The Silk Street has a brand new cease in Union Market. Indian chef Sanjay Mandhaiya, the artistic drive behind 14th Road’s Pappe, unveils an all-new culinary endeavor throughout city on Thursday, June 19. Karravaan celebrates varied cultural influences alongside the favored buying and selling route, with Persian, Portuguese, Indian, and Turkish cuisines served underneath the identical roof (325 Morse Road NE).
Not like Pappe, which Mandhaiya notes is a distinctly Indian restaurant, the purpose with Karravaan was to be extra regionally targeted. “We’re celebrating dishes that had been related by the Silk Street,” he says. The essential commerce community related Jap and Western cultures for over a millennia between 30 BCE to 1453 CE, says Mandhaiya. Given the multiplicity of nations and cuisines the Silk Street touched, Karravaan’s menu is as bold as it’s far-reaching.
That journey begins with bread service. Each Indian naan and Persian barbari are served in limitless portions, and characterize two totally different takes on flatbread. Naan, he notes, was really delivered to India by the Silk Street. “When it got here to India, our ancestors determined they wished to make use of baking powder and baking soda instead of yeast, whereas the Persian model is leavened with yeast,” he says.
The theme continues in an intensive collection of handed plates, which embody jamon-wrapped dates combining basic Spanish and Moroccan components alongside Tibetan momos, conventional pork, and vegetable dumplings. “We’ve a smokey eggplant dip, which is a Persian dish we wished to do with Indian aptitude,” says Mandhaiya. Italian eggplants are caramelized together with onions, then blended with labneh and pinenuts for a good looking texture.
Khachapuri was a “must-have on the menu,” Mandhaiya notes, referring to the basic Georgian dish comprising a bread boat full of cheese and a freshly cracked egg. Karravaan’s model additionally options roasted jalapeños for some added warmth. D.C. simply misplaced a longstanding vacation spot for khachapuri when Shaw’s Compass Rose closed final month.
Traditional chickpea falafel get a contact of ginger for added warmth and brightness (and a few Indian affect as properly).
“Anytime meals comes from one place to a different it’s finally dictated by the regionally accessible components,” says Mandhaiya. In India, he says, you’ll usually discover rice dishes with quite a lot of spices, whereas in Afghanistan, you’ll discover quite a lot of cashews and dried berries in nuts.” That is mirrored in Karravaan’s wild mushroom biryani, which mixes wild hunt mushrooms with raisins and richly spiced grains. A playful mixture additionally involves life within the fettuccine a la goshtaba, which takes the basic Kashmiri lamb curry of goshtaba and combines it with a fennel beurre blanc, parmesan cheese, and tellicherry pepper.
“We’re actually making an attempt to drive dwelling the truth that we now have one thing for everybody – our goal clientele actually is anybody from any tradition or background,” Mandhaiya says. As such, you’ll discover every thing from a French rooster liver mousse to a Chinese language-influenced duck breast served with a North African harissa-honey soy discount.
Bigger dishes, meant to be shared household type, embody a seasonal sabzi tagine, served in its eponymous cooking vessel. “We wished to serve the basic Moroccan dish within the basic Moroccan method, with its hit on high to lure all the flavour,” Mandhaiya says. The lamb shank polov can be meant to feed a household, drawing inspiration from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Persia with its braised lamb shank, candied carrots, and raisins.
Even drink choices replicate a large number of influences. For instance, the Terracotta Warrior pairs Chinese language spirit baiju with orange bitter wine, amaro and citrus, whereas the namesake martini is a vodka martini laced with saffron and baharat, a North African fragrant spice mix.
The notion of taking diners on a journey is paramount at Karravaan, and it’s not misplaced upon Mandhaiya that the restaurant is situated not too removed from the outdated practice tracks of Union Station. A railway motif proliferates throughout the restaurant, from the train-platform ceiling design to the open kitchen design meant to evoke the look of a parked practice automotive.
“At Karravaan, we’re hoping to reunite folks by delicacies,” Mandhaiya notes. “I need to present those who on the finish of the day, we’re the identical folks consuming the identical issues.”
