most partitions, bettering the decor with their particular person aesthetics.
Soups, salads, sushi and starters. We started our meal with Pumpkin Chips. This season, they had been made with ash gourd. The flavourful seasoning and the crunchy wholesomeness made it as delectable as peri peri fries (as potato fanatics know, this isn’t a praise to be furnished evenly). This was once adopted through a signature Malaka starter: Best Hats. This Malay-inspired deal with has been round for a few years and boasts legions of lovers within the town, Ilvika Chandawarkar tells me.
Kebabs on Sugarcane Skewers. Picture Credit score: Instagram/ malakaspice
As I chunk into the crispy crammed cups, I perceive the foodie fanaticism. One of these easy thought: to fill fried ‘cups’ with rooster mince and sprouts. The result’s an explosion of flavours and textures on your mouth that you’d wish to go back to, time and again. I additionally fell in love with the Kebabs on Sugarcane Skewers, which happy my yearning for the succulent deal with with a particular Asian twist. Any other non-vegetarian pride was once the Thai Mutton Chops, cooked to perfection. Ilvika is answerable for Analysis and Industry Construction of the logo at the moment, and has watched her circle of relatives’s eating place evolve over time. Her observations make me realise that tales also are one of those sustenance at Malaka Spice, and so they give start to a couple lip-smacking meals.
Every appetiser presented a distinct flavour profile, past the standard types one encounters at maximum Pan-Asian institutions. I used to be simplest midway executed, however I already had an inkling of the newness of my enjoy. This determination to flavour and balanced indulgence was once mirrored within the mains as neatly. I savoured the playfully intricate Roti Jhala with the fragrant Malaka Kari Kapitan as I listened to the legend of ways the latter were given its identify. I additionally were given a style of the summer time menu.
Nasi Kandar-inspired Thaal. Picture Credit score: Malaka Spice
For summer time 2024, the staff has made up our minds to hone its center of attention on Peranakan delicacies with a unique Thaal twist. “This 12 months, we needed to pay tribute to the colourful flavours of Nasi Kandar and the Peranakan meals tradition that embodies the essence of Malaysia,” says Praful Chandawarkar, Founder and Managing Director of the Area of Malaka Spice. Nasi Kandar is a hawker meal served from brass pots balanced on bamboo poles to dock staff. It’s stated to had been dropped at Penang from India. Malaka Spice’s summer time particular gifts a delicious interpretation of the numerous curries that accompany the aromatic rice on this dish.
There are set vegetarian and non-vegetarian menus, served Thaal-style, for a homely exploration of latest flavours. For us, the highlights from the vegetarian unfold had been the juicy Tamarind Corn Ribs and the fantastic Pineapple and Yam curry. Different cuisine come with Fried Beans, Yam Malay Curry Puff, Black Pepper Tofu, and so on. Non-vegetarians can revel in dishes just like the Hen Malay Curry Puff, Black Pepper Squid & Prawns, Buff Rendang or Pulled Lamb Curry, Malay Hen Curry and extra.
Malaka has quite a lot of wines and drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) which are as moderately curated because the meals menu. The cocktail menu at Malaka is harvest-based. My favorite drink of the evening was once ‘A Stunning Mess‘, a gin-based cocktail infused with mulberries from the farm. The identify is a connection with an unwitting mix-up on the harvest level. The berry is the simple big name of the cocktail and offers it a luscious thickness. Any other party of the farm’s produce was once ‘The Forager‘, a clarified tequila cocktail with notes of jalapeno, pineapple and starfruit. For a lighter sip, we suggest the ‘Holy Gimlet‘ with gin and basil. The eating place additionally has a tempting array of non-alcoholic beverages with distinctive and refreshing mixtures. I particularly cherished the Malaka Iced Tea, which is their tackle Thai Iced tea.
Some of the cakes, I savoured Malaka Tab Tim Krob, a mouth-watering interpretation of the well-known Thai dessert. We cherished the crunch of the chocolate-coated water chestnuts, served with creamy coconut ice cream and pandan-infused coconut milk. If you are visiting in chickoo season, you may additionally get the chance (like me) to take a look at Malaka Spice’s pretty Chickoo Mousse. What a a laugh solution to take advantage of the fruit’s unique texture!
Cherish Farm provides visitors a tranquil farm enjoy entire with natural foods. Picture Credit score: Malaka Spice/ Cherish Farms
My style of Malaka Spice’s hospitality and innovation didn’t finish there. Day after today, I had the risk to seek advice from Cherish Farms and take a excursion of the plantations that provide produce to the other Malaka Spice institutions. The Chandawarkars paintings the farm in collaboration with locals and use the farmhouse as an area for pop-ups. The modest lodging may be to be had to hire and gives a serene getaway alongside the Bhima River simply an hour clear of the town. It’s profitable to notice that Malaka Spice’s farm-to-table thought additionally works in the other way to minimise meals waste. Leftovers from the eating places are became compost right here and transformed into nutrient-rich manure for the farm.
As I walked across the farm, I noticed the chickoos of my mousse, the mulberries of my cocktail and the numerous shrubs that flavoured my curries. It was once quietly rewarding to retrace the provenance of the beautiful cuisine I had loved the evening prior to. I’ve at all times valued the facility of meals to forge connections – with oneself, with others and with Nature. My stories at Malaka Spice and Cherish Farms strengthened that religion with its holistic technique to the whole thing from sourcing substances to giving a contemporary twist to a dish. It is a culinary expedition you can not come up with the money for to omit.
The place: Malaka Spice, Siddharth Chambers, Lane, off North Primary Street, Koregaon Park, Pune, Maharashtra.