This appeared in The Hindu
United Coffee House turns 75 - The Hindu
Read the unedited version here...
Flash back of 75 years...
“Archived
dishes are a very big homework. We have an archival recipe record of nearly 400
– 500 dishes which we have served in our restaurant in the last 75 years. They
are not original or authentic recipes but our adaptation of these to the taste
of our customers and the time.” Says Akash K Kalra, Managing Director, The
United Group, “of these around 150 – 200 dishes are on the menu all the time.
We keep going back to these, bring it back to our customers, adapting it to
suit their palette and trend of the day. I look at myself as a custodian of
this heritage which I want to retain and take it forward,” finishes Kalra.
Despite
this emphasis on food and cuisine from all over the world, it comes as a
surprise to know that when United Coffee House started, food was not its focal
point. It was more of a place to meet and chat – an adda of sorts – to enjoy a
cup of coffee with snacks, to wrap up the day. As Kalra says, “this place was
more of a hangout where people could meet. For many, this was a place to walk
in on Sundays after listening to the Military band play and watching the
fountains at Central Park to walk in here for a cup of coffee with snacks. It
was a part of a Sunday ritual for many.”
The
establishment of the first coffee house in Delhi in 1942 was the brain child of
Lala Hans Raj Kalra (Akash Kalra’s grandfather), the son of a liquor baron who
had a flourishing liquor business in Sialkot in Pakistan. The family moved to
Delhi and were based in Chandni Chowk. They also owned a liquor bond and a
liquor shop in Chandni Chowk. The first foray into hospitality came with the
setting up of Esplanade Restaurant & Bar in 1938-39 to cater to the
American GIs who had their barracks at the Red Fort. It proved to be very popular
but since it was meant for the GIs it wound up with their moving out after the
war in early 40s. Around that time, Hans Raj Kalra heard of an affluent
shopping arcade in Lutyens Delhi called Connaught Place which had been built in
the shape of a horse shoe to bring luck to the traders and its customers. Going
there, he found little bakeries were the Memsahibs sold homemade goodies,
equestrian shoe makers, drapers…However what it lacked was a Coffee House.
Coffee Houses were “in” those days especially in England, and there was none
here. He bought the place and opened United Coffee House. As Kalra says, “he
called it United because it was a place where people could unite for coffee.”
Thus Hans Raj Kalra also sealed the family business into hospitality moving out
of the liquor trade they were in.
Initially
in the 40s, the place was open from 11 am to 8 pm typically selling street
snacks of Old Delhi. People would congregate for coffee. As Kalra says, “food
then was commercial food and Bibiyana food or that which was made at home. No
one would eat home food outside so it was only commercial food – omelette,
chana bhatura, tikka...” Post independence in the 50s, the hours extended and
by 60s it became a full fledged restaurant. The cuisine initially was a mix of
the Old Delhi Kayasth food and Frontier Province Pakistani food. The menu expanded and during their life time,
the place has served everything from commercial food, Bibiyana food, Madras
Club Food, Bombay Club Food, Calcutta Club food, Anglo Indian, Khansama cooked
Memsahib cuisine, newer variants of continental food, Asian, Mexican, Lebanese
and of course Indian including popular appams and dals. Having been conceived
in the British Era, there is still a fondness for the Old Raj cuisine especially
British Club food – Cheese balls, cutlets, samosas, chops, cutlets…English
breakfast. The Menu in itself very interesting offering a host of vegetarian
and non-vegetarian dishes (breakfast, tea snacks, main course, starters and
more..)
Though
there is such a range of dishes available, Kalra says, “We are known for our
keema samosa, cheese balls, tomato fish, chicken a la kiev. These have not been
invented by us. But our variation is a huge hit, it is amongst our signature
dishes.” Apart from these there are plenty of staples – the Chaplee Kababs,
Railway mutton curry, Dak Bunglow chicken curry, Chicken Maryland, Coq Au Vin, Chicken a la princess.. Kalra
explains, “my grandfather had the acumen to get some of the finest cooks of
those times to work for us. With their feedback and my grandfather’s insight a
dish would be perfected after much trials. For example a chef from Lucknow
might add raw mango and bay leaf to a Dak Bunglow chicken curry which made the
taste entirely different from the usual one. It is such little variations which
adds to our dishes and taste.”
To
commemorate the 75th year, a new menu will be unveiled in May. Classic dishes
which have not been on the Menu for 20 – 30 years are being revamped and
brought back. Kalra enthusiastically says, “Fuyong, Chow chows from Asian,
butter milk burgers…amongst others. Again these dishes are being adjusted to
suit today’s palette. So if a baked salmon was served with boiled vegetables
then, today we would be doing it with braised Bok Choi.”
What
works for the UCH is that it still retains the old world charm of the 1950s.
The food has been adapted to suit today’s nuances but yet the ambience is one
of relaxed uncluttered luxury. One actually feels one is back in time when one
steps into the restaurant - the laid back era of fine dining, huge chandeliers,
unhurried knowledgeable waiters, the attention and care to the patrons with a
sense of discreet familiarity.
