Chef Manish Mehrotra has barely had time to catch his breath ever since he came to Mumbai a week ago. In spite of that, the culinary director of Indian Accent restaurants has managed to indulge in the flavours of the city. From the famous Ashok vada pav of Dadar to Jai Hind’s neer dosa, prawn curry and fried surmai, the Delhi-based chef has been ordering all his favourites for lunch every day of the week. As for the patrons of Indian Accent Mumbai, they are getting to relish the new seven-course tasting menu which Mehrotra has crafted along with head chef Rijul Gulati.
Ever since he opened the Mumbai outpost of the famed and award-winning Indian Accent last year, Mehrotra visits the city for a couple of days every month. To the done-to-death ‘Which one is better – Mumbai or Delhi?’ question, he responds with a smile, “My culinary journey started in Mumbai from Dadar Catering College and then at Thai Pavilion where I worked for five years. Delhi is home; it’s where my family is, and that has its own charm. And now, I have Indian Accent in both cities. Dono ki apni jagah hai.”
Chef Manish Mehrotra in the show kitchen at private dining room II at Indian Accent, Mumbai | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Counted among one of the most exciting modern Indian chefs in the world today, Mehrotra opened Indian Accent Delhi in 2009, at a time when it would have been considered blasphemous to have an Indian restaurant which did not have butter chicken on its menu! “Customers would walk in, take a look at the menu and say samajh nahi aaya and walk out. We had to convince them to at least try out the food and not pay if they didn’t like it. Slowly, but surely, they started understanding what we are trying to achieve,” recalls the chef.
Their unique flavour combinations and dishes such as daulat ki chaat, blue cheese naan and dhoda barfi treacle tart started making sense to Indians who were developing a palate for more experimental food. “The idea is that these combinations should not be vague; they should not be without a reason or story,” he says, elaborating further as he talks about their signature meetha achaar pork ribs. “Whether they are Texas-style BBQ or Southeast Asian-Chinese style, pork ribs always have a sweet, sticky sauce element. We make ours using aam chunda, pickling spices such as chillies, nigella seeds and fennel seeds which impart a sweet and spicy mango pickle flavour and texture to the pork,” he says.
Crispy sea bass, fresh fennel, coconut mustard curry | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Fifteen years later, the restaurant known for its inventive Indian cuisine is considered among one of the best in India, consecutively appearing on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 10 years in a row! It has also been recognised by TIME magazine among the ‘World’s Greatest 100 Places’ in 2018.
Year after year, how does he manage to do it, you wonder aloud. Mehrotra puts it down to “constantly innovating, being on his toes and training the team”. His own training under celebrated Chef Ananda Solomon at Thai Pavilion of the Taj Hotels comes in handy too.
“He taught us the basics of cooking – how to fry, grill, and boil properly. From him, I learnt to understand the psyche of the customers we are serving,” he states. Recalling the days when he was learning pan-Asian cuisine under Chef Solomon, Mehrotra remembers standing near the washing area and observing the leftover food that came back on each plate. “Solomon taught us that the plate that comes back after the diner has eaten their meal is just as important as the one which had gone out to him. If there is leftover food, either they have disliked it or have had their fill. He’d encourage us to go out there and ask them if they disliked it, if we can send something else, etc. These are things no catering college would ever teach you,” he observes.
With fine-dining having come a long way in these 15 years and many players in the field, does Mehrotra think they had the first-mover’s advantage? “Maybe, but it was also a big risk at that time. Nobody was doing tasting menus back in 2009. I had come after working in London where I had seen it happening, and I wanted to replicate it here, with the idea that people should get to try as many dishes as possible. If I recall correctly, our first tasting menu consisted of around five or six courses and cost ₹950-1,000,” he says. Since then, the chef shares that he has become more knowledgeable about the food he’s serving and people’s palate.
Main dining at Indian Accent, Mumbai | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Speaking of tasting menus, the chef seems to be pretty satisfied with his latest offerings and recommends we try the Kanyakumari crabs in XO sauce and the crisp sea bass in coconut-mustard curry. The former consists of chunky pieces of succulent crab dunked in balchao masala prepared in XO sauce, giving it an elevated sea-foody flavour. We mop up the decadence with a mirchi pav and move on to the fresh sea bass. Paired with the coconut-mustard curry with its influences from Bengali kasundi, it is delicate and flavourful on the palate. As part of the seven courses, we also try the duck khurchan moonglet, a bizarre combination that packs shreds of smoked duck into moong dal chillas. Surprisingly, the dish holds together – the gamey meat dominating every bite.
The next course is a Kashmiri morel and chicken pulao enhanced with toasted pine nuts and fragrant truffles, then reimagined into versions of the familiar pav bhaji, dhokla and smoked papad. In the chef’s hands, the classic aamras-puri turns into a rich and smooth mango purée paired with lime cheesecake.
Duck khurchan, moonglet, chutneys | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Each time I plan a new tasting menu, I think to myself that I have done everything now; there is nothing left to offer and within a few months, I am back to planning a new one,” he says. The numerous innovations, accolades, and awards later, one wonders what else is left for the chef to do at Indian Accent. He chuckles, “A new tasting menu after two months; the cycle never stops!”
Chef’s Tasting Menu at Indian Accent Mumbai, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Bandra Kurla Complex at ₹4,900++ for veg; ₹5,500++ for non-veg.
