Red room of pleasure

After Christian Grey, you don’t quite know what to expect from a red room. So we walked gingerly into this warm, blood-red space that wraps itself around huge carved pillars, with the mural of an Indian princess glowing on a wall, the occupants of the tables immersed in their food and conversation and laughter. 

As we settled down at our table of eight — procuring which was not an easy ask because tables at Atul Kochhar’s Rang Mahal at JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai, we learnt, are booked months in advance — I knew we were in a red room of pleasure that was going to go down very well with me. For, here’s a Calcuttan who’s about to eat a meal that’s the signature of a twice Michelin-starred chef who happens to have grown up in Calcutta.

Atul Kochhar, the first Indian chef to be awarded a Michelin star, in 2001, lives in London where he owns Benares Restaurant & Bar, which fetched him a second Michelin 10 years ago.

As part of the Miele Dubai Restaurant Week last month, Kochhar’s Rang Mahal, along with some of Dubai’s top F&B places, like Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen & Bar and Social by Heinz Beck, offered meals for a steal. 

The fixed menu for 199 AED (about Rs 3,500) per person at Rang Mahal was an enormous assortment of chef Kochhar’s “New Indian Food”, which he also serves at Benares. 

We began with a selection of kebabs, “prepared using three different techniques of grill cooking”, that included Limbu Rubiyan (char-grilled Gulf shrimps), Murgh Zafrani Tikka (tandoor-roasted chicken breast) and Tawe Kee Champen (pan-grilled Mulwarra lamb chops). Beguiling flavours and such beauty to behold, paired with a Riesling. 

Curries with rotis and rice made up the mains and I couldn’t decide which I loved more — Nadan Chemeen Curry (coastal shrimp curry with coconut, curry leaf, ginger and fennel) or Lamb Rogan Josh (slow-stewed lamb infused with cinnamon, cardamom and clove), for which I almost bypassed the Kozhi Ularthiyathu Varuval (Kerala-style chicken masala with shallots, coconut and curry leaves). I thought I was slipping into a food coma when the dessert arrived, and I snapped out. The chocolate delice, pistachio ice cream and poached pears were arranged in a box like a wild garden in need of tending. 

Chef Kochhar was yet to fly down for the Dubai Food Festival 2017, when we dined, but Rang Mahal’s Chef de Cuisine, the affable Amrish Sood, darted out of the kitchen now and then to chat with us and the other guests. We talked about how the flavours were Indian but the feel often bordered on un-Indian, and the delicate balance between the two. To get to the essence of it all, t2oS emailed chef Kochhar, who got back with his thoughts.

 

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Interiors with a red tone, wall of murals — creating the Rang Mahal experience... 
Dining out, for me, is so much more than the food. I wanted to create a vibrant palace of colour for people to escape; I wanted to create a place of luxury and extravagance with grand murals and epic pillars. Like you have witnessed, I want all my guests to experience being transported somewhere else. 

The thought behind ‘New Indian Food’ that won him Michelin stars...
I want our guests to go on a voyage of discovery, to discover the sensational New India through an exciting menu of modern Indian cuisine in a vibrant Palace of Colour — Rang Mahal. Rang Mahal, along with Benares London, fuses a touch of tradition with contemporary flair, creating a feast for the senses. Our team of chefs showcases the confluence of flavours which have travelled from the Malabar Coast in Kerala to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand. Some of these flavours have been transferred by traders and rulers in ancient times, while some are gifts of nature.

Indian on the palate but almost un-Indian to look at — conceptualising Indian food in a new way...
What I look for most is presentation, innovation, balance, flavour, taste, texture and where the ingredients are sourced from. I believe in using tried-and-tested recipes from the motherland, but how can I make them even more enjoyable by using better ingredients and products? For example, we use British-sourced lamb in recipes that may have originally used goat. Goat in the UK can be tough and therefore difficult to work with. British lamb, on the other hand, is succulent and juicy and raises the bar in terms of taste.

The idea behind ‘diaspora food’ that he serves in his restaurant NRI, in Mumbai...
It is the food of the Indian diaspora; a celebration of the lives of Indians everywhere around the world. Basically, it is the food culture from non-resident Indians and persons of Indian origin. 

Two Michelin stars for Indian food means... 
It is a true honour for me, one that took a very long time to sink in. Winning the first Michelin star during my time at another restaurant [Tamarind] was bittersweet. I then went on to win a second star with the opening of my first solo venture — Benares restaurant in London in 2007. It was probably one of the most surreal experiences of my entire career so far. 

Influences of Bengali cuisine in his cooking, having grown up in Bengal...
There are indeed! My cooking and dishes are a reflection of the areas I have travelled across India and the world. I’m a fusion cook, I love to mix, and being a typical Bengali lad, I use a lot of fish and seafood in my dishes; Kerala Kootu, Pasembur and Fish Amok are popular dishes at Rang Mahal that spring to mind, with rice, of course! Jhalmuri is also a regular on my menus, it’s so tasty and light and a great pairing to some tandoori cooked meats. It’s also very popular in the UK. 

Favourite food...
Right now I am eating a lot of fresh, healthy salads, vegetables and fish. I do love food from the Mediterranean,  Europeans eat with the seasons and use a perfect balance of spicing and seasoning.   

Favourite Bengali food...
It has to be Machhi Jhol, a very simple, lightly spiced fish, cooked with mustard, onion and lots of fresh vegetables. 

Ingredients from Bengal that he finds versatile...
Mustard seeds and paste, chillies, paanch phoran (a mix of five spices — white cumin seeds, onion seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds) are the most versatile ingredients for me. 

Ingredients he’s currently experimenting with in his kitchen...
I have been experimenting with homemade pickled vegetables or kimchi, such as our pickled celeriac, Bengali kimchi and our sweet-and-sour smoked beetroot. All these accompaniments have proven very popular, and they are definitely something that we will continue to use on our menus in 2017.

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KOCHHAR QUICKIES

When in Calcutta, he loves to eat at: Kewpie’s restaurant. I love to try the street food while I am there; jhalmuri and kathi rolls are my favourite things to eat.

Favourite chef: Chef Michel Roux is an inspiration to me.

A cookbook that’s bible: Rick Stein has such a wonderful collection of award-winning cookbooks. I love his ethos of cooking fresh and seasonal ingredients with a strong emphasis on fish. Rick Stein’s Long Weekends really captures my imagination.

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— Reshmi Sengupta