Dear Patron:

Greetings. I hope all is well with you and your loved ones. Everyone at Ajanta is doing well. The business was better in the month of May, thanks to several new graduates who chose Ajanta for their celebrations.

All the new dishes introduced last month were very well received. The new appetizer, Scallop Cakes, was liked by everyone who tried it, but several customers said they missed Tandoori Scallops and preferred them to Scallop Cakes. Therefore we are returning this wonderful and popular item to the menu and discontinuing Scallop Cakes. All the entreés introduced last month were very popular. My favorite was the chicken dish from Tamilnadu, Kozi Milagu Chettinad. I ate this dish more often than any other dish during the month. Every time we have featured this dish, it also becomes a favorite for most of the Ajanta staff as well.

Following are the new dishes being introduced for the month of June 2009:

Madras Jhinga Masala: This prawn dish from Chennai (new name for Madras), south India, features bold and robust flavors of freshly roasted and ground spices for which south India is well known. The sauce is made with onions, garlic, coconut powder, and spices including cumin, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, turmeric and paprika. The prawns are sautéed and then simmered in this sauce. Adding tamarind to give the sauce a pleasantly tart flavor finishes off the dish. Like most dishes from south India, we recommend this dish be eaten as hot as your palate will permit.

Vendaka Masala Pachdi: Okra is in season and it is time to bring back this very popular dish from Tamilnadu, something we do annually. Sliced fresh Okra is trimmed, sliced, sautéed and then briefly cooked in a sauce made with onions, tomatoes, yogurt, coconut milk, urid dal, curry leaves and spices. The spices include mustard seeds, coriander, cumin, paprika, red chile and turmeric. The sauce is rich with a multitude of textures and flavors. The okra is cooked in a way that makes it not slimy, which seems to be the main reason why many people do not like okra.

Baingan Bharta: This popular eggplant dish from Punjab is made by cooking the pulp from roasted eggplants with a mixture of onions, tomatoes, and spices. Many of you pointed out that I have not done this dish in a long time, and it is true. The last time we featured this dish was in 2005. Eggplants are in season, so here it is. For this dish, the eggplants are roasted in tandoor oven, skinned, and the pulp is then chopped. Separately, a sauce is prepared by sautéing a mixture of onions, garlic, green chiles, ginger, and tomatoes. The sauce is spiced with coriander, turmeric, and paprika. The dish is finished off by cooking some peas with the mixture of eggplant pulp and the sauce. A truly delightful eggplant dish!

The following dishes will be discontinued to make room for the new dishes:

1. Scallop Cakes

2. Parsee Jhinga

3. Miloni Sabzi

4. Bheh Khumbi aur Matar

It is always a pleasure to see you at Ajanta.

Sincerely,

Lachu Moorjani