FOODIE SPECIAL .....Think local, eat global 

Think local, eat global





Mumbai street food is going places, thanks to an army of Indian chefs who are serving it abroad

You with that newspaper wrapped vada-pao and masala chai, rushing off to catch your train. Yes, you! You may not realise it, but you're totally on trend in the foodie universe. What we've all always considered delicious but humble street snacks are now travelling the world and finding favour far and wide.

Take the classic rasta sandwich, for example -slices of fresh tomato and cucumber, boiled potato and beetroot stacked inside white bread and slathered with green chutney and butter. The sandwich is sometimes topped with cheese or sev, often toasted and always wolfed down hungrily. There is nothing gourmet about this creation, but it's probably going to be the star performer at Imli, a brand new restaurant soon to open in downtown Los Angeles. Partner and Chef de Cuisine Nikhil Merchant is the restaurateur-in-waiting who plans to take a number of such street foods to America's West Coast. He recently had a pop-up to introduce Imli to the citizens of LA. “It was a fantastic turnout and a successful sneak peek into what we're ready to offer diners,“ says Chef Nikhil.

The rasta sandwich was unheard of there before. “But think about it,“ says Chef Nikhil, “America is a sandwich-eating country. Most diners are used to quick take-away menu items such as sandwiches, burgers, fries...It was a no-brainer to put this on the menu, considering it's unique, comes hot and well spiced, and one can tone down the spice with ketchup (just as we do back home).Besides, you'd be surprised to know that barely 14th cup of ketchup was used in the pop-up, considering my chutney was made just like it is in Mumbai -using popat mirchi (the tiny scoville-strong green phatakas we are used to consuming) -and packed a punch. This reinstated my belief that America is ready for our cuisine and the real deal.“

Apart from the sandwich, which will be grilled in those one-of-a-kind `toasties' we have here, he will also serve up frankies, vada-pao, sev puri and many other such typical Bambaiyya favourites. It was a void waiting to be capitalised on, says Chef Nikhil, as there is an apparent lack of authen tic Indian food, street food and regional cuisines apart from the commonly predominant North Indian, and sometimes South Indian restaurants, on the West Coast. Chef Nikhil and his partners (Ashwini and Nishit Jhaveri and Himanshu Barjatiya) explain that they are keen to bring that hard-hitting flavour of food available back home in Mumbai. If the packed-to-the-rafters pop-up is any indication, Chef Nikhil's Cutting Chai and chaats are going to be an LA staple this month.

Meanwhile on the East Coast, there are some really big names in the business who have recognised the potential of the humble pao.Renowned chef Floyd Cardoz is on the verge of opening a casual Indian restaurant -Paowalla -in the stylish SoHo neighbourhood around Spring Street and Sullivan in downtown Manhattan.

After taking New York's Tabla to the top with his pioneering New Indian cuisine and making a success out of a string of other restaurants in the US before he wowed Mumbai with The Bombay Canteen (TBC) a year ago, this is where he plans to present a very different take on desi dining. He explains, “I want to make Indian food that is light. I'll be using local, indigenous, seasonal and sustainable American ingredients, mostly grown within a 200 mile radius around where I live, and spices from India. I want to use less cream and butter and showcase how Indian food need not be heavy, greasy or mushy as is commonly perceived.“ Which is why he also plans to introduce many dishes that are based on Indian snacks that have hitherto remained hidden from the global gourmet. He refuses to share details, however, insisting that he prefers to surprise his diners.

In a city full of adventurous eaters and a bustling street eats culture in the form of food trucks, how exciting will New Yorkers find Bombay bhel? Although we'll have to wait to find the answer to that once the eatery opens there in early summer, we ask Chef Floyd what he's planning to put on the menu.

It's too early to divulge the exact dishes, of course. But he says, “There will be chaats on the menu for sure.

Very local, very fresh. I'll defi nitely do a rendition of bhel, like we've done with the seafood bhel at The Bombay Canteen.

Priya Pathiyan

MM6MAR16