What are the biggest mistakes people make when cooking Indian food at home?
People don’t make lentils in the right way. So then, no matter what you put in with the lentils, it will not taste good, because that’s the base. You have to wash them, then soak them overnight, this is very important. Black lentils, kidney beans and other lentils with a husk have to be soaked. Also, the next day when you are boiling them, you should not stir them. If you do, the heat escapes. The second thing is the sequence of ingredients. If you cook red meat and you introduce anything acidic in the initial stages, the meat will not cook properly. Tomatoes, vinegars, lemon juice should always be towards the end.
Do you go to many other Indian restaurants in the city?
If I go to a restaurant, it will be to understand the latest trend in the market. Going to the restaurants in the hotels, it’s just to see the latest trends, what crockery they’re using, any new concept they’ve added. But when it comes to real Indian cooking, I would prefer to go to an Indian person’s house, to see what they are cooking and how they’re cooking it.
Are there any smaller, downmarket Indian restaurants in the city that you’d recommend?
Anjappar (corner of 9th and Salam St, 02 672 1500) is very good. They serve South Indian food from the Chettinad region of the country. It’s a very small restaurant, but they do a really good breakfast – nice dosas. I tried the curries too, both are good.
How about places to pick up good quality spices?
Al Adil (behind Electra St, between 6th and Salam St) is a great place to get spices, because you can get ones that aren’t readily available, even in Indian shops. They have four or five shops in Dubai, but just one small one here.
Are your recipes tailored to specifically suit the tastes of Abu Dhabi diners?
Yes, in Abu Dhabi we keep the spice level a little lower. What we have seen is that people are eating more actual curry here than they do in India, where we eat more rice and bread. So you have to tone down the spice accordingly to get the balance.
Do Indian guests complain that it’s not spicy enough?
We have different spice levels: one, two, three, four and five. Locals prefer to go for two and three. French people go for spice level one. Indians go for around four. British or South Africans and some Indians want spice level five. Our servers will mention the nationality of our guests to the chef as well.
Speaking of the Brits, what do you make of Indian fusion dishes such as chicken balti? Are they an abomination or should we welcome experimentation?
I would say fusion is an understanding of the region you are cooking in, using the ingredients that are available. For example, if I am in Abu Dhabi, I would prefer to use dates in my puddings. My opinion is that if you’re passionate about your cooking, you will try whatever is within your reach. But at the same time, it has to have business sense. If that dish is not generating money for you, it means people are not accepting it. So we need to experiment first, and then later, if it works, it becomes traditional. The food that we are creating today will become traditional food for the coming generation.
If you could only ever have one Indian meal – starter, main and dessert – for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A nice salad to start. Cucumbers, tomato, some fresh green leaves. Then a steamed rice with yellow lentils. I do eat meat but only for tasting purposes – I try to avoid it when I’m having a meal. I like sweets, so maybe a milk-based dessert to finish. We have an Indian bread pudding alled shahi tukda that’s made with fried sliced bread, green cardamom and condensed milk.
Finally, do you cook Indian dishes for yourself at home, or do you experiment with other cuisines?
At home? This is home.
