A traveller's kitchen

Taste, presentation and health are the things I keep in mind while creating something new. I don’t like to cook unhealthy food,” says Vikas Seth, one of the popular chefs in the country, who is known for his innovations in Mexican and Asian cooking.

The Amritsar-born chef is the culinary director at Lounge Hospitality and is the creative brain behind the restaurants Sanchez and Sriracha in Bengaluru.

Vikas entered the culinary world quite by accident. His instinct and natural ability in the kitchen is what made him one of the popular chefs in the country. Having qualified himself at Dadar Catering (IHM) Mumbai, Vikas worked his way up to five-star kitchens in the country. However, his travels and experiences in kitchens across the world is what shaped his cooking. His work experience with Mexican, Vietnamese and Malaysian chefs, and learning molecular gastronomy and other fusion food techniques, have helped him evolve as a chef.

Despite having penned a cookbook Modern Indian Odyssey, Vikas’s primary interest lies in restaurants. Here, Vikas talks about the restaurant scene in India, his travels and innovations...

How has the restaurant experience changed in India?

Restaurant-goers today are well travelled. They have been exposed to authentic tastes of foreign cuisines and they want a similar experience here. Moreover, Facebook and Instagram have changed the whole apple cart of food that you get. Catering to someone with a discerning palate is a challenge. I push myself to come up with new dishes. It is fun to figure out what will excite people’s taste buds. Taste is the key. Although people eat with their eyes first, taste cannot be compromised.

Tell us about your recent trip to the Mexican food capital, Oaxaca, and touring around Asia.

I was fortunate to explore the food scene there with chef Iliana De La Vega, a popular face in Mexican cuisine. Oaxaca is the Amritsar of Mexico, and it is also the birthplace of modern Mexican cuisine. I got to meet Diana Kennedy, the Julia Child of Mexican food, who is 93 years old. The trip changed my perspective about life and cooking. Mexico has a rich culture and culinary tradition, just like India.

I have travelled to Bali, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Asian food is the second most popular cuisine in India. While cooking Asian food, I try to use authentic ingredients and stay true to the original dish. I have also tried to give my take on the dishes without taking the essence away from them. For example, Thai salad som tam is originally made of raw papaya. I have recreated it with avocado and chayote, roasted beetroot and raw mango, and with grapefruit and malta. However, my favourite innovation is cottage cheese wrapped in pandan leaf and grilled and served with a chilli-coriander sauce.

Which are the two Mexican dishes you have given an Indian twist to?

Recently, at a chef’s retreat in Kerala, I was asked to prepare Mexican dishes using local produce. So I made ragi tacos with black kidney beans, tomato salsa and glazed pumpkin, which was sautéed in jaggery and tamarind. I finished it off with non-dairy cashew cream that looked like sour cream, and then added chopped amaranth and curry leaves as garnish.

The other dish was arbi guacamole. I replaced avocado with arbi or colocasia. I added a mince of green chillies, coriander, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I added chopped onion and tomato to it, and it looked like the traditional guacamole.”

Which are the two important ingredients in Mexican cuisine?

First is the corn, followed by the chillies. Mexican cuisine revolves around the corn, and it is considered sacred. Mexican chillies vary in uses based on their degree of heat. For example, habanro is sharp and potent, whereas chipotle is flavoursome, with not too much heat. It can be used in mayonnaise, salad dressings and sauces.

Savoury or dessert, which do you prefer?

I love my sweets. Mexican dessert tres leches is an absolute favourite. This melt-in-your-mouth dessert is made of vanilla sponge and three different kinds of milk — evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream. Sumatra chocolate mousse is my Asian-inspired dessert, which has coconut cream and dark chocolate mousse.

What are the things that you keep in mind while innovating?

I have to take into consideration a lot of factors like the taste buds of the people I am catering to. Creating vegetarian food is a challenge, especially when it comes to Asian cuisine. So I try to replace meat with cottage cheese or potatoes.

Can you share two simple tips for a home cook to create authentic Mexican and Asian dishes?

For a quick-fix Mexican dish, all you have to do is marinate your choice of meat in chipotle and adobo sauce, and then grill it. Asian salads like som tam are the easiest to make. You can even try a khow suey or Thai curry. Just make the paste at home. Making the curry paste from scratch can enhance the flavour, and it will all come together beautifully with a dash of coconut cream.

Guacamole (Serves 2)

Ingredients

Ripe Avocado: 200 gm (two small ones or
one big fruit)

Tomatoes (deseeded and chopped): 40 gm

Onions (chopped): 15 gm

Cilantro (chopped): 5 gm

Jalapeno (chopped): 2 gm

Lemon juice: 4 ml

Olive oil: 4 ml

Salt to taste

Method

Cut the avocados in half. Remove the seeds. Scoop out the fruit from the peel, put in a mixing bowl.

Lightly mash the avocados using a fork, but keep the mixture a little chunky. Add rest of the ingredients and mix.

Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve with yellow & blue corn tortilla chips.

Lamb Rendang (Serves 4)

Ingredients

Boneless lamb chunks: 600 gm
Onion (dices): 40 gm
Rendang paste: 160 gm
Coconut powder: 50 ml
Oil: 30 ml

For the rendang paste

Ginger: 70 gm
Garlic: 80 gm
Lemongrass: 90 gm
Galangal: 70 gm
Red chilli: 80 gm
Fried onion: 150 gm
Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
Cumin powder: 40 gm
Coriander powder: 40 gm
Kaffir lime leaves: 20 gm
Sugar: 15 gm
Salt: 1 tsp
Tamarind paste: 40 ml
Cloves powder: 1 tsp
Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
Cinnamon powder: ½ tsp
Cardamom powder: ½ tsp
Star anise powder: 1 tsp
Oil: 100ml

Method

* Grind ginger, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, red chilli and fried onion to make a paste of each of these ingredients. Add oil while blending them separately.

* To prepare the rendang paste, heat a frying pan, and sauté the pastes of ginger, garlic, lemon grass, galangal, red chilli and fried onions over medium heat.

* Add turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder, crushed kaffir lime leaves, clove powder, cinnamon powder, star anise powder and black pepper powder.

* Cook the masala until it is done. Add tamarind paste and salt. Take the rendang paste off the heat and keep it aside.

* Heat 2 tbsps of oil in another large pan. Fry the lamb chunks to seal them all over. Add onion, and cook gently until the onions have softened.

* Add the rendang paste and cook till the mixture starts to smell fragrant.

* Brown the meat and completely coat it in the spices. This will take time. Cook the lamb fully and use water as required.

* Mix coconut powder with water to make coconut milk.

* Finish the gravy by adding coconut milk, and simmer for few minutes till the gravy coats the lamb well.

* Take the rendang off the heat and serve hot with steamed jasmine rice.