A couple of years ago, Indian celebrity chef Rahul Akerkar, whose restaurant Indigo ranks 28th on the S. Pellegrino & Acqua Panna-sponsored list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2013, told The Wall Street Journal, “There is no such thing as Indian food. It’s a fabrication of the West.”
The same year, New York’s celebrated chef, Mumbai-born Floyd Cardoz, won the top prize of $100,000 (about Dh367,300) on the much-watched reality show Top Chef Masters. His winning dish was the unpretentious upma — a South Indian breakfast snack made from semolina.
But it was much before this that India’s culinary influences gained omnipresent proportions on foodie blogs, epicurean watch lists and top ten food trend lists. According to culturists, the level of interest and popularity of a nation’s cuisine often reflects the country’s importance to the world economy and is one of the easiest ways to get to know a particular country. Riding on the coattails of brand India, Indian food has impacted taste buds across the world. England’s most popular food isn’t chips, scones or crumpets; it’s chicken tikka masala. You’ll find food trucks in San Francisco serving samosas and kathi rolls and hip Athenians flocking to the Red Elephant restaurant for fluffy Peshawari nans.
“There is probably no other cuisine in the world that includes as many vegetables and spices. Every city, province and home has its own version of recipes for a selection of Indian dishes so one can then only imagine the diversity of flavours these dishes have from one home to another,” says Ed doukani Az taj, Executive Chef, Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara in Abu Dhabi.
Uwe Micheel, President, Emirates Culinary Guild and Director of Kitchens Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, says, “When we look at the country from north to south, it is so different; everything keeps changing — the language, accents and the food. But the one thing Indian food from all over the country has in common is that it is well spiced and flavourful.”
Micheel took two personal favourites — traditional German sauerkraut topped with sausages and served with potato dumplings, and the traditional shepherd’s pie and modified them with Indian flavours.
For Abbas Kanso, Executive Sous Chef, Dusit Thani Dubai, having spent many years in the Middle East has exposed him to many Indian flavours. “My Indian colleagues have shared several recipes and ideas which have contributed to my development as an international chef,” he says. The complex spice mix and balance of a classic chicken Patiala is something that he would like to perfect and his culinary ode to India is infusing a roasted leg of lamb with spices and serving it with a spicy tomato sauce.
