<p>Becoming a chef wasn’t on my to-do list when I was growing up. I joined the hotel management course and it was during the training period that I got interested in the kitchen.</p>.<p>In fact, when I joined The Leela Palace Bengaluru, I had to cook something and show them that I could do it to get the job.</p>.<p>One of the first dishes I made was a roast chicken with mashed potato and gravy. Thanks to my good luck, the chef that I was reporting to was also impressed with my cooking. </p>.<p>Since then I worked in multiple kitchens of the Taj Group and honed my skills. I was also worked in a Michelin star restaurant in London for three years before I came back to India. </p>.<p>As I have worked in various kitchens, my speciality has become western cuisine. I started off my career in a French fine dining restaurant and then to Italian. Over the years, I’ve experimented with modern Indian and molecular gastronomy as well. However, South Indian cuisine is my favourite. </p>.<p>When I worked in Windmills Craftworks, I had the opportunity to learn and make various dishes in Karnataka. I loved that there was so much to learn and experiment with. </p>.<p>At XOOX Brewmill, I work with everything from modern Indian, European, Oriental to Japanese dishes. Interestingly, there’s Karnataka cuisine too. The recipe shared today is a Tandoori Vegetable Chaat which is a fairly simple dish to prepare. Unlike the normal vegetable tandoori dishes, we have used English vegetables like asparagus, enoki mushrooms, baby corn and broccoli. Cooked in a tandoor, we have marinated it with masalas that are easily available here. </p>.<h2>Tandoori Vegetable Chaat</h2>.<p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p>.<ul> <li>Baby corn peeled (small size), 4</li> <li>Mushroom (medium size), 4</li> <li>Baby potato, 4</li> <li>Broccoli (small florets), 4 </li></ul>.<ul><li> <figcaption><br /> Tandoori Vegetable chaat<br /> "/> </figcaption></li> <li>Red capsicum (small size), 1</li> <li>Green capsicum (small size), 1</li> <li>Yellow capsicum (small size), 1</li> <li>Enokii mushroom, 4</li> <li>Cashewnut, 10</li> <li>Hung curd, 2 tbsp</li> <li>Jeera seeds, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Coriander powder, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Garam masala, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Chaat masala, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Salt to taste</li> <li>Ginger (small size), 1</li> <li>Peeled garlic clove, 6</li> <li>Red chilli dried, 2</li> <li>Chilli Powder, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Black salt, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Kasoori methi, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Mustard oil, 1 tbsp</li> <li>Salted butter, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Amchur powder, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Lemon, 1</li></ul>.<p><strong>Method</strong></p>.<ul> <li>Wash, blanch (in turmeric water) and clean dry all the vegetables properly so that the marination can be coated to them nicely and evenly.</li> <li>Take the hung curd in a bowl and put all the spices except chat masala. Whisk them all together breaking the lumps of hung curd to make it a smooth marinade.</li> <li>Put in all the vegetables together in the marinade mix them well so that all the vegetables are properly coated with the marinade.</li> <li>The medium of cooking we use here is a clay oven (tandoor) which is pre-heated.</li> <li>Arrange all the vegetables on the tandoor skewer softly so that they don’t break and fall off the skewer and put them inside the clay oven.</li> <li>After 6 to 7 minutes, once you have a nice colour on your vegetables, and your marinade is cooked, take them out and put them in a bowl again.</li> <li>Put some chaat masala, chopped coriander, mint and squeeze a lemon mix well, arrange in a bowl or a plate garnished with some onion salad and mint.</li> <li>Serve it along with mint chutney.</li></ul>.<p class="byline"><strong>Chef Nithin Haridass<br />Executive Chef at XOOX Brewmill, Koramangala</strong></p>
<p>Becoming a chef wasn’t on my to-do list when I was growing up. I joined the hotel management course and it was during the training period that I got interested in the kitchen.</p>.<p>In fact, when I joined The Leela Palace Bengaluru, I had to cook something and show them that I could do it to get the job.</p>.<p>One of the first dishes I made was a roast chicken with mashed potato and gravy. Thanks to my good luck, the chef that I was reporting to was also impressed with my cooking. </p>.<p>Since then I worked in multiple kitchens of the Taj Group and honed my skills. I was also worked in a Michelin star restaurant in London for three years before I came back to India. </p>.<p>As I have worked in various kitchens, my speciality has become western cuisine. I started off my career in a French fine dining restaurant and then to Italian. Over the years, I’ve experimented with modern Indian and molecular gastronomy as well. However, South Indian cuisine is my favourite. </p>.<p>When I worked in Windmills Craftworks, I had the opportunity to learn and make various dishes in Karnataka. I loved that there was so much to learn and experiment with. </p>.<p>At XOOX Brewmill, I work with everything from modern Indian, European, Oriental to Japanese dishes. Interestingly, there’s Karnataka cuisine too. The recipe shared today is a Tandoori Vegetable Chaat which is a fairly simple dish to prepare. Unlike the normal vegetable tandoori dishes, we have used English vegetables like asparagus, enoki mushrooms, baby corn and broccoli. Cooked in a tandoor, we have marinated it with masalas that are easily available here. </p>.<h2>Tandoori Vegetable Chaat</h2>.<p><strong>Ingredients</strong></p>.<ul> <li>Baby corn peeled (small size), 4</li> <li>Mushroom (medium size), 4</li> <li>Baby potato, 4</li> <li>Broccoli (small florets), 4 </li></ul>.<ul><li> <figcaption><br /> Tandoori Vegetable chaat<br /> "/> </figcaption></li> <li>Red capsicum (small size), 1</li> <li>Green capsicum (small size), 1</li> <li>Yellow capsicum (small size), 1</li> <li>Enokii mushroom, 4</li> <li>Cashewnut, 10</li> <li>Hung curd, 2 tbsp</li> <li>Jeera seeds, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Coriander powder, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Garam masala, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Chaat masala, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Salt to taste</li> <li>Ginger (small size), 1</li> <li>Peeled garlic clove, 6</li> <li>Red chilli dried, 2</li> <li>Chilli Powder, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Black salt, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Kasoori methi, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Mustard oil, 1 tbsp</li> <li>Salted butter, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Amchur powder, 1/2 tsp</li> <li>Lemon, 1</li></ul>.<p><strong>Method</strong></p>.<ul> <li>Wash, blanch (in turmeric water) and clean dry all the vegetables properly so that the marination can be coated to them nicely and evenly.</li> <li>Take the hung curd in a bowl and put all the spices except chat masala. Whisk them all together breaking the lumps of hung curd to make it a smooth marinade.</li> <li>Put in all the vegetables together in the marinade mix them well so that all the vegetables are properly coated with the marinade.</li> <li>The medium of cooking we use here is a clay oven (tandoor) which is pre-heated.</li> <li>Arrange all the vegetables on the tandoor skewer softly so that they don’t break and fall off the skewer and put them inside the clay oven.</li> <li>After 6 to 7 minutes, once you have a nice colour on your vegetables, and your marinade is cooked, take them out and put them in a bowl again.</li> <li>Put some chaat masala, chopped coriander, mint and squeeze a lemon mix well, arrange in a bowl or a plate garnished with some onion salad and mint.</li> <li>Serve it along with mint chutney.</li></ul>.<p class="byline"><strong>Chef Nithin Haridass<br />Executive Chef at XOOX Brewmill, Koramangala</strong></p>
