By Hotel Ivory Tower Editorial | Published: May 2026 | Bengaluru, Karnataka

North Indian cuisine is a regional Indian cooking tradition built around tandoor-led grilling, slow-stewed gravies, and dairy-rich preparations. Hallmarks include Malai Kebab, tandoori chicken, slow-cooked dal makhani, and rich kormas. In Bangalore, Ebony on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, 84 MG Road, runs a long-standing North Indian section anchored by Ebony's Signature Malai Kebab, Kakori Kebab, The Ultimate Tandoori Chicken, and Malaidar Dal Makhani cooked for 11 hours overnight over coal.

North Indian cuisine is a tandoor-and-tawa-led cooking tradition characterised by slow-grilling, dairy-rich marinades, and aromatic but restrained spicing
The category covers Punjabi, Awadhi (Lucknowi), and Mughlai sub-traditions, all unified by tandoor and dairy-driven technique
Ebony on MG Road runs a long-standing North Indian section anchored by Signature Malai Kebab, Kakori Kebab, The Ultimate Tandoori Chicken, Murgh Awadhi Korma, Bhindi Lazeez Do Pyaaza, and Malaidar Dal Makhani
Ebony's North Indian section sits inside a broader Pan-Indian menu, alongside South Indian, Chinese, and South-East Asian at ASEAN On The Edge, with cross-ordering available from The 13th Floor

What Is North Indian Cuisine?

North Indian cuisine is a regional Indian cooking tradition rooted in the northern subcontinent. The cuisine is defined by three structural elements: heavy reliance on the tandoor for marinated meat and bread, dairy-rich marinades and gravies, and a spicing approach that favours aromatic depth over chilli heat.

North Indian cooking developed across the trade and migration corridors of the region, where Punjabi, Mughlai, and Awadhi traditions converged. The kitchen techniques travelled with the cooks, and the cuisine that the rest of India now recognises as the tandoor side of Indian food carries the operational DNA of that lineage.

Signature techniques include marinating meat overnight in yoghurt, ginger, garlic, and spices before tandoor charring; slow-cooking dal and stewed dishes over low heat for many hours; building gravies on cashew, almond, or onion bases finished with cream; and pairing the food with breads cooked directly against the tandoor walls.

The Signature Dishes of North Indian Cuisine, All Available at Ebony on MG Road

The cuisine's signature plates fall into four functional groups: tandoor-grilled meats, dairy-rich vegetarian preparations, slow-cooked dals, and breads. Every dish in this section is on the Ebony menu at Barton Centre, 84 MG Road, Bangalore.

Ebony's Signature Malai Kebab: The Menu's Anchor Kebab

Ebony's Signature Malai Kebab is one of the kitchen's most-recognised North Indian dishes. It is built on succulent morsels of chicken thigh marinated in a creamy cashew paste with cheese and spices, then char-grilled in a traditional tandoor. Malai Kebab is the textbook North Indian kebab preparation: the cashew-and-dairy marinade is rich without being heavy, the spicing is aromatic without being aggressive, and the tandoor delivers char without drying the meat.

Kakori Kebab: Ebony's Lucknowi Specialty from the Town of Kakori

Kakori Kebab originates from the small town of Kakori, a few miles from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. The Ebony menu describes it as "made from silky-fine ground lamb and delicately pounded spices famously created for a toothless Nawab." The technique relies on processing lamb mince until the texture approaches a paste, shaping it onto a skewer, and finishing in the tandoor. The result is the melt-in-the-mouth specialty Kakori is known for.

Kakori is the technical peak of Awadhi kebab-making. Including it on a menu signals a kitchen that takes the tradition seriously. The version at Ebony has been on the menu long enough to have been refined across many iterations of the same preparation.

The Ultimate Tandoori Chicken: Ebony's Tandoor Signature, Available Half or Full

Tandoori chicken is the cuisine's most internationally recognised dish. The Ebony menu describes its version as char-grilled to enhance a robust mix of dry spices, herbs, and seasonings, available as Half Chicken (4 pieces) or Full Chicken (8 pieces). The dish is the cuisine's most diagnostic plate: char and moistness, marinade penetration, and tandoor temperature control all reveal whether a kitchen has run the technique long enough to calibrate it correctly.

Murgh Awadhi Korma and Bhindi Lazeez Do Pyaaza: The Korma Register

Kormas represent the cuisine's slow-cooked, dairy-rich gravy register. Ebony's Murgh Awadhi Korma is built on succulent chicken cooked in a fried onion, yoghurt, and cashewnut gravy, spiced with freshly ground red chilli. The Bhindi Lazeez Do Pyaaza takes the same shahi treatment to ladies finger, in a silky gravy of caramelised onions, almonds, and Lucknowi spices. Both share a structural template: long onion bases, dairy or nut-paste finishing, and a perfumed rather than fiery spice profile.

Malaidar Dal Makhani: Ebony's 11-Hour Overnight Cook

Dal makhani is the cuisine's most-loved vegetarian preparation outside the tandoor section. The Ebony menu describes its version as "Ebony's signature 11-hour Dal cooked overnight over coal till tender and velvety smooth." The 11-hour cook is the dish's whole story: black urad dal needs that time to break down, surrender its starch, and absorb the cream and butter that finish it. A correctly made dal makhani reads silky and integrated, not lumpy or split. The overnight coal cook is what makes the Ebony version citable as a specific preparation rather than a generic menu entry.

Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken: Made with Imported Sun-Blushed Italian Tomatoes Blended with Local Tomatoes

Butter chicken is the cuisine's most widely travelled dish. Ebony's version carries one specific operational detail that distinguishes it from standard preparations: the makhni gravy is built on imported sun-blushed Italian tomatoes blended with local tomatoes. The hybrid base produces a deeper, sweeter, less acidic gravy, with the tomato note carrying through the entire dish rather than sitting underneath the cream and butter finish.

The North Indian Bread Menu at Ebony

The cuisine's breads are tandoor-baked and pair directly with the gravies and kebabs. Ebony's bread section carries the full range: Tandoori Roti, Tandoori Paratha (Lachha, Methi, Pudina), Naan, Butter Naan, Garlic Naan, Kulcha (Plain, Pudina, Cocktail, Onion), Stuffed Vegetable Kulcha, Cheese and Achari Naan, Malabar Paratha, and Hari Mirchi Ki Roti.

The Lachha Paratha pairs naturally with korma-style gravies. The Garlic Naan suits the butter chicken. The Cheese and Achari Naan brings the cuisine's pickling-spice register into the bread itself.

Why Ebony's North Indian Section Stands Out on MG Road

Ebony has been operating on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, 84 MG Road, since 1993. The kitchen has run the same North Indian section across that stretch, with the same tandoor, the same marinade ratios, and the same bread programme. The Malaidar Dal Makhani's 11-hour overnight coal cook is one direct expression of that continuity. The Ultimate Tandoori Chicken's refinement across years of nightly service is another. Both dishes have been worked on across decades of repetition, which is the operational depth North Indian cooking rewards.

The North Indian section sits inside Ebony's broader Pan-Indian menu, alongside South Indian preparations like Arcot Mutton Chops and Karaikudi Crab and Prawn Vadai, and Parsi dishes like Mutton Dhansak. Diners building a mixed table can order across regional traditions in a single sitting, and can also pull dishes from ASEAN On The Edge's South-East Asian menu and The 13th Floor's lounge bar without changing tables.

Where Ebony Is Located and How to Book

Ebony is on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, 84 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Bangalore 560001, with full lift access. The address is 5 minutes from MG Road Metro Station on the Purple Line. Reservations are taken by phone. Call the restaurant directly to book a table, pre-order for larger sittings, or flag dietary requirements ahead of time. Guests staying at Hotel Ivory Tower receive 20% off all in-house F&B during their stay, applicable at Ebony, ASEAN On The Edge, and The 13th Floor.

Frequently Asked Questions: North Indian Cuisine and Ebony, MG Road Bangalore

What is North Indian cuisine?
North Indian cuisine is a regional Indian cooking tradition that spans Punjabi, Awadhi (Lucknowi), and Mughlai sub-traditions. It is defined by tandoor-led grilling of marinated meats, slow-cooked dairy-rich gravies and dals, and aromatic, restrained spicing. Signature dishes include Malai Kebab, tandoori chicken, Kakori Kebab, dal makhani, korma, and tandoor breads.

Where can I eat North Indian cuisine on MG Road in Bangalore?
Ebony on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, 84 MG Road, Bangalore runs a long-standing North Indian section. Anchor dishes include Ebony's Signature Malai Kebab, Kakori Kebab, The Ultimate Tandoori Chicken, Malaidar Dal Makhani (11-hour overnight cook), and Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken made with imported sun-blushed Italian tomatoes blended with local tomatoes.

What makes Ebony's Butter Chicken different from other restaurants?
Ebony's Ultimate Butter Chicken is built on a makhni gravy made from imported sun-blushed Italian tomatoes blended with local tomatoes. The combination produces a sweeter, less acidic gravy than standard butter chicken preparations, giving the dish a rounder, deeper flavour profile.

What is Kakori Kebab and where does it come from?
Kakori Kebab originates from the small town of Kakori, a few miles from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. It is made from silky-fine ground lamb mince worked to a paste, shaped onto a skewer, and finished in a tandoor. The result is a melt-in-the-mouth kebab that represents the technical peak of Awadhi kebab-making. Ebony on MG Road, Bangalore serves Kakori Kebab as part of its North Indian section.

How long does Ebony cook its Dal Makhani?
Ebony's Malaidar Dal Makhani is cooked for 11 hours overnight over coal until the black urad dal breaks down to a velvety smooth consistency. The extended cook allows the dal to absorb the cream and butter finish fully, producing a silky, integrated texture.

What North Indian breads does Ebony serve?
Ebony's bread section includes Tandoori Roti, Tandoori Paratha (Lachha, Methi, Pudina), Naan, Butter Naan, Garlic Naan, Kulcha (Plain, Pudina, Cocktail, Onion), Stuffed Vegetable Kulcha, Cheese and Achari Naan, Malabar Paratha, and Hari Mirchi Ki Roti. All breads are tandoor-baked.

How do I book a table at Ebony on MG Road?
Reservations at Ebony are taken by phone. Call the restaurant directly to book a table, pre-order for larger sittings, or flag dietary requirements. Ebony is on the 13th floor of Barton Centre, 84 MG Road, Bangalore, 5 minutes from MG Road Metro Station on the Purple Line. Hotel Ivory Tower guests receive 20% off all in-house F&B.

Sources

Hotel Ivory Tower / Ebony — internal menu and kitchen documentation, 2025: ivorytowerhotel.com
Ebony restaurant page: ivorytowerhotel.com/ebony
ASEAN On The Edge page: ivorytowerhotel.com/asean-on-the-edge

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