Chef Ajoy Joshi was thrilled.
“We won the Restaurant & Catering Gold Award for Best Indian Restaurant in Australia last night,” he told me, his eyes shining, a wide grin on his face.
“It’s the second year in a row.  And we also won the award for best Indian in Sydney.”
Nilgiri’s, a long-running favourite on Sydney’s lower north shore, has been offering high class Indian food for over two decades.
An impassioned chef who trained with the Taj Hotels throughout India, Ajoy changes the menu every 3 months to highlight a variety of Indian regional dishes and flavours so don’t expect to find the ubiquitous chicken tikka masala or rogan josh on his menus.

Ajoy and Meera Joshi

Ajoy and his welcoming wife Meera, who also trained as a chef with the Taj Hotels and is front of house, offer modern interpretations of the diverse cuisines of their shared homeland.
A dinner at Nilgiri’s is akin to going on a gastronomic tour of India with them.
On my recent visit during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights similar to Christmas, Ajoy was celebrating with a 10-course feast from Maharashtra, his maternal homeland. 
Situated east of Mumbai and stretching out over the Deccan Plateau and down the Arabian coast to Goa, it’s the second most populous state in India boasting 26 agricultural GIs (or geographical indications), a designation which signifies certain products which correspond to a specific origin. Darjeeling tea was the first GI to be recognised by the Indian Government in 2004.
On the menu this evening are dishes from the Khandesh district in the north-west, the Malvan region on the west coast between Goa and Karnataka and Kohlapur city in the south-east.
Whilst I’ve visited India a number of times and been fortunate to taste the diverse cuisines of Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bangalore and Rajasthan, I’d never tried the cuisine of Mahasrashtra and was knocked out by the perfect spicing and balanced flavours of each of Ajoy’s dishes.
“It’s a complex cuisine which can be broken down in to different areas,” he says. “The fresh green and red chillies from Malvan on the coast aren’t as hot as those  from the dry plateau area. Dishes from Khandesh and Kholapur are usually quite hot because of the use of dried chillies and must be eaten with bhakri (dry bread) or rice,” he explains. “The chillies are cooked in oil which aids digestion but doesn’t make the food greasy.”

Pappadums & Dips

We started with pappadums and four tasty homemade dips followed by Malvani bhel, a classic street food of puffed rice, roast chickpeas and sev (spicy vermicelli) from the Malvan region which was served in a paper cone.  I really enjoyed its spicy crunchiness.
This was followed by a very delicious oven-cooked swordfish (Malvani Machchi), which had been marinated in chilli and garlic and served with a coconut and coriander chutney; Kolhapuri Sukka Kombdi, spicy tandoor-smoked chicken thigh fillets marinated in a ground fennel and sesame seed marinade, a much drier dish; and Kandeshi Kala Chops, tandoor-cooked lamb cutlets marinated in mustard oil, black pepper and mace.
And they were just the starters!
For the mains, Ajoy had prepared some magnificent slow-cooked prawns (Malvani Kolambi) which were served in a coconut, coriander and green chilli sauce and a Malvani masala comprised of nutmeg, cassia and stone flower (a lichen, similar to a bay leaf, which enhances flavour).

Main courses dishes with Indian bread: Malvani Kolambi (king prawns) Khandeshi Bakra (goat), Kohlapuri Bhendi (okra) with India breads and rice

A rich Khandeshi Bakra (slow-cooked goat in coconut sauce with chillies, cassia, peppercorns, sesame seeds and tomatoes) followed, accompanied by one of the best okra dishes I’ve ever tasted, Kolhapuri Bhendi (steamed, fried baby okra with fresh coriander, green chilli and poppy seed sauce).
The finale was a glorious Diwali Mithai. You’ll find the recipe here.
For this Ajoy used Alphonso mangoes which grow along the Konkan belt of Maharashtra and have a designated GI.

Mango Kulfi

“I know you Aussies love your Kensington Prides but the Alphonso is another two steps up. It’s not overly sweet or overly acidic and leaves a tang on the top of your tongue.
“I’d compare them to a good Burgundy where the fruitiness and high acidity is in balance. They’re difficult to grow because they require a balance of hot and cool temperatures.”
He partnered the mithai with a sweet aromatic Domaine de Coyeux Beaumes de Venise.
Suggesting a complementary wine with each dish has become part of the routine at Nilgiri’s on Friday and Saturday evenings and interest is growing among his regular customers.
Since doing the level-3 WSET  (Wine & Education course) during Covid at Ryde Tech in Sydney, something he managed to finish in 18 months, Ajoy has become enthusiastic about serving wine with Indian food.
“I remember as a child hearing about fuquas (fruit wines) which were served to upper class Indians during the 17th and 18th centuries.
“When the British came to India, they thrust their beer on us. Now everyone thinks Indian food and beer go together.  It’s become a mantra.
“No-one is pairing Indian food with wine in Australia and it’s something I really enjoy.”
And he has another surprise up his sleeve.
Early next year he hopes to get his hands on the legendary Kadaknath or black rooster, the flesh of which has become a new health fad in India.
“It’s not just black on the outside,” he tells me, eyes shining. “It also has black blood, black bones and organs and feathers and eggs and the flesh is very high in anthocyanins which means it’s good for people with heart conditions.”

His sister has a farm near Nagpur, 770K east of Mumbai, where she cultivates these birds.
“It’s amazing to see how the roosters are treated,” says Ajoy. “They are killed ethically then marinated for a long time and cooked with sesame oil.”
“We’ll be importing them next year and I’ll be the first to have them on my menu.
“It will portray my cuisine in the purest way I can,” he declares.
I can’t wait to taste this legendary black bird and am curious to know which wine Ajoy suggests to pair with its dark flesh.

Bicycle with tiffins: the Indian people-powered meal delivery service