My culinary journey traverses 5,000 miles, from the port city of Kochi to the Welsh town of Cardiff, to set up a fine-dining restaurant called Purple Poppadom. Mine is the story of a Fort Kochi boy, whose life revolved around acquiring an education in commerce and playing cricket, before it took a turn into the world of food and flavours. In Cardiff, I ran a successful restaurant, and started an exclusive cookery school. This is the narrative of my first book, 5,000 mile journey – Cochin to Cardiff .
The most obvious reason why I chose to become a chef is because I love eating. I come from a conservative Syrian Christian family in Kuttanad, and my father was fastidious about food. No leftovers from lunch were ever served for dinner — hence, my mother Philomena was always in the kitchen. Five women influenced my cooking — my mother; my friend’s mother Shayamla Nair; my mother’s sister, aunty Rosily; Pushpi aunty from Kanjirappally; and my brother-in-law’s mother, ammachi.
My recipes originate from the kitchens of these women, and the memories of their food from many Christmases, Onams… After college, I moved to Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad, and while working in the hospitality sector, found myself enjoying life in the kitchen most. I worked in several star hotel kitchens, learning various cuisines under different chefs, before moving to London. There, I mastered more techniques and absorbed the Western style of presentation.
So, when I sit down to create a menu or a new dish, it is the influence of the food I’ve had in this 5,000-mile journey that I hark back to. Cuisine evolves around people. How did the beef stew or the fish moilee come about? Initially, when I started off in Cardiff, we were still under the ‘curry house’ concept. Through Purple Poppadom, I wanted to raise the bar of Indian cuisine. I served Indian food using Continental techniques — think pidi (rice dumpling), tharavu (duck) starter.
The pidi is served smaller than the original, along with confit duck. A poultry dish is served in a variety of textures — chicken liver as mousse, the leg in tandoori style, the wing reduction is pan-seared, while a mince is served with quail eggs.
Winning the Tiffin Cup (a competition of restaurants nominated by British MPs, with the final cook-off in the House of Commons), that too twice, was a high point in this journey. The recipes that won were the sea bass with raw mango, beetroot pachadi and kappa meen varutharachathu. I take a classic Indian dish and present it in fine-dining style — like the gobi matar upma inspired by couscous.
Food is my life; these days, it is about creating something new through different culinary experiences. I’m very particular about the way I teach the art — at my cookery school, I only enrol a batch of six at a time. I teach them simple recipes that offer a fine-dining experience.
(As told to Priyadershini S.)
Recipies
Tiffin Seabass
(6 portions)
Sea bass fillets pan-seared and served on a bed of curry leaf-infused mashed potato, in a tongue-tickling raw mango, ginger and coconut sauce (Alleppey sauce) is the chef’s signature dish.
Alleppey sauce
Ingredients
Oil – 25 ml
Onions – 150 gm
Raw mango – 150 gm (three small mangoes)
Ginger – 10 gm
Curry Leaf – 5 gm
Kashmiri chilli powder – 15 gm
Turmeric powder – 10 gm
Coconut milk powder – 300 gm
Salt – 12 gm
Water – 300 ml
Method
Mix the coconut milk powder with 600 ml of hot water, blend well and set aside. Peel and slice the onions, julienne the ginger, peel the raw mango and cube. Heat oil in a pan, add sliced onion, ginger, raw mango, curry leaves and sauté until transparent.
Lower the flame and add Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt; sauté for a couple of minutes, and add 300 ml of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for some time, add 600 ml of water and simmer again for 15 minutes.When the mixture starts thickening, add the coconut milk and cook until the sauce consistency is smooth (a good half-an-hour of simmering).Take off the heat and pass through a fine sieve, checking the seasoning of the sauce.
Curry leaf mash potato
Ingredients
Potatoes – 700 gm
(3 pieces)
Salt – 10 gm
Oil – 30 ml
Mustard seeds – 5 gm
Split urad dal – 10 gm
Onions – 150 gm
Ginger –10 gm
Green chilli – 5 gm
Curry leaves – 3 gm
Salt – 6 gm
Turmeric powder – 2 gm
Water – 50 ml
Method
Wash the potatoes.
In a pan, cover the potato with water and add salt and bring to boil. Cover it with a lid and simmer for 45-50 minutes, till the potatoes are cooked.Strain and allow it to cool; remove the skin, grate and set aside. Chop onions, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves.Heat oil in a pan, add split urad dal and allow it to turn golden-brown. Add mustard seeds. Once they crackle, add chopped ginger, onion, green chillies and curry leaves.Lower the heat; add turmeric powder and salt, then sauté for a minute. Add the water, the boiled potatoes and mash well. Check seasoning.
Sea Bass fillets – 6 pieces
Ingredients
6 sea bass fillets, cut into two
Sea salt to sprinkle on fish
Butter
Method
Sprinkle sea salt on sea bass fillets, and brush butter on the skin. Heat the pan, place the fillets skin-side down, and cook both sides (approximately 2-3 minutes).In another pan, bring the Alleppey sauce to boil and pour on to the plate. Place the curry leaf mash potato at the centre of the sauce, and finally rest the cooked fillets on top. Garnish with beetroot pachadi and fried curry leaves.
(As told to Priyadershini S)
