A Cordon Bleu Butter Chicken

Biting into the fried, gooey batter of the doughnut shaped gulab jamun, the lighter-than-air pistachio cream enveloping the palate, as the tantalising mix of warm Old Monk rum and sugar syrup burns gently down the thr­oat, Walter Allwyn was well into the middle of Chef Thomas Zacharia’s culinary creation. If there ever was a place better than heaven, Allwyn was there, because he had not just eaten a world-renowned dish by a master of modern Indian cuisine, he had also helped him make it. This was not just a midsummer night’s dream. It was a four-month-long internship at Zacharia’s restaurant, Bombay Canteen.

So inspired is Allwyn by Zacharia’s innovative style that he plans to go back to learn all he can of Indian cuisine.

Meanwhile, further up north in Delhi, Shyam Sundar is preparing to intern with his mentor, Manish Mehrotra, at Indian Accent, the restaurant that has been the only Indian one to be featured on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. Captivated by Mehrotra’s understanding of local ingredients and cuisines, his inv­entive style of mixing flavours and use of modern techniques, Sundar sees his dream of mastering Indian cuisine inch closer every day of his apprenticeship.

Allwyn and Sundar are aspiring chefs, currently completing their advance studies from the International Institute of Culinary Arts (IICA), New Delhi, and hope to have their own Indian restaurant some day. They are not alone in their dreams. There are plenty more in line, aiming to rule the culinary world, one pinch of turmeric and dash of garam masala at a time. “The interest in Indian cuisine has grown manifold. When I started being a chef, it was not even considered a career, leave alone Indian cuisine,” says celebrity chef Sanjeev Kap­oor. He laughs when he talks about how his success changed things and inspired others. “When I started television shows, people questioned me. They then saw the cars I was driving and saw success and recognition in my career,” he says.

Master chef Mehrotra agrees that con­temporary glorification of careers of renowned chefs has led many to take to the profession. “It is the movies, television shows, cooking competitions,” says Mehrotra. And with the interest in Ind­ian cuisine developing, and more Indian chefs getting recognition, the cuisine has firmly taken its place on the global table of haute cuisine. Everyone wants to try a little Indian when it’s recommended by Gary Mehigan of Masterchef Australia, who loves his Kottayam fish curry with kallappam, or when Kyle MacLachlan serves it as date food in the famous show, The Good Wife. When Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang Theory drooled over her plate of Poha for breakfast, saying, “One of the best meals I have ever had”, it sure made us wonder if we are missing something. Then too, Madonna gave the simple idli-sambar a rather musical ring with her recommendation, and Julia Robert’s sharing her plate of rice, dal, aloo gobi and paneer matar only made it look more glamorously exotic.

“Or an increase in travellers to India, like Charmaine O’Brien, who took back local flavour,” says Varun Arora, Chef De Partie at Hyatt, New Delhi.

Perhaps it is our very own adaptation of Masterchef, headed by the renowned chef Vikas Khanna, who was named the hottest chef of America by People magazine, which made people consi­der the possibility of the culinary arts as a sexy profession. Movies like The Hundred-Foot Journey and Today’s Spe­cial could not make Indian food more enthralling. And modern Indian chefs like Vineet Bhatia winning two Michelin stars for Zaika, in London, and Khanna winning one such coveted star for six consecutive years for his restaurant Jun­oon, in New York, was just what it needed to seal the deal. “Media popularity has been a great pusher to the profession,” believes Mehrotra. Or it is the bigger pay cheques that these chefs now earn.

The evidence is in the increase in app­licants to culinary institutes around the country. Kapoor, head of the Symbiosis Institute of Culinary Arts, says they have seen a growth of over 100 per cent in the number of applicants within a year of the start of the course. “We have 60 seats, and the first batch of 2016 had 35 students. This year, we have 1,500 applicants...,” says an ecstatic Kapoor. IICA has also seen a similar increase. “This growth has been a recent one, since 2010 when the television magnified it,” says chairman, chef Virendra S. Datta. Rajkumar Gupta, current dean of the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), agrees. “The interest has developed in recent years, and to such a great extent that now 80  per cent of applicants want to become chefs, as opposed to the earlier 30 per cent,” he says. And Gupta sure recommends a specialisation in Indian cuisine, because what else would you best learn in an Indian culinary institute!

The irony, however, is that of this keen, wannabe chefs comprising the 80 per cent, only 40 per cent end up pursuing the career. “As glamorous as the profession may seem, the kitchen environment is strenuous, and it is a great deal of hard work,” points out Kapoor. And it is hard work many are not prepared to do. “They all want to be celebrity chefs, travel the world and win applause, but aren’t prepared to ‘sweat’ for it,” says Gupta.

Speaking of ironies, it is not as simple as specialising in Indian cuisine. Most aspiring Indian chefs want careers in the now-famous categories of ‘modern Ind­ian cuisine’ and ‘progressive Indian food’. Some masters are disapproving of this restricted understanding. “Most think modern Indian cuisine is chicken-tikka on pizza,” says a rather annoyed Mehrotra, who has worked on his signature dis­­hes, like the soy keema with a quail egg and lime leave buttered pav, or besan laddoo cheesecake. Arora is intrigued by the possibilities that modern Indian cooking offers, but believes the trend of jumping into it without learning the bas­­ICS is hardly likely to succeed. Others, like Kapoor, are more accepting of the change. “There was a time where eating Indian food was looked down upon. Even Indians living abroad didn’t want to eat it out. Now, we are proud of our diverse cuisine, and that is great progress,” says Kapoor. There is a ring of excitement in his voice as he talks about seeing bags of Basmati rice next to quinoa in big stores abroad. Any progress is good, he believes. For the likes of Mehrotra, skilled, thought out progress is the only one that will last. He believes that all the chefs in the industry have worked hard to change the perception of Indian cuisine as overly spiced butter chicken, and it is a step back to cook with unbalanced thought.

To the relief of all, there are a few who understand the importance of going back to roots, and understanding the intricacies of the flavours, before dipping their toes in experimental cooking. Varun Narang, a recent graduate from a culinary institute and owner of the restaurant Janaab, is busy travelling the nook and crannies of Indian food, trying to find hidden recipes in villages. Sundar and Allwyn are wearing their shoes out working for master chefs with an in-depth knowledge of gastronomy. And Arora is dreaming of his twist to the traditional Indian menu that he is in charge of in Hyatt.