Piquant’s multicultural palate

Ms. Rahi trained at the Natural Gourmet School in New York, but her food at Piquant is uniquely her style

By: Pat Tanner

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Photo by Pat Tanner
At Piquant Bread Bar & Grill in New Brunswick, Elizabeth Stelling, proprietor of CookAppeal, and Kirti Rahi, Piquant’s owner/chef, are clearly delighted by the success of their recent co-production — the pairing of international wines with epicurean Indian food.


   Two culinary powerhouses combined forces recently for an eye-opening seven-course dinner that paired international wines with epicurean Indian food.
   Elizabeth Stelling, proprietor of CookAppeal, a catering, personal chef and culinary event planning company in Princeton, chose, for example, an 80/20 blend of tempranillo and cabernet to go with Seekh Lamb Kabobs with Mint Chutney as prepared by Kirti Rahi, owner/chef of Piquant Bread Bar & Grill, the New Brunswick b.y.o.b. where the dinner was held.
   Ms. Rahi’s eclectic, all natural, often organic Indian food is anything but run-of-the-mill. Karla Cook of The New York Times calls Piquant, "The most interesting, most innovative ethnic fusion restaurant that I’ve found in nearly eight years of eating in central New Jersey." Says Ms. Rahi, "People can come to Piquant to eat fresh food without guilt. Everything is made from scratch, using the best ingredients, nothing canned or artificial." She eschews deep-frying for health reasons. "If I don’t do it at home, I don’t do it for my customers."
   The trim Ms. Rahi, a former software engineer who grew up in Delhi and moved to Vancouver when she was 17, has been cooking since she was 10 years old. She told the dinner group that she was motivated to change her cooking habits when she ballooned up to 195 pounds after having her two children. Ms. Rahi trained at the Natural Gourmet School in New York, but her food at Piquant is uniquely her style. "The fusion comes via the ingredients," she says. "For example, I use jicama, which is unknown in India. But it’s delicious, so I serve onions stuffed with jicama. Why be in a box? There are so many delicious flavors out there."
   For the wine dinner she created such brilliant fusion dishes as crab samosas with Meyer lemon aioli; Manchurian grilled chicken breast with sweet ‘n’ sour garlic sauce, and caramelized carrot truffles with vanilla ice cream, chocolate ganache, and pistachio brittle. Elizabeth Stelling’s inspired wine choice to accompany the carrot truffles was a sparkling red Italian dessert wine, brachetto d’Aqui.
   Ms. Stelling, a Dallas girl born and bred who has nearly 20 years of experience in the food and restaurant industry, recently moved to Princeton with her husband, Robert. She is a member of the Central Jersey chapter of Slow Food, Women for WineSense, Princeton Rotary, and the American Institute of Wine & Food. On Thursday Ms. Stelling will conduct a free Moroccan fusion-cooking demo from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Aga kitchen studios at Domain Home Fashions on Route 1 in West Windsor. Then on Sept. 15 she will once again be matching wines with food, this time for a special five-course Northern Italian wine dinner at Tre Piani in Forrestal Village. In coming weeks, she will conduct events at the Great Grapes Wine, Arts and Food Festival at ETS, at Village Bakery in Lawrenceville, and at Zen Palate in Princeton.
   For more information about these and CookAppeal’s other upcoming events and services, visit www.cookappeal.com. For more information about Piquant Bread Bar & Grill, visit www.piquantfoods.com.
   Below are signature recipes from Kirti Rahi and Elizabeth Stelling.
AVOCADO & MANGO SALAD
WITH PASSION FRUIT VINAIGRETTE
Kirti Rahi, Chef/owner,
Piquant Bread Bar & Grill
   1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled, and diced
   ½ mango, peeled, seeded, and diced
   1 teaspoon cumin powder, toasted briefly in a skillet and cooled
   2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
   ½ teaspoon sea salt
   2 cups mesclun greens, preferably organic
For the vinaigrette:
   1 cup passion fruit juice
   ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
   Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
   Place vinaigrette ingredients into a blender and blend for 1 to 2 minutes until mixture is thoroughly emulsified. Set aside. In a small bowl combine avocado and mango. Add cumin powder, lime juice, and salt and combine well. Set aside. When ready to serve, toss the greens with passion fruit vinaigrette, to taste, in a large bowl. Divide greens among plates and top each with the avocado-mango mix. May be garnished with paprika or chat masala (Indian spice mix).
   Serves 2 to 4.
BLUEBERRY CHUTNEY
Elizabeth Stelling,
Chef/owner, CookAppeal
   Ms. Stelling says this chutney is good as a dip with spicy paratha bread. She also incorporates 1 cup of it into a standard recipe for brownies, with interesting results.
   For a 9 x 9-inch square pan, prepare your favorite brownie batter, pour it into the pan, and let it sit for 20 minutes. Pour 1 cup of cooled chutney in a back and fourth motion on top of brownie batter. Using a knife, gently push the chutney into the batter, but not all the way through to the bottom. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
   2 pints fresh blueberries
   ¼ cup finely minced red onion
   1 teaspoon ginger powder
   1 pinch garlic powder
   1 pinch salt
   1 pinch pepper
   1 teaspoon dry mustard
   1 pinch chili powder
   1 pinch cayenne pepper
   ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
   ¼ cup apple cider
   In a non-stick quart pan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring periodically, until mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Cool to room temperature (do not place in refrigerator).
   Makes 2 cups.