A sattvik diet is essentially a diet based on foods that lead to clarity and equanimity of mind while also being beneficial to the body. Such foods include all the wholesomeness that the world has to offer, so foods like cereal grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, fresh milk, ghee, butter, cream, paneer, yogurt and raw honey are in plenty in such diet. What is ruled out of their kitchen are a wide variety of dishes like anything oversweet or over salted, tea (both black and green), cola drinks, chocolate, spicy food, egg, meat, fish, mushroom, alcoholic beverage, most cheeses, brinjal and stale food. Too much spice, sugar, or salt may also render food non-sattvik.
The newly opened Sattviko restaurant is the brain child of the young duo from IIT, Roorkee Prasoon Gupta and Ankush Sharma who have decided to make promoting sattvik food their mission in life. They have taken upon themselves the brave task of introducing sattvik food to its patrons by reengineering the old concept of “sattvik food” with their creative recipes and create a whole restaurant around it. Sattviko, situated at the restaurant hub of GK-II market, has an open feel and somewhat minimalistic interiors.
I do not follow a sattvik diet. Nor am I a vegetarian. I am here at the invitation of the two young partners to taste the food primarily because of intellectual curiosity. To ensure no bias, I take along with me a pure vegetarian friend. The first thing that strikes me is that the menu is quite creative. The limitations of the ingredients have not been allowed to come in the way of exciting sounding Indian, Mexican and Italian dishes.
So we start the tasting process. The first two items are from their breakfast menu. Sabudana Poha(Rs 89) is, unlike the Maharashtrian version, a sweet, sour & spicy dish, and is quite addictive. Ratlami Poha (Rs 89) has fluffy flattened rice tossed with tomato salsa, a dash of lemon and garnished with fresh coriander and crunchy sev, and is equally crunchy and tasty.
Coming to the main dishes, Chilled Melon Salad (Rs109) is made with fresh watermelon, lettuce, olives and caper berries drizzled with a tangy orange ginger dressing. It is perfect for this weather, and is cool, light and refreshing. The accompanying Mango Smoothie (Rs 89) is sweet and tart. The bright green looking Mexican Spinach Quesadillas (Rs 115) is made with a corn & spinach tortilla stuffed with bell peppers, tomatoes, coriander and a Mexican spice mix of red chilly and cumin.
The Sattviko signature Quad Burger (Rs 155) is unusual in that it has juicy grilled vegetables stuffed inside Focaccia bread with a dash of basil pesto, and is more like a grilled vegetable sandwich. The indulgent Vada Croissant (Rs 155) is a simple yet successful innovation. Potato vada is encased in a fresh croissant smeared with mint and tamarind chutney sprinkled with a dried chilly powder mix. Toe combo works really well, giving a flaky, buttery bite.
In the penultimate course, we try the Indian Meal (Rs 225), with two different kinds of parathas, one a stuffed paneer, gobhi, peas, green beans and chilly, and another with methi, a nice moong and chana daal, a peas and paneer curry, some pulao rice and some salad. It’s a nice and wholesome meal.
We end the tasting with the desserts. The tastiest of them without doubt is Shrikhand (Rs 89) which is a heart-stealer with its simplicity. The most exotic looking is Frozen Banana (Rs 89), which is essentially a chocobar with frozen banana rather than ice cream inside. It is an interesting concept, though I don’t really care for the texture of frozen banana. Sabudana Kheer (Rs 89) is soothing.
Sattviko is a big boon especially to the vegetarians and vegetarian food lovers of the city to eat good food, and detox oneself in the process. The menu at Sattviko is elaborate and yet priced quite reasonably, for a quick lunch or an elaborate dinner.
Ratings (Out of 5)
Food: 3.5 | Ambience: 3.5 | Service: 3.5 | Overall: 3.5
Meal for two: Rs.600 | Alcohol: No | Credit Card: Yes | Wheel chair friendly: No | Address: M 72, M Block Market, Greater Kailash (GK) 2, New Delhi | Tel: 011 41717171
With Inputs from Ravi Gupta
