On spice route

Manpriya Singh 

It’s been a decade since Chef Sid Sahrawat visited his hometown Mohali; but that’s partly because he didn’t miss India despite being settled far away in Auckland. “You get everything in New Zealand, bhelpuri, spices, dosa, especially in Sandrigham which is like little India. So, we didn’t miss India much because at the end of the day India means food,” shares the restaurateur joined in by his wife Chand Sahrawat. 

It is in the company of food he spent his last busy nine years in Auckland trying to reintroduce Indian cuisine. “Indian food does not just mean butter chicken,” he affirms more than once during an interaction while in the city. He is here to promote New Zealand Tourism. Fitting in his resume are shiny reviews for two of his restaurants Sidart and Cassia which will successfully completing 10 and five years, respectively, in Auckland. 

The conversation shuttles from his favourite ingredients; elaichis, jamun and shahtoot to food cooked on charcoal, which has a different flavor. “We use white charcoal. Whenever saw restaurants using the microwave or traditional gas, I’d tell myself I’d never use any of those in my place. The smokiness that paneer has when cooked on charcoal is absolutely different.” 

Once an Indian…

Needless to say, the love for Indian food comes from growing up in India. It’s a cuisine he has to have once a week. “The flavour, the comfort is unparalleled. The spices and everything else about Indian food. Tandoori food is special as well.” While the Rann would be his favourite dish, unfortunately it’s not that widely available in New Zealand. “I don’t think it’s widely available even here.” Speaking of which, he is full of questions, of course, all culinary, “Where do you get the spiciest dish in the city,” the alumnus of YPS Mohali tries to catch up on all these years, while putting together traditional Indian tandoori chicken in slider buns. 

Fusion is confusion 

With the word fusion having suffered culinary overkill, it’s been a while since a professional from the industry put in a good word for the concept of fusion food. 

“I don’t believe in fusion food. And fusion is big in Chandigarh, we saw a lot of dishes like tandoori chicken tacos, I mean what are they trying to do?” He adds, “You are not doing justice to either of the cuisines. Using the fresh and seasonal produce of one country into a particular cuisine is one thing but bringing together two cuisines, quite another.”  

manpriya@tribunemail.com