Fabulous feasts: catch the superbowl wonders of the world

Hold a warm bowl of food in your palms on any afternoon for lunch and take in the aroma. All your stress, the thoughts of post-lunch meetings, quarterly targets and deadlines are sure to melt away, even if it’s for a few minutes.

The core concept of a one-bowl all-filling meal may have had ironically humble origins in the “Buddha Bowl” – it’s rooted in Buddha’s begging bowl that brought together the day’s alms. It was vegetarian, based on the essential concept of balance of various nutrients in one bowl as seen in Budhdhist philosophy.

Today’s one-bowl wonders have taken on a very celebratory and gustatory form, with each bowl packing quite a punch. It’s meant to appeal to all your senses – it must have a knockout look and taste. Be it at fine-dine pan-Asian restaurants, or Indo-fusion gastro pubs, every place has a quirkier and innovative take to offer.

Keeping things glocal

Chef Manu Chandra, Chef Partner, Toast & Tonic believes you get so much more in one bite out of a bowl and explains his take on what makes this format so popular. “As more and more cuisines adopt the ‘bowl meal’ format, it now appears to be a growing trend worldwide. One-bowl meals are here to stay, and eating out of a bowl certainly gives you a better chance of getting all the flavours and textures in your mouth with every bite.”

Their Vegetable Gumbo is a great example of a quintessentially American dish, specific to southern Louisiana, which has been adapted in a Bengaluru bowl. It’s traditionally a robust stew of meat or seafood, with veggies. At Toast & Tonic, the vegetable gumbo is dished out with okra and local root vegetables like the elephant foot yam, Sassafras (a deciduous tree leaf) powder, naati coriander and brown butter rice.

Easy to cook and eat

One-bowl meals are tailored for people on the go, who want a quick and filling meal. Chef Aditya Bhadoria, Executive Chef of 1Q1 Kitchen and Bar, points out how easy and quick it is to eat from a bowl. “It also saves time both in preparing and eating, is light and healthy. Moreover, the very idea of eating from a bowl has become trendy nowadays,” he adds. Their Chicken Teriyaki Bowl is a hot favourite on their menu – grilled chicken layered on a bed of rice, and drizzled with a generous slash of Teriyaki sauce exuding the tangy acidity of sake and mirin and topped off with crunchy sesame.

Constant reinvention

Who doesn’t love their hot masaledar Maggi, specially when it comes laced with veggies, the fave Indian combination of garlic-tomato-onion- green chillies, and meat for a still-chilly Bengaluru afternoon, or a quick post-work supper? Chef Shaikh Ishtekar Mohammed, Executive Chef at The Open Box where the Egg and Chicken Maggi Bowl is predictably all the rage, talks of how it’s a great working lunch. “It also helps avoid ordering of too many dishes and is a meal in itself; therefore it’s preferred by working professionals,” he notes.

“We take familiar flavours and give them an unconventional and playful twist for diners who are increasingly looking for food that surprises, comforts and satiates,” says Chef Dheeraj Varma, Head Chef, Monkey Bar. One such unimaginable combination is the robust Butter Chicken Khichdi (there’s a vegetarian Butter Paneer version too). It brings together two soul foods – the quintessential Punjabi staple married to the humble Khichdi!

Nutritional layering

Chef Dinesh Sharma, Brand Chef at Misu, the popular Pan Asian restaurant in the city, talks of how this non-messy meal, high on proteins, is a great option for athletes, and a favourite of the health-conscious gym hitters too. Their Veg Miso Ramen bowl, loaded with mushrooms, broccoli, tofu, corn, carrots and bok choy is a perfect case in point. Who said vegetarians are missing out on protein?

Some bowls are a strong nod to the Asian, particularly Japanese, origins of the bowl meal – the all-encompassing soupy noodle-broth-meat-vegetable combination like the range of Ramen bowls at The Fatty Bao. Made with stock that’s simmered over 8 hours, the Ramens offer combinations of multiple elements like bacon, braised pork belly, soft boiled egg, bean sprout, miso paste, grilled broccoli, mushrooms, crispy ginger, beef tenderloin, fish and prawn broth, grilled prawns, fish, calamari, kamaboko (fish cake). Chef Prashanth Puttaswamy, Executive Chef at The Fatty Bao, makes a case for the nutritional plusses of a one-bowl meal as well as it’s visual appeal. “Bowl meals are mostly healthy – that’s their premise -- ideally filled with dark leafy greens, grains, proteins and vegetables. Though, every bowl meal may not be focused on healthy options, it will still be a balanced meal. It's the essential comfort food. Bowls make food look pleasing and can be easily layered with vegetables, protein, carbs in the form of noodles or rice.”

Here are some recipes of One Bowl meals

Egg & Chicken Maggi bowl (Recipe Courtesy: The Open Box)

Ingredients

Maggi                                                   100gms                                  

Chicken Boneless                                100gms

Egg                                                        1

Onion                                                     50gms

Tomato                                                  50gms

Garlic (chopped)                                  20gms

Green chilli                                            1

Red chilli powder                                 1gm

Turmeric powder                                 1gm

Cumin powder                                      1gm

Aniseed powder                                   1gm

Ginger powder                                      1gm

Green Cardamom powder                  1gm

Nutmeg powder                                   1gm

Oil                                                            20ml

Salt to taste

Method

1. Add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, aniseed powder, ginger powder, green cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, taste maker and chicken pieces in a bowl. Marinate for 10 mins and keep aside.                                                  

2. Cook Maggi noodles and keep aside.

3. Pour oil in a pan. Add onion, garlic, tomato, green chilli in the pan, toss well. Cook marinated chicken, then mix cooked Maggi and mix well.

5. Add fried egg on top of Maggi and serve hot

Wild Mushroom Ramen (Recipe courtesy:  The Fatty Bao)

Preparation time 1/2 hr                          Cooking time 45mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients                                                              

Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp

White button mushrooms, quartered or halved -1cup

White fungus and black fungus  - ½ cup

Beansprouts - ¼ cup

Green onions, sliced on the diagonal - 2

Broccoli  blanched -30gms

Sweet corn boiled - 20gms

Ramen noodles - 200gms

For the stock

Garlic clove chopped -1pod

Chopped ginger - 1 tbsp

Carrot - 50 gms

Leeks - 50gms

Onion - 50gms    

Celery - 30gms

Water - 1 cup

Soy sauce - 1 tbsp, or to taste

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Rice wine vinegar - 1 tbsp

Toasted sesame seeds for garnish -1tsp

Preparation

1. Soak shiitake mushrooms and white fungus in hot water until soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and reserve soaking liquid. Remove any stems and slice if whole. Set aside.

2. Heat large saucepan over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add mushrooms, garlic and ginger. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in soaked and sliced shiitake and white fungus mushrooms. Cook for 1 minute.

To make stock

Add all the ingredients for stock and reserved mushroom liquid, water, soy sauce, sugar and rice wine vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-45 mins.

To make ramen

Boil water with some salt add ramen noodles into water and cook for 2-3 mins until ramen are al dente.

To assemble

Using tongs, divide noodles evenly among serving bowls. Ladle in broth. Arrange mushrooms, green onions, broccoli and corn over top of noodles. Sprinkle with toasted sesame garnish.