Driving the Hyundai Creta Electric through the gates of ITC Maurya in New Delhi makes you realise that innovation isn’t about forgetting the past, but reimagining it. Just as Hyundai reimagined the Creta as an electric, the hotel offers a culinary parallel called Avartana.
Avartana means magic
Celebrating its ninth year as a brand and its first anniversary at ITC Maurya, Avartana (pronounced avartan) is a Sanskrit word that means many things – rhythm, iteration, mysticism, even magic.
That magic has been woven into food by a team led by Nikhil Nagpal (currently executive chef at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai), who shared how the restaurant was born from a unique constraint.
Story behind the flavours
When ITC Grand Chola opened in 2012, Chennai already had the famous Dakshin restaurant at Park Sheraton (then part of ITC). Since company policy prevented two identical brands in one city, a void was created for a new kind of South Indian experience.
The result was Avartana. From 2015 to 2017, a team of chefs reimagined the cuisine, and crafted a menu rooted in flavours of the south – tomato, garlic, pepper, cumin – but delivered through global techniques.
Thinking beyond thali
Just as the Creta Electric smoothly shifts from Eco to Sport modes, Avartana’s menus – Maya, Bela, Jiaa, Anika, and Tara – offer a seamless gastronomical flow. Chef Nagpal said that South Indian food doesn’t need to be a thali to be authentic, and doesn’t even need to look South Indian.
Visually, most items at Avartana look like they’re from a fine Parisian restaurant, but the taste explosion you feel in your mouth is authentic local. These also don’t sound South Indian – names of some food items are: asparagus and coconut stew with idiyappam; tomato and millet rice crisp; crispy chilli potato with pineapple and mint; stir-fried chicken with buttermilk mousse curry leaf tempura; and seafood fritter rice with sesame and palm nectar (photos).
Avartana versus Bukhara
In terms of positioning, Avartana doesn’t sit above ITC legends like Bukhara, Dakshin, or Dum Pukht, but alongside them as a modern contemporary. It’s right now at ITC Grand Chola (Chennai), ITC Maratha (Mumbai), ITC Maurya (New Delhi), ITC Royal Bengal (Kolkata), and ITC Ratnadipa, Colombo. Operational hours are 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm daily, Sunday-only lunch from 12:30 pm to 2:45 pm, and average cost for two persons is Rs 8,000 plus taxes.
Avartana and Creta Electric
Both these brands were born in Chennai (at ITC Grand Chola and at Hyundai Motor India plant, respectively). If Avartana gave a spin to South Indian cuisine, the Creta proves how perfectly a petrol/diesel car can be turned electric for Indian driving conditions. At the end of the day, whether you are swapping an engine for a battery or a traditional thali for a molecular masterpiece, the flavour of the region is the ultimate destination.
(‘Power plates’ is a new column in which we travel to unique restaurants, and try and connect the flavours with the car.)
