PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 57 spice it up eylanrestaurant.com out. “We have 28 states, and they have more than 200 different cuisines. It’s so complex.” And Eylan’s focus? Woodgrilled dishes inspired by the hearth-centered cooking of Srijith’s youth. But that doesn’t mean Srijith’s menu is a traditional one. As a pioneer of CalIndian dishes, Srijith shines when he pushes the envelope. Take his twist on butter chicken. This decadently creamy, yet arguably over-ordered curry, is often a goto for Western diners. But when you order it at Eylan, it arrives at your table in an unexpected shade of green instead of that traditional tomato-tinged orange. That’s thanks to the tomatillos. Srijith says he didn’t have butter chicken in mind when he first started experimenting with the fruit. After grilling it, he tried to counteract its acidity by adding a little honey. “It was still sour so then I added a little bit of butter.” Then, a spoonful of cream. He kept tweaking it with cardamom and spices and other adjustments over a two-week span. “When I finished it, I felt like, ‘Wow, I’m at butter chicken—but no tomatoes!” While delicious, you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to explore the rest of the menu. Try the beautifully butterflied black cod adorned in tamarind, curry leaves and turmeric with coconut rice or the bright citrusy hamachi served alongside battered sesame leaves. Sample the savory, succulent trumpet mushrooms with achaari, mint and yogurt when you’re ready to amp up the heat. Then indulge in refreshing rose water shaved ice with rose lassi frozen yogurt and a sprinkling of ground pistachio to end the night on a sweet note. Food, Srijith says, is “India’s soft power,” and “I’m trying to do as much as possible to expose its cuisine to the people in this part of the world!”
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