Local Palate Urban Platter

Remember a time when chefs and diners were excited about extra virgin olive oil from Umbria and super expensive Angus steak from Scotland? That is changing. A band of young, forward-thinking chefs are turning to their Indian roots for inspiration.

- Priya Bala

Going local, even hyper-local, is a trend that’s slowly transforming the approach of chefs, whether it’s ingredients from home kitchens or dishes that reflect the regional and ethnic diversity of the country’s culinary landscape. Which is why Kutchi Dabeli and Kashmiri Pandit Rogan Josh, Jackfruit Tacos and Donne Biryani have found a place on the menus of some of the coolest restaurants around.

Indian food inspired by home cooking

Consider the Chicken Bhujing, a dish that has its origins in Virar, a terminus on Mumbai’s Western Railway line. From this distant suburb, the medley of spiced chicken and poha travelled to the hip setting of The Bombay Canteen at Kamala Mills in Lower Parel, featuring on the menu that changes frequently and with the seasons. That Chicken Bhujing, little known outside its rustic home, made this transition is testimony to The Bombay Canteen’s efforts to unearth and showcase the flavours and dishes that make up the tasty tapestry that is the cuisine of Bombay as also the rest of the country.

A fierce determination to veer away from the generic cuisine—think garlic naan and dal makhani—that a majority of Indian restaurants serve underpins the menu here, explains Chef Thomas Zacharias of The Bombay Canteen. “We were bothered by the knowledge that restaurants weren’t serving Indian food in its true form. We wanted to create menus reminiscent of what we ate in our homes and when we were growing up,” says the chef who champions celebrating the ethnic diversity of Indian cuisine. “So, we set about scouring the country for dishes that never made it to restaurants. We gathered these regional specialities and worked to present them in a contemporary form that would appeal to the modern, urban diner,” he says.