We gather under a tamarind tree at sundown. Set at the heart of a mango orchard, the space seems an unlikely setting for a collaboration by some of India’s finest chefs.
Hanu Reddy, the owner of Raghava Farms – best known for its summer mango tourism events – dramatically beckons diners to follow him, accompanied by music that works up to a crescendo as we walk to our destination, a few minutes away: a 156-ft long wooden table set for dinner with flowers, strings of ruby red chillies, crockery and cutlery.
Hanu’s Table, which seated about 104 diners, was rather under the radar last week, despite a whopping price tag of ₹1 lakh per head, because the tickets sold out shortly after it was announced. Titled India’s Culinary Odyssey, and curated by Chef Regi Mathew (best known for his popular restaurant Kappa Chakka Kandhari), the event, which was on Saturday brought together young, talented chefs from Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and other parts of India, to cook a 10-course meal.
Fermented sun-dried tomato Recheado, sea bass, kokum and edible flowers inspired by the flavours of Goa by Chef Avinash Martins | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“The mood and spirit inside the kitchen was electrifying,” said Regi, soon after the event. While each chef cooked one course, during dinner service everyone pitched in to help with the final touches, and every course was sent out with cheers and claps. The theme for the evening was a tribute to mothers, so and the food was wholesome and rooted in tradition, but put together with contemporary cooking techniques and served with stylish plating.
Chef Avinash Martins from Goa’s Cavatina, for instance, made flaky sea bass cloaked in fermented sun-dried tomato recheado. Chef Varun Totlani of Masque in Mumbai served mud crab with fluffy, just-baked pav. Chef Mythrayie Iyer from Farmlore in Bengaluru formed mini ragi mudde, fragrant with ghee, and served them in a creamy bottle gourd soup, while Chef Regi Mathew made a comforting dish of pidi, or rice dumplings, in coconut milk, served with chicken curry.
Representing Hanu Reddy’s Pushpa’s Kitchen, which powered the event, Chef Harish Rao served fried masala tiger prawns with lemon rice. Chef Hussain Shahzad of the celebrated Bombay Canteen ended the meal with Ambur duck biryani.
Duck biryani with short srained jeeraga samba rice, mustard leaf and corn pachadi by Chef Hussain Shahzad | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Discussing how the idea was to give people a glimpse into the richness of Indian home cooking, Regi said, “When people think of Indian food, it is usually butter chicken. If it’s South Indian food, then they know of dosa-idli-vada. But we have such a rich culinary heritage, we wanted to showcase the potential of Indian food, and to take it to the next level.”
Hanu Reddy, the host, prefaced dinner by talking about how it “represents the meals we eat at home everyday. The hospitality, the abundance, the flavours...” He talked of how, as a child, he would come to the same orchard. “My father would supervise the mango tree planting, while my mother cooked a chicken curry over a kerosene stove, because we had no electricity here then. there. I still get hungry when I think of that chicken.”
Dinner is theatrical, with about 200-odd students from SRM College serving the guests each course with a synchronisation that clearly comes from hours of practice. “We did campus interviews and chose them from about 800 students, then had the manager from Masque in Mumbai train them. What you do in the institute and what you do in the industry is very different,” says Regi.
A high-tech 8,000 square foot kitchen was also built for the dinner, complete with a confectionary area for desserts, a lounge for the chefs, and a room for plating. “With top chefs coming, we decided we needed to create infrastructure for them,” says Regi, adding that the structure can now be used for future events.
Chef Regi Mathew | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
At what Hanu Reddy referred to as the “happiest dining table in the universe,” dinner is memorable, though it does take over three hours to cover 10 courses, with short videos on the chefs and dishes shown in between. When the last course, a passion fruit and coconut ais kachang served in polished coconut shells, by Chef Vinesh Johny of Lavonne, is sent out, the kitchen erupts into cheers as the chefs finally relaxed. Then, more than a hundred people rise to give them a standing ovation.
