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by
Liz O'Connor and Betsy Feinberg
Indian
food, with its rich and complex nuances,
has attracted a fan base in the US that continues to grow. In New
York City alone, numerous Indian restaurants have opened just this
past year, including Bombay Talkie, serving Indian street food in
a fashionable Chelsea setting, and Radha on the Lower East Side,
a vegetarian restaurant featuring Indian specialties. American chefs
are also looking to classic Indian recipes and dishes for inspiration.
But mastering these layered flavors can be challenging.
By learning the mainstay ingredients
and cooking methods of traditional
Indian cooking, chefs can begin to unravel the complexities of Indian
cuisine. In Indian Home Cooking, authors Suvir Saran and
Stephanie Lyness describe how sautéing spices in the cooking
oil at the onset of a recipe creates a warm, muted, lingering layer,
while grinding spices and adding them later on presents a more obvious
and immediate flavor burst. Every step, easy enough in and of itself,
creates the multifaceted depth we find so compelling.
Chef Suvir Saran
breathes life into his cookbook recipes at Devi in New York City,
where his regional Indian cooking echoes his New Delhi upbringing,
during which he spent much time in the kitchen. Currents of childhood
nostalgia course throughout Saran’s cooking, as do a myriad
of influences and experiences that embody the diversity and variety
of the Indian subcontinent. Crispy Fried Okra is a delightfully
crunchy, addictive snack-India’s counterpart to the French
fry-and derives from a dish that Saran concocted at the tender age
of 10 with the help of the family cook. Jackfruit Biryaani was a
favorite meal of the chef’s father and sister, and at Devi
it is recreated and reinvented as a playful pyramid constructed
with alternating layers of billowing rice and hefty jackfruit punctuated
by a spiced tomato sauce.
Saran specializes in
translating India’s street food to the table of his New York
City restaurant. Burrah Kebab, more commonly known as Tandoori Lamb
Chops, are roasted until tender and offset by the warm flavors of
nutmeg, cumin, and paprika, and the sharp acidity of vinegar and
lemon juice. With a “less is more” attitude and a flair
for inventive experimentation, Chef Saran proves that Indian cuisine
is ripe with possibilities.
For years now,
London chefs like Atul Kochar of Benares have led the charge in
imaginative, sophisticated Indian cuisine. Now it seems that New
York chefs are finally catching on. Ada on the Upper East Side has
been a pioneering presence since its opening in 2001, with Chef
Rajender Rana helming a kitchen that turns out carefully presented,
sophisticated Indian food. Indeed, stylish plating is one of the
signature aspects of Chef Rana’s menu, which offers authentic
Indian cuisine presented in an old-school French style. According
to the chef, this emphasis on plating is what sets Ada apart from
its peers, although he notes that the fusion of Indian cooking and
French presentation is beginning to catch on in other upscale Indian
restaurants like Devi. Chef Rana also emphasizes the importance
of fresh ingredients in creating nouvelle Indian cuisine. While
most curry houses use stock goods, Chef Rana relies on organic produce
and homemade ingredients to create such dishes as Mini Bombay Baskets,
a savory medley of tomatoes and onions tossed with cumin, ginger,
bhel mix, and mint and tamarind sauces, among others.
Although Chef Rana’s
kitchen at Ada is staffed by fellow Indians, he believes
that anyone is fully capable of learning the tricks of the trade,
given the right amount of exposure, experience, and practice.
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