The setting may have been jazzed up with fountains and onyx, but the pride of place remains the fragrant cooking: creamy chicken korma, barbecued butter chicken, mutton done every which way – curried, fried with dried chillies and sprinkled with cashews or sautéed with peppers. According to legend, this is where fish-head curry originated – and it’s a pot of flavourful gold, dotted with pineapple slices and tamarind and laced with cinnamon and cardamom