A Tribute to the Best Butter Chicken Ever!

And the month long vacation is over. A whole month of pampering, lots of home food, snuggling and cozying in the bed with warm blankets while sleeping without an alarm- basically a month of bliss just got over. But was I excited to come back to Bombay? Hell yeah! I love this city and going away periodically to catch a break is great, in fact required, but you just want to return because nothing like Bombay and its food.

Talking about food, well there was a lot of cooking that I did back at home. It’s simpler there because of the bigger kitchen, mom’s helping hand, the enthusiasm which can only escalate with a mother around and family waiting eagerly to try the next dish that comes hot right out of the kitchen. Because there were so many things I wanted to try out and learn we would actually make lists of things to be cooked. Imagine that! And because there was so much cooking involved and new dishes that we were trying out that none of us really ever felt the need to go out and eat dinner. That is just reaching a whole different level I feel. However, there are two places that come what may, I just have to visit whenever I visit Dehradun. Today I am going to talk about one of these two constants.

A lot of us know the President Hotel as “Presis” and that probably comes from the incessant need to give a short form to everything, a habit which developed back in school (read “hospi” for hospital; “stretchi” for a stretch band”; “baski” for basketball; “gulabo” for gulab jamun; the list is actually endless but I’ll finish here). For those who don’t know, the President Hotel is one of the oldest and extremely well reputed hotels in Dehradun and is situated at Astley Hall on Rajpur Road which is the heart of the city. As I was in a boarding school, I know that parents of a lot of my school mates would put up here whenever visiting the city. But what this place is extremely famous for is its restaurant- The Pavilion. However, the restaurant is also more commonly referred to as “Presis”.

“Presis” is a multi cuisine restaurant serving decent Italian, Mughlai, Continental and Thai food. I remember back in the school days we would have standard orders which would include the Fettuccine, Chicken sizzler, Crispy Veg, Honey Chili Potatoes, and the most loved Butter Chicken.

About the Butter Chicken- I can go on to make a remark as high as that it’s the best Butter Chicken I have ever tasted and that is after having had Butter Chicken in various parts of Delhi and having tried it in Punjab (Amritsar and Chandigarh). This Butter Chicken is orange, has a creamy and smooth gravy, is spiced to perfection and the chicken used by the restaurant is succulent and full of flesh. It is "not mara hua” as my dad would say. I mean of course its “mara hua” but you get the drift I am sure. You do get an option of the boneless version but I avoid that as I follow the rule that meat on the bone is the juiciest- which is also another great thing about the Butter Chicken here- extremely flavourful and juicy. You can just order this with your choice of bread (recommended: Garlic Naan), accompany it with pickled onions and that would be a meal that you would categorize as your best meal for a very very long time.

One thing that this Butter Chicken is not--- sweet. I am aware of the school of thought that Butter Chicken is “supposed” to be sweet and in fact that’s the kind of butter chicken that is served almost throughout Mumbai. But if visiting Dehradun or even passing by it, do let your taste buds have an experience of this Butter Chicken and you will know what I am talking about.

It has all of us so addicted to it that friends of mine have been known to get it packed, freeze it over night and then carry it with them to Delhi and Mumbai. I myself got some of this deliciousness back to Mumbai and had a friend taste it for the first time. She simply loved it and now understands what the fuss is all about.

I had this paired with some Garlic Naan and Tandoori Roti, pickled onions and ended the meal with a helping of the Caramel Custard. 

Wouldn’t say that this is the best Caramel Custard that I have had in my life, because that award goes to the Caramel Custard served at Britannia in Mumbai (read about it here), but I can guarantee you that you’ll like it a lot and on the whole this will be one meal that will leave you with a lot of happy food memories and cravings that can only end with a visit to the valley.

So being a fulltoosh Punjabi, this was my tribute to the best Butter Chicken that I have ever tasted and grown up eating. Still in search for something which comes even close to this here in Mumbai. Recommendations are welcome!

Will I go there again? Absolutely! Each and every time I visit Dehradun and more than once.

Where is it? 6, Astley Hall, Rajpur Road Dehradun. Contact: 0135 2657386

(The author dined there anonymously and her dad paid for this meal.)