Leela Palace Chennai’s new Jamavar menu serves royal, and reel-friendly meals

Fancy trying a multigrain dosa taco? It comes with a side of royal treatment at The Leela Palace’s Jamavar

To the sound of percussion and blowing horns, a palanquin is carried in. Inside, wrapped in red velvet and embellished in gold, is Jamavar’s new menu. 

Set in Chennai’s Leela Palace, Jamavar aims to create a royal dining experience, offering food and flavours from across India.

The redesigned menu opens with mor vada, served as an amuse bouche. About five small vada spheres float in chilled and seasoned buttermilk, staying surprisingly crisp even as they soak up the buttermilk.  With multigrain dosa tacos filled with broccoli bezule and truffled wild mushroom galoutis, Chef Anshuman Bali builds on luxurious, traditional Indian recipes and ingredients, with global inspiration and a contemporary twist. 

Along with the galoutis, placed on a cardamom-spiced paratha, there is badami broccoli and chutney paneer tikka served as appetisers. The broccoli floret is marinated in cream cheese and yogurt, coated with shards of almonds and cooked in a tandoor. The block of paneer tikka, also fresh out of the tandoor, is doused in chutney and tikka masala, then served with garlic chilli sauce.

A kala khatta granita, spun together with black salt, is a playful nod to nostalgia and a much-needed palette cleanser. 

The not-so-small plates course start with a khasta baingan bharta, where smoky eggplant gravy fills a crisp batterfried eggplant shell, and is served with a crunchy multigrain roti. Try the dal haleem, slow cooked until the wheat and the dal are one creamy component. Topped with crunchy roasted pine nuts and fried onion, it is served with flaky kulchas with streaks of saffron that add colour to the monotone dish.

At the Maharaja Dining table, ruby red chandeliers, a wooden sculpture, crystal cut glasses and exclusively designed plates add to the regal dining experience. There are vegetarian and non-vegetarian variants of this curation along with an a la carte menu. Try the curated menu for the entire Jamavar experience: though you may require a palanquin to leave your seat once you are done with all the courses, and dessert.