Indian Fusion 2.0
Fusion food began flooding Indian restaurants and casual eateries in 1999 but it wasn’t till a decade later that chefs in India started to take notice of an increasingly maturing Indian palate and started giving fusion food an all-new meaning. With Indians travelling extensively around the world and culinary shows gaining popularity on TV, people in India have grown a palate that is curious enough to explore beyond the ordinary. This trend encouraged chefs to create unique new-age dishes influenced by more than one world cuisine. Whether it is Italian pizza topped with South-East Asian flavours, blue cheese Naan or a Galouti Kebabs infused with French foie-gras, chefs around the country are continuously redefining and reimagining Indian food forging culinary marriages that are mouth-watering and exciting.
Indian chefs returning from overseas stints bring back with them influences and experiences that lead to some unique culinary creations. French and Italian influences have reduced the pungency and intensity of authentic traditional Indian dishes. Whether it is in ‘Indian Accent’ in New Delhi, ‘Masala Library’ in Mumbai or ‘Pink Poppadom’ in Bengaluru chefs are cooking up gastronomical pleasures across the country.
The wave is however not restricted to India alone, Indian restaurants oversees blending our traditional spices with local influences are gaining in popularity and creating quite a buzz. ‘The Song of India’ a one Michelin star restaurant in Singapore is serving Indian dishes with a twist, be it semolina crusted foie-gras, roast lamb shank spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg or Macademia nut kulfi with Baileys Irish Cream, the menu is all about modernising Indian food, using techniques and ingredients from other cuisines yet maintaining the essential Indian flavours. The menu also includes some quintessential Chinese flavours. Dishes such as the sambal barramundi and laksa chicken kebab cater to the local clientele. As head chef Mural Manjunath observes, “these days, about 40% of the restaurant’s diners are Chinese. Diners want something tasty but in a package they can still understand and identify with.”
Whatever the business model or the approach, food connoisseurs around the country agree that good fusion cannot be all novelty and spectacle. It is the coming together of different flavours, textures, tastes and aromas that either are in contrast to each other or complement each other. Either way, scientifically balancing all the elements and with the correct use of technique, new culinary delicacies emerge.
One thing is for certain; India’s contribution to world cuisine is still at its nascent stages and the possibilities are abound. So now where do we go from caviar-inspired jalebis and jhal muri infused granola bars? Well, we don’t know but sure can’t wait to find out.
