‘There is no such thing as modern Indian food’

Food is a form of art and chefs are artists whose medium is cooking in maverick ways In the week that this writer experiences a meal by Chef Himanshu Sainimdashone that manages to rekindle the pleasure of a finedine coursebycourse presentationmdashour reading list includes a book titled Modernism by cultural historian Peter Gay Wersquore gladdened by this serendipityThere is an underlying connection as we allow his culinary sorcery to charm our palate be it the black lime chutney that accompanies the dal vada and bubbly carrot kanji the raw banana varuval that comes cloaked under coconut lassi or the crispy banana chip that takes us by complete surpriseThe book traces the rise of artistic Modernism through the revolutionary path in Paris before it became a dominant cultural movement world over Impressionist painters such as Van Gogh Monet and Manet added a pop of light colour to their canvases and writers such as Baudelaire infused blasphemous imagery in their poetryChef Himanshu SainiModern artists had one thing in commonmdashthey wanted to steer clear of the classic from the mundane and accepted It began with a personal urge for selfexploration that redefined set approaches In that sense the representation of Indian cuisine overseas has also gone through its interpretive phases with chefs taking outrageous steps to give the cuisine a makeoverChef Sainirsquos pet project fouryearold Tres Ind Studio in Dubai won its first Michelin Star and got a ranking of four on the Worldrsquos 50 Best Restaurants list in the Middle East and North Africa this year Tres Ind the restaurant was number 18 on the same list Saini who began his career with Chef Manish Mehrotra at Delhirsquos celebrated Indian Accent has come a full circle but only after shedding his modern postmodern and progressive approach to Indian cuisine He even goes so far as to say that there is no such thing as modern Indian foodEdited excerpts from an interviewWhat is the relevance of modern Indian food todayIn the last four years wersquove developed a fresh philosophy around our cuisine I spent 2021 travelling through Europe giving talks and addressing people Indian food is so layered that people outside of India find it complex At one conference I asked the audience to name five Indian dishes and they couldnrsquot What is the point of cooking modern food when foreigners donrsquot get basic Indian food We have restaurants such as Gaggan that have given Indian food a spin but there is not enough market for understanding it As Indians are evolving so is our food Today I can say with confidence that the word lsquomodernrsquo doesnrsquot exist Instead I call it lsquoevolvedrsquo Indian foodWhat brought about this changeWhen I started I was in a very different space The lockdown has given everyone wisdom and the time to reflect think and start over My time with international chefs through collaborations and cookouts is what stirred this change I spent time and cooked with mastermind chefs Everyone was willing to work since Dubai had opened up post the COVID19 pandemic It was not about learning a recipe from them If I can pick one per cent of their brains it gives me a new inroad into my cooking I had the pleasure to cook with Slovenian chef Ana Ros Chef Jorge Vallejo and Torno Subitorsquos Chef de Cuisine and a proteacutegeacute of Massimo Bottura Chef Bernardo PaladiniShare some revelationsNot every restaurant can be a Noma They have studied fermentation conducted research and published books We have been making kanji vada for centuries but we never talked about fermentation Why talk about it nowChef Andreas Caminada whose IGNIV has won three Michelin stars in Switzerland ate at the Studio after the lockdown After the meal he told me ldquoLeave the foie gras and truffle to us Your food already tastes so goodrdquo Today we would use truffle caviar or any other expensive ingredient only if I could justify itHow have you refined or redefined your foodI dropped all premium ingredients and focussed on accentuating Indian spices European and Japanese food has one central animal protein the vegetables are side dishes that accompany it I reversed this For example one dish at the Studio is a corn curry with charred lobster tail I tell my guests that the star of the dish is the corn It has undergone three hours of cooking and hence cannot be charred So the burnt lobster tail plays that role Another is a crab ghee roast which we bake in Sri Lankan cinnamon bark All the flavours of the cinnamon are absorbed by the dish Here too the spices are the star not the crabWhere are you now mentallyIt may have begun with reinterpreting classic dishes but my conscious effort is to create new dishesmdashnew classics The meetha achaar pork ribs at The Indian Accent or the blue cheese naan are new classics The old classics have their place I may make a dish that includes a little bit of various south Indian eats but the combination proportion of spice used and the pickle makes it stand out How does a dish become classic When it is fed to enough people Sometimes in a bid to stand out we try to constantly change But Massimo Bottura told me that people donrsquot get it at one shot Pick five dishes and serve them a zillion times One day someone will recognise their quality and your life will change For me I donrsquot call my dishes signature that implies a dead end If I want to create a new classic I will serve it till someone takes notice smiles