These chefs twist popular fast food dishes with cool and quirky recipes

We love our fast food and have our favourite joints bookmarked for a hearty fill When it comes to fast food we Mumbaikars set a high benchmark While some quirky trends are welcome others donrsquot make the cut Take for instance YouTubermusician Sahil Makhija who recently pitted the cityrsquos mostcravedfor burgers against each other for the top spot in an online series titled Burger Wars Makhija believes that two overkill trends that must stop right away are pouring or injecting cheese into burgers and building burger towers ldquoThese are trends that need to dierdquo he says He wishes chefs would return to the basics of making tasty food instead of food that looks good only on Instagram or a dish that will go viral ldquoNone of it is practical to eat or improves the eating experience In fact itrsquos messy and not fun There is no balance of flavours just gluttony on a platerdquo says MakhijaHow do you strike a balance in jazzing up your favourite fast food without losing its OG charm and chataka Over to the chefsHummus meets thechaChef Khan plating thecha hummusChef Anees Khan cofounder of Bambai in Juhu hopes for more regional cuisine in the fast food segment this year ldquoProminence should be given to cuisines from the North East Odisha and Bihar because they are yet unexploredrdquo he says Along with chef Ritesh Tulsian he decided to marry international flavours with local ones For instance the Middle Eastern hummus receives a desi twist with some Maharashtrian thecha ldquoDiners love the spicy notes with the smooth paste of chickpeas and tahinirdquo asserts KhanIngredientsFor the red chilli thecha 50 gm green chillies chopped 50 gm red chillies chopped 15 gm salted peanuts 5 gm coriander seeds 5 gm cumin seeds 20 ml oil 5 gm salt 3 gm black pepperFor the hummus 250 gm chickpeas cooked 60 ml fresh lemon juice from one large lemon 60 ml tahini wellstirred 1 small garlic clove minced 2 tbsp extravirgin olive oil frac12 tsp ground cumin Salt to taste 2 to 3 tbsp cold waterMethodFor the thecha dryroast the salted peanuts coriander seeds and cumin seeds Blend the ingredients together in a food processor until chunky Check for salt content Cover and refrigerate For the hummus in a food processor combine tahini and lemon juice Blend for a minute then scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl Process for 30 seconds again Add olive oil minced garlic cumin and half tsp of salt to the tahini and lemon juice mix Blitz for 30 seconds Then process for another 30 seconds or until well blended Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and blend for a minute Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding the remaining chickpeas and blitz until thick and smooth Add water if the hummus is too thick Adjust the salt content Serve the hummus with a dollop of the red chilli thecha and a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of chilli powderClassic idlis powered by ragi Vinayak Patil corporate chef of Shiv Sagar takes the good old idli and adds ragi to it for a healthier version ldquoWhen making any changes in a classic dish the twist or fusion should maintain the original flavour profilerdquo reminds PatilIngredients 1 cup ragi finger millet 1 cup idli rice parboiled rice frac12 cup whole urad dal frac14 tsp fenugreek seeds Salt to taste Sesame oil for the greasing plateMethodFor the batter take parboiled rice and ragi separately in a mixing bowl and rinse twice or thrice before soaking it in water Take urad dal and fenugreek seeds in another vessel and rinse it twice in water and soak it Leave the soaked rice and dal aside for four hours Add generous amounts of water to the dal and rice as they will double in quantity while soaking After four hours drain the water from the urad dal and add it to the grinder Add half a cup of water to the grinder Blend it Gradually sprinkle water at regular intervals and grind the dal into a thick batter This process usually takes at least 20 minutes Set it aside Drain the water from the ragi and rice mix and blend it too Add water gradually and grind the ragi and rice into a smooth and thick batter Mix the ragi and rice batter with the urad dal batter Add salt and mix well Set it aside overnight for fermentation Next day the batter will ferment to double in quantity Give the fluffy batter a good stir To make idlis grease an idli mould with oil Pour 34th ladle of the ragi idli batter into each mould Steamcook in a pressure cooker or idli vessel for 10 minutes After the steam is completely released gently take out the plates and allow them to cool Remove using a wet spoon Serve with sambar and coconut chutneyBombay bhel goes HawaiianOne dish that chef Harsh Dixit founder of The Private Chefs Club loves to serve at highend private dinners is the local Mumbai bhel disguised as a poke bowl ldquoThe idea was simply to give an Indian street food classic Hawaiianstyle poke bowl treatment Poke is a humble dish eaten by fishermen who seasoned the off cuts of fish together with rice to make a meal The modern poke bowl has Chinese and Japanese influences We used those influences to create a taste and mouthfeel that we achieve with our very own chaat mdash sweet salty sour umami with a lot of different textures coming together to create an exciting bite Just like how every nonveg dish has to have a veg version in India we switched the protein source from salmon or tuna to our very own ponkhrdquo he addsFor bhelpoke bowl toss puffed rice jowar kernels aka ponkh avocado scallions sushigrade salmon chutney made of soy imli and dates coriander wasabi chutney pickled cucumber nori lemon juice and togarashi spice mix