Huma Qureshi's Father Introduces Veg Dish At His Delhi Restaurant Inspired By Tarla Dalal

NEW DELHI: Actress Huma Qureshi, who is set to essay the role of the highly popular Indian chef Tarla Dalal in her upcoming biopic 'Tarla', comes from a family of foodies. Her father started his first restaurant Saleem's in 1977. Though Saleem's is a non-vegetarian restaurant, Qureshi's father has introduced the vegetarian dish titled 'Batata Musallam', taking inspiration from Qureshi's upcoming biopic and as a tribute to Dalal's creative genius.

"The journey of Tarla Dalal and Saleem's started back in the 70s. Today, 50 years later, looking at these two worlds come together makes my heart swell with pride," Huma Qureshi said.

"After watching the [movie’s] trailer, my dad decided to take inspiration from Tarla and introduce her popular dish Batata Musallam at Saleem's," he said. "The power of food and how it brings communities together is one of the most beautiful things about India."

The late Tarla Dalal was well-known for reimagining popular non-vegetarian dishes into meatless versions owing to her vegetarian background. For example, her "Batata Musallam" is inspired by 'Murgh Musallam', where the gravy is the same but the chicken is replaced with potato.

While promoting her film in Delhi, Qureshi visited her father's restaurant with her co-actor Sharib Hashmi to try out her dad's version of 'Batata Musallam'.

'Tarla' is a slice-of-life film on one of India's most iconic home chefs Tarla Dalal, the first woman to have her own cookbook, her own cookery show and the only Indian to have received the Padma Shri, one of India's prestigious civilian awards, for her body of work.