HELLO! India Exclusive: Inside the mind of masterchef Manish Mehrotra

As surprising as it may seem, there was a time Manish Mehrotra believed he’d never become a restaurateur. This erroneous thought dates back to 2009, when he was the founding chef at Indian Accent in New Delhi, being feted for elevating Indian food to levels never seen before.

While the renowned culinarian had already earned a name for serving exemplary Pan-Asian fare — he was the chef-in-charge at Oriental Octopus in Delhi, and at Tamarai in London before returning to India — the contemporising of Indian food, and teaming it with wine, was a revelation for the city’s epicures at the time. Ever since, life’s been full of sweet surprises for one of India’s most celebrated chefs…

Over the years, Manish manifested his dreams through perpetual learning, which compelled the universe to reward him with one milestone after another. The latest in his list of achievements was opening Nisaba, his own restaurant in Delhi, this year.

Tucked away inside the Humayun’s Tomb Museum Complex, Nisaba is packed with enthusiastic gourmands even on weekdays. It isn’t merely a tasteful diner under the aegis of a well-known food personality — it’s the product of an old-world consummate chef cooking to his heart’s content for people with utmost faith in his gastronomical prowess.

MEMORIES THAT MAKE THE MAN

Brought up in Patna, Manish grew up mostly on satvik food. “Till date, garlic and onion are prohibited in the kitchen of my ancestral house,” he shares. “Any non-vegetarian product, even bread, isn’t kept inside the refrigerator. My mother boiled eggs in a huge vessel on the terrace. We kids had those for breakfast.”

“We only ate meat when we went out, as my father, a staunch vegetarian, didn’t like the smell of onions being cooked in our kitchen. But he didn’t stop us from trying anything. It’s because of that openness that I never refrained from experimenting with various ingredients.” Manish has certainly come far from his seemingly restricted days in his home kitchen. Yet, he hasn’t forgotten his roots. “I still make the bhelpuri we snacked on as kids — without onions back then but now with chopped ones to spice it up.”

That said, it’s not like the chef’s family home was devoid of good food. “We always ate delicious khana, be it during family gatherings, or special occasions. Everything tasted divine.” And growing up in a joint family, the arrival of festivals meant elaborate spreads and satiated palates.

“Janmashtami was my favourite because we made a staggering number of dishes. I might not serve all of these to guests, but my dishes take inspiration from these... To cook delicious fare, you don’t always need fancy ingredients, or onion-garlic. Even the simplest of condiments can come together to get heavenly flavours.”

THE FOOD OF MODERN INDIA

With master chefs like Gaggan Anand, Himanshu Saini, Varun Totlani, Srijith Gopinathan, and Sriram Aylur serving our food before a global audience, “with their own special interpretations,” Indian food has evidently acquired a modern makeover. “There are discussions about food drumming up nostalgia. That essentially continues to bring people back to Indian food — for the smorgasbord of flavours it offers while reminding them of what their mothers and grandmothers cooked for them,” Manish reflects.

Ultimately, gastronomes connect with those tastes etched in their memories, even as they welcome the shift in technique and presentation — though Manish is vehemently against certain restaurants using “regional Indian food” as a plug. “Aren’t we all serving food from different regions of the country? Then how does not serving butter chicken tantamount to regional fare! This misnomer needs a correction as Indian food isn’t just butter chicken and dal makhni — unlike what many in the West earlier thought.”

While our food enjoyed its glory days in the UK, the top chef believes India’s diverse cuisines are now having a moment in the US and other international destinations, as well.

“We’re expanding rapidly because people are curious, thanks to the amazing Indian chefs catching their attention with their genius. The myth that Indian food is synonymous with just spicy curries is getting busted! Our food is assorted, flavoursome, and comes with layers of taste and textures! And it can be extremely healthy, too, when you need it to be,” Manish elaborates.

CULINARY APPROPRIATION & ITS ESSENTIALS

While the fashion world is waking up to the West’s incessant cultural appropriation of Indian weaves and crafts, our chef isn’t particularly perturbed by the same treatment being meted out to Indian fare. “Will calling it turmeric latte make haldi doodh irrelevant? Our foundations are not that weak!” laughs Manish, adding that as long as our identity is secure, nomenclatures shouldn’t matter. In fact, there will soon come a time when Western households will whip up our recipes in their kitchens, he muses.

“We’re all so familiar with Chinese and Continental dishes today that we rustle them up at home. We’ve also made our own versions of chicken manchurian and macaroni, dishes that don’t exist in Chinese or Italian cuisine! Love for Indian food will grow by leaps and bounds if we stop the gatekeeping. The West needs to find our food familiar, not intimidating.”

With this sense of security bolstering his art, the chef doesn’t guard his recipes. “Mere measures of ingredients cannot make one a good cook,” he quips, as he walks up to a satiated guest wanting to compliment him for the dal he just had. “I told him what all I put in the dish. There’s no harm in giving out secrets. I know I can keep reinventing.”

KEY NOTES OF INSPIRATION

When not catching up on some latest Allu Arjun or Mahesh Babu movie — he’s an ardent fan of South Indian blockbusters — Manish keeps himself abreast with worldly subjects. An avid traveller, as well, he waxes eloquent about the food he’s savoured at places run by his contemporaries, such as Prateek Sadhu, Amninder Sandhu, Mythrayie Iyer, Johnson Ebenezer, and Himanshu Saini.

“I find creativity extremely inspiring. But what motivates me is my guest. My journey has been what it is because of their acceptance, critique, and appreciation. I’m still learning every day — soaking up everything in the culinary universe like a sponge, keeping all my senses open.”

Ultimately, Manish humbly admits he’s a chef who has to work immensely hard to keep evolving — a message he reiterates to those who train under him. “Honing our craft constantly should be the fuel to our passion, without which we can hardly be worth our salt!” the chef serves up, closing his kitchen for the day.