mint family which is native to mexico and guatemala rich in b vitamins omega 3 fatty acids and loads of other healthy stuff these seeds are traditionally used in drinks and sherbets at caf pranah they use it in the sugarfree fig and date kulfi it is a body coolant and adds a beautiful textural contrast to the richness of the kulfi informs rahul arora chef and owner of the caf quinoa from latin americaquinoa saladhakuna matata gradually but steadily kolkata is waking up to the quinoa phenomenon a gluten free organically grown seed it is used in food in the capacity of a grain the history of this seed goes back to the inca empire when it was known as the mother of all food given its nutrientrich status at hakuna matata the quinoa salad also has rocket leaves grilled veggies tomato cucumber and pomegranate yoghurt dressingps nasa scientists are reportedly looking at quinoa as a plant to be grown in space duxelle from france mirin from japanstir fried scallions with mushroom duxelle spicy mirin reduction spice kraft at spice kraft chef and owner sambit banick makes it a point to mix and marry cuisines for their stirfried scallions and mushroom duxelle with spicy mirin reduction the marriage is between classic french duxelles and a spicy asian sauce for the duxelle the mushrooms are chopped and cooked in butter and made into a paste then to add to it a zing of asian flavour a reduction of mirin is used served on canapes its sprinkled with stirfried scallions wild red rice from northeast indiawild red rice santas fantasea a tribal dish the wild red rice is big in the northeast food scene its unpolished unlike the white rice we commonly use the unpolished dhenkichhaat chaal is full of nutrients it might not look very shiny but it is much better for our health says kaushik ghosh owner of santas fantasea in this restaurant it is served with a gravy that is made from traditional northeastern herbs and the superhot bhut jolokia or raja mirchi as it is known in nagaland chorizo from spainchickpea chorizo bodega cantina y bar a spanish pork sausage chorizo is increasingly becoming one of the staples at newage restaurants in kolkata it is spicy made from coarsely ground pork and seasoned with chili and paprika it is widely used in spanish and mexican cuisine chorizos are centuries old but it is relatively new on indias palette we buy it from a spanish couple in bangalore who make the chorizos themselves to preserve the authentici ty the spicy pork goes wonderfully with the flavours of chickpea and present it as tapas shares urvika kanoi head chef and owner of bodega cantina y bar chimichurri from argentinachimichurri prawns smoke house deli this is an argentinian sauce which is used as a dip with fried fish or grills in smoke house deli they make it from scratch which is their take on the original chimichurri and use