A desi kitchen legacy

Chicken malai tikka. Pics/Anurag Ahire

Days before the second lockdown, when things looked promising, a little birdie told us about this cloud kitchen called The Legacy Kitchen in Oshiwara started by three foodies - a pilot, a chef, a media professional. Since we had heard praises of their dal makhani and butter chicken - the predictable favourites of North Indian dining - there were some preconceived notions. However, one look at the menu changed that, as dishes like Punjabi kadhi with arbi fry and home-style chicken curry made an appearance. In addition, we spotted dishes from rest of the country that usually don't make the cut on cloud kitchen menus, like Rajasthani lal maas, and Gujarati kadhi with khichdi and thepla.

Butter chicken

We tried the chicken dahiwala (Rs 295) and the Goan prawn curry (Rs 395), both of which had a home-cooked feel to it. The dahiwala was light and tangy, yet spicy - a delightful deviation from the usual onion-tomato-laden gravies.

Since the food travelled a distance to reach us, we preferred to have it with homemade rotis, hot and fresh, off the tava. The prawn curry with generously sized prawns, was an interplay of sourness from the kokam and the creaminess of the coconut milk - perfect to transport you to a comforting meal at a shack in Goa. To introduce a vegetarian element to the meal, we called for the hara bhara kebab (Rs 180) on recommendation of the person who had answered our telephone but it did not make the cut; it was dry and lacked the punch of a good starter. On the other hand, the non-vegetarian chicken malai tikka (R280) lived up to its taste as the ideal ‘starter'.

Chicken dahiwala

Captain Zubin Major (pilot), Suryaveer Singh Bhullar (chef), and Amit Rastogi (media professional) and their team of five cooks are behind this cloud kitchen. The Legacy Kitchen has two parts to their menu - The Kilo Kitchen, where food is sold by the kilo on pre-order (delivery through Dunzo or Swiggy Genie) and the à la carte and meal combos can also be ordered on Zomato and Swiggy. Rastogi claims that the Kilo Kitchen sells food by the weight of the meat mentioned and not the gross weight of the overall dish, so a kilo of a biryani ideally serves about six people because it has one kilogram of meat cooked with 750 grams of rice. We tried half a kilo of butter chicken (Rs 550), which was delectable and good enough for four of us. They hold pop-ups and regional food festivals as well, where guest chefs are invited to curate special menus.

Goan prawn curry

To end the meal on a sweet note, we opted for a portion of moong dal halwa (Rs 150). When warmed at home in a microwave, it did fill the kitchen with the aroma of lentils cooked with ghee. It tasted fine but we felt it lacked the earthiness that is usually associated with an authentic version.

Time: 11.30 am to 3.30pm; 6.30 pm to 12 pm
Call: 9833393294
Log on to: Zomato or Swiggy

''''Exceptional, '''Excellent, ''very Good, 'Good, Average. The Legacy Kitchen didn't know we ordered. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals