The Grand Hyatt, (Goa)

Before I left for the United States on a short visit where I write this from, I had the opportunity to visit my maternal home – Goa, twice. One was in December for my sister’s wedding, the usual extravagant affair with pots of love, family and fun. Before that, sometime in October I had been invited over by the Hyatt group of hotels to check out their properties in the land of sunshine, sea and susegad.

In Mumbai, I have a close association with the Hyatt Regency (though the Hyatt properties are independently handled), especially due to one of the talented Executive Chefs who I truly adore, Ashish Shome. Ashish has now made his way to being a Director at the premises. Hyatt has always been innovative in their food space, being an international brand their onus is on charting out their menus with the help of chefs from all over the world. They not only mix tradition with modern cuisine but ensure that the Chefs (and F&B heads) who work these two verticals in any of the Hyatt kitchens are from the cuisine specific place at most times and their strong points reflect in the menus which are created for that specific location.

I was introduced to The Grand Hyatt in Goa and was invited over to check out the property. It has been an interesting hotel ever since it opened up in Goa. Though I have three homes there now, I do sometimes check out the hotels in the vicinity in Panjim though this was one place I never managed to make my way to. My family (that is my brother and his wife) have been several times and come back with stories galore about their fantastic stay. Its unique location is away from the humdrum of North Goa (likes of Anjuna, etc. where you will find no street left untouched by a bar-pub-restaurant-café) or the stillness of South Goa (which is now burgeoning as the hot new spot for Goan cuisine and its pristine beaches), infact it is situated about a few miles from the capital city of Goa – Panjim.

Just as its names goes – it is a “Grand” hotel. In a secluded area which sparkles with charming Goan homes on the outskirts, starts this towering edifice of a 17th century Indo-Portuguese inspired palace complete with different wings and baroque style high roofs. Each wing was done up phases wise (and they have their last 2 wings being done up shortly which will be a single room – or rather their presidential suites) and is distinct in its own little way. The rooms are large, luxurious and slightly cut away from the main building. This gives you immense privacy coupled with massive balconies which have an unobstructed view of the beach, their grounds (made up of about 28 acres in total) and pool. This way, you don’t pretty much leave the premises and have enough to do out there for a short weekend vacation or a summer holiday.

he hotel has a host of activities designed to create a holiday atmosphere. These activities are in-house curated and one of the most fun ones was their sailing offerings. This hotel is situated luckily in an area in Goa which is a cul-de-sac of sorts for the sea. Facing the Bambolim Bay, the sea is considered slightly more mellow and calm (except during monsoons which start about June all the way to September end) and is a hot bed of sea adventures and activities. Grand Hyatt has tied up with world renowned sailing whiz’ Aquasail, this is a real first time for sailing in India – a world class sailing center built to international technical specifications, fully equipped with best in class boats and equipment and complemented by a team of highly qualified and certified instructors from all over the globe. This penchant for the best quality and a vision to bring world class sailing to India is what makes the offering at the Aquasail Sailing Center at Grand Hyatt Goa so unique. I had my brush with the sailing boat, literally learning the ropes, as also the rig called the speed racer which is a crazy ride out in the ocean with a split hull which cuts through the water for an intense joy ride.

The other leisure activity which I truly enjoyed (and a reasonably good priced one for the services offered) is the resorts Shamana Spa. As with most spas, the key is in the therapists and their skills. Once they get that down right, it’s a great experience. The spa’s therapists are talented. This peaceful and serene retreat is the ultimate in wellness and relaxation. Embracing the mythical concept of the “monastery of the Indo-Portuguese Palace”, Shamana Spa offers South East Asian treatments with a contemporary approach. “Shamana” is a Sanskrit word for balance. The essence of Shamana Spa is to create a perfect balance between well-being and lifestyle through a serene environment. I had booked the classic Balinese massage and it was invigorating.

It has 19 spa treatment suites. Designed to enrich a guest’s experience, the treatment suites comprise of six couple suites with a sunken bath space, an Ayurveda / Indian treatment suite and single suites. The spa has a beauty salon, fitness centre, lifestyle studio, indoor and outdoor pools, whirlpools and wet areas with sauna and steam.

The main building is where all the excitement happens. It houses their four main restaurants – The Dining Room, The Verandah, Chula and Capiz Bar as well as the Bay View Lounge and the deli, Confetaria. It also consists of five boardrooms and The Ballroom, which is one of Goa’s largest pillar-free ballrooms. It’s been a haven for wedding parties since the time this place has opened, all the more because one (or two) of the 7 wings can be wholly booked thus giving the other guests and your own, hassle-free stays.

The Dining room is where one can go down for the breakfast, I would love sitting out in the open verandah area and snack on the house specials in the mornings and finish it off with a swim. The restaurant is a warm, lively and casual dining venue featuring five interactive buffet stations serving various cuisines along with international Western favorites including a balanced variety of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. This includes influences from South East Asian, Indian, Italian and Middle Eastern cuisine and the locals seem to endorse this for lunch buffets – business as well as leisure.

The restaurants are headed by their Executive Chef – Chef Shane O’Neill. Irish born and bred with a flair for Irish and French cuisine as well as over 15 years of professional cooking and kitchen management experience; Shane Ó Néill is an absolute gastronomic mastermind. He started of his larger-than-life career in the year 1994 at Hilton hotels Ireland and UK.

From there onwards, his magical skills in the kitchen have taken him to various places across the globe, where he worked with some of the most revered names in the culinary world. Shane has always taken his heritage with him to promote the Irish cuisine and has worked very closely and effortlessly with Enterprise Ireland in the Middle East and China.

His last kitchen was from the year 2008 to 2011 where he applied his gastronomical expertise in hotels such as; Atlantis The Palm Jumeirah and Pudong Shangri-La. He then moved to Grand Hyatt Goa from the Intercontinental Shanghai Puxi. I asked him if he had brought in an Irish influences here in the hotel in any of his restaurants. He mentioned that Indian palates may not adapt to the flavors he might bring but in fact he influenced some of his dishes to be created taking in the international techniques he brings in from his various shindigs around the world. His favorite property is The Verandah the hotels signature restaurant a place where Chef Shane works his magic. The design of the outlet is contemporary yet elegant and is a Western-style grill that serves fresh market produce of seafood, meat and vegetables. They have an open show kitchen and line up their counters with fresh seafood on ice every evening. The freshest catch of the days are then cooked as per your liking or the teams direction making it a must-try experience.

Shane’s personality is such that though he is in control of the kitchens he does give a free hand to the controllers of each F&B establishment in the hotel. From the Capiz bar and skilled bartenders to The Dining Rooms head chefs, he ensures they have a free hand within the realms of the mandate given to them. This makes the food at Grand Hyatt much sought after since it’s a culmination of the head chefs and their teams efforts and experiments within the outline laid down by Chef Shane.

I asked him which restaurant does he think actually cuts with the guests and local diners? Even though I expected The Verandah to stand out (but then that’s me, I prefer my meals easy, technique driven and quick yet delectable) what was quick to rise straight to the top of the list was Chula.

Chulha is an informal, fun, local Indian home-style food restaurant offering a five-star environment. It is an ideal venue for lunch or an authentic dinner in a stylish yet casual atmosphere.

The focus of the cuisine is on traditional Indian home-style cooking, which is home-made and served in clay pots and copper pans in a rural table setting. The food served is commonly found regionally throughout India on street corners and lanes or ‘gullys’. The food items served are in smaller portions, encouraging the guest to order more variety. It is served on platters encouraging a simple family-style service.

The concept of this outlet is that it is the kitchen of the palace and the cuisine has developed through the mix of families visiting from all over India throughout the years and the people that have worked here. Their star chef was Chef Sunil Dutt who is the chef de cuisine at Chulha and a humble powerhouse of information when it comes to local cuisine. He hails from the North of India and has travelled his way through India (with a short stint abroad) bringing along a host of ideas from his experiences.

I thoroughly enjoyed my interaction with him as his passion for cooking runs similar to mine. Infact, I wonder why people who love food don’t find themselves sitting by the open kitchens (which are rampant in this hotel, each of the restaurants have so much space, that an open kitchen is inevitable) and chatting with the chefs while tucking into a bite or two. Who knows, try it next time? It would make your stay even slightly more fun with the hopes of having them show you a few new dishes or work with you on a fun dish idea. Back to my time at Chulha, I had decided that I would cover a recipe from Chef Sunil since he was so eager to work on something fun and bespoke. I took it up a notch when I said I would cook with him and not just watch. I had a fishing trip with the local fisherman scheduled the morning of my shoot with Chef Sunil and I had a crazy idea popping up.

Now, let me take a step back just a little. The Grand Hyatt offers an activity in the form of experiencing local fisherman taking you out for a spot of fishing in the shallow waters of the sea. I was thoroughly thrilled with that prospect until reality dawned. Now if you are thinking a fancy yacht with champagne and a fishing rod you are clearly mistaken. This was hardcore. A small fishing boat which carries three people at a time, its long so I was sitting at the hull while one fisherman sat in the middle and the second right at the end.

Now, let me take a step back just a little. The Grand Hyatt offers an activity in the form of experiencing local fisherman taking you out for a spot of fishing in the shallow waters of the sea. I was thoroughly thrilled with that prospect until reality dawned. Now if you are thinking a fancy yacht with champagne and a fishing rod you are clearly mistaken. This was hardcore. A small fishing boat which carries three people at a time, its long so I was sitting at the hull while one fisherman sat in the middle and the second right at the end.

Back to Chef Sunil and Chulha, I wanted to get into a surprise cook-off with Chef Sunil with the fresh catch of the day and work our magic into not one but two recipes devised from the same kind of fish.

The most fish caught were – Mackerels. These are extremely common in coastal Goa and used extensively in Goan cooking. They are full of bones but the well sized ones pack a proper helping of meat which is easy to cook and falls off the bone easy. They are silver in color and the skin makes for a great char. Quite well flavored and the white meat is healthy and delectable.

We picked our dozen best from the 20 odd and got to raiding his kitchen. These were the two recipes created and both are super exciting.

Chef Sunil Dutt’s

Pan Seared Mackerel with Coriander Pesto & Mustard Garlic Potato

This is a great fish preparation with a Punjabi highlight, slathered in a flavorful masala marinade made with hung curds and hand pounded spices, its served with garlic potatoes with a mustard tadka and with a slight international twist which goes beautifully with the fish and completes the dish – a coriander-orange pesto. I thought it would be forced but uncannily enough it adds that zing to this desi cracker of a fish.

Ingredients

Marination

• 200 gm mackerel
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• To taste salt
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• 4 tablespoons hung yoghurt
• 5 gm curry leaf
• 5 gm mint leaf
• 10 gm coriander leaf
• 4 no green chilly slit
• 20 ml mustard oil
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon mango powder
• ½ teaspoon yellow chilli powder

Coriander pesto sauce

• 50 gm coriander sprig
• 1 teaspoon orange skin julienne
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 60 ml water

Mustard garlic potato

• 50 gm blanched dice potato
• 10 ml vegetable oil
• ½ teaspoon Mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon Peeled garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt

For frying

• 20 ml vegetable oil

Method

For marination

• Marinate the fish with ginger garlic paste, salt and lemon and keep aside for at least 30 minutes.
• Next make a thick paste of mint, curry leaf, coriander, green chilli and gingers.
• In a bowl add hung yoghurt, marination paste and all remaining ingredients and mix well and add mackerel into it.
• Keep in fridge for two hour.

For Pesto sauce

• Coriander sprig blanched and keep in ice water for retaining colour.
• In a pan add sugar, orange skin and water and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the water and keep aside for cooling.
• Then add coriander sprig and blend it to a thick and smooth puree.

For frying

• In a pan add vegetable oil, on slow heat shallow fry the mackerel on one side for approx 4 minutes and repeat the same for the other side.

For Mustard garlic potato

• Heat oil in frying pan and add mustard seeds. After the crackle sound add garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Add dice potato and remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes and keep aside.

How to Serve:

• On a platter arrange the potatoes and add the fish on top. Sprinkle some garlic on the fish and serve with coriander pesto.

Chef Nikhil Merchant’s (aka Nonchalant Gourmand)

Rawa Mackerel in Orange-Honey Rechead & Pistachios

I am particularly fond of rechead which is a typical Goan spice mix. It’s tangy due to the vinegar and is a blended smooth paste with red chilies which are fiery and turn it into this amazingly luscious hot chutney. I used orange and honey to mild the fieriness and to balance out the flavors. It coats the fish beautifully when tossed in as a flash fry. The fish itself is made in a typical Goan style – rawa fried. Its coated in a semolina (rawa) masala and pan fried. Topped with crunchy pistachios, this makes for a delightful main.

Ingredients

• 6nos Mackerels cleaned and slit
• 200 gms Semolina (rawa)
• 50 gms Rice Flour
• 1 tsp Turmeric (Haldi)
• A pinch of Asafetida (Hing)
• 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• Salt to taste
• Oil for Frying
• 12 nos pistachios – slivered

For the Rechead Sauce

• ¼ cup Rechead (recipe in the link)
• 1 large orange – juiced
• Zest from 1 orange
• 1 tablsp Honey
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Coriander and orange peel juliennes for garnish

Method

• For the fish, mix the flours and the masalas in a large bowl.
• Heat the oil in a flat large pan till hot.
• Dip and coat the fish into the flour mix and place on the hot oil.
• Fry the fish till the skin chars a bit and the fish is cooked, about 6-8 minutes.
• For the sauce, heat a saucepan and dry roast the rechead. Add in the rest of the ingredients and season to taste.
• Once the sauce is bubbling, drizzle it all over the frying fish right when it’s cooked. Stir to coat evenly.
• Plate it on a shallow dish and garnish with coriander and orange peel, top with pistachios. Serve piping hot with phulkas or local poi bread.

This trip was sponsored by The Grand Hyatt. I am familiar with the brand as I am particularly fond of the Hyatt Regency in Mumbai and have stayed in a couple of the group’s hotels around the world. This was a first for me and they come with an incredibly dedicated team. The Goans are known for their hospitality and service in the industry and I did see most of their staff was local. The chefs are from all over India and thus bring about a multicultural feel to the space. It was exciting to experience it through the eyes of the hosts, I hope I can make my way around there on my own soon and re-live my experiences. Meanwhile, enjoy making the two recipes and let me know which you think was the better of the two.