Indian Inspiration

FSD’s most recent menu development study shows Indian food to be the top cuisine non-commercial operators plan to add this year. Here’s how some operators are already handling it.

Passions run high when you talk to a chef about Indian cooking. Until quite recently, the varied spices and techniques of preparation were not part of the traditional training of many of those in the non-commercial arena. And, since their customer base was not exactly clamoring for curries, masalas, dosas, naan or chutneys, their forays into this rich and varied culinary landscape remained tentative and often random.

But over the past five or six years, Western palates have become more educated to the flavors of Indian food; people of Indian descent have become a sizable segment of the population; and cooking shows have de-mystified the cuisine. Demand has followed—and a growing number of chefs are seeking further training so they can become the garam masala gurus or the dosa major domos in their operations.

Training can be as formal as a week’s stint at the Culinary Institute of America if they have the money and the time, or in-house as provided by native experts, including a contingent of cookbook authors, spice importers and prepared product purveyors.

The passion comes with the expertise and any discussion of “heat” (i.e., spiciness) or “authentic” is always a lively one.

A ‘bold’ mandate: “Indian has to be bold,” asserts Aleks Pyka, corporate executive chef for Flik International, a division of Compass Group. “Westerners are really learning. We (i.e., Flik) do British Airways and the Brits love their curries. It can’t be mild or medium—it has to be bold.”

But attracting first-timers presents a challenge, and when Pyka and his team created and introduced their successful traveling dosa booth last year, that was a consideration. “You have to get them to taste something new and you can’t do a tasting today and menu it next week,” he contends. “It has to be available today. Get them in the entrance before they’ve placed their order. Give them the history of the item, where it was produced. People can also taste while they’re in line.”

Although natives wouldn’t necessarily marry the flavors of northern and southern Indian cooking, Flik’s dosas (crepes made from rice flour plus various meat or vegetarian fillings) are still considered “authentic.” The concept, developed initially for the contractor’s business-and-industry accounts, especially appeals to Indian customers as well as vegetarians in search of the flavor that toasted chili and cumin provide.

“When we did the dosa booth, the units would sign up for it and an executive chef would travel with it to Philadelphia, Boston, New York or New Jersey and stay in that area for about a week,” Pyka explains. “It’s one of the most successful programs we’ve run. It ran for one day in each location, but if there’s enough response, the unit chef can produce it since we leave them with the recipes and a list of products. We’re not running the booth this year since, with a captive audience, if you do it too often the concept gets tired.”

Toast for taste: On balance, chefs should find little difficulty in getting what they need in the way of ground powders from a broadline distributor, Pyka says. But he personally goes one step farther and brings in the seeds. “The most important word to learn is ‘masala,’ or spice blend. It’s a matter of toasting the spices (i.e., the seeds). Toast them in a pan without oil, let them cool, then grind them. A chef without seeds can toast the powder very carefully. Cumin, for example, takes on a totally different flavor—it’s like toasting bread; there’s a big difference.”

With an eye to profitability, Pyka often chooses boneless, skinless chicken thighs for meat dishes, not only for their low price but for their durability: the longer they sit in a stew, the better they taste compared to a chicken breast that tends to dry out.

Then, there’s chutney, not only for authenticity but as a tasty culinary cost saver, Pyka suggests. “Some people think it’s preserved, but a real good authentic chutney is prepared that day. It’s a good utilization of produce. At the end of the week you can turn fruit into homemade chutneys. Apples, peaches and pears can be combined, or prepare a tomato and almond chutney. You’re driving sales with product you have in-house.”

Time for tamarind: To prepare an apple, peach and pear chutney, Pyka suggests using either apple juice or apple cider for the reductions. And he’s keen on adding tamarind juice to the mix as well. “Tamarind is a fruit with large pits or seed pods,” he explains. “The pulp (the fibrous part of the fruit) comes in half-pound packages. I steep the pulp in water, then squeeze it out creating my own juice which has a very bitter flavor like lemon or lime. The bitterness is very important to authentic Indian food.”

At the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in St. Helena, Calf., the Continuing Education School offers five-day classes designed for working chefs. Ken Woytisek, CEC, CHE, designates one day for a focus on Indian cuisine. He offers techniques of preparing the type of dishes that would be appealing to Westerners and to many vegetarians as part of the Flavors of Asian Bistro course he teaches.

Any oven will do: “A tandoor oven is not necessary—you can use any oven,” he says. “It’s a style of cooking; it’s food that has been marinated in herbs, spices and yogurt.”

Woytisek—who has been to India—is even more emphatic than Pyka that the spice components need to be toasted to taste better. “It’s really most crucial to purchase spices whole and toast them separately,” he says, “then grind them together in order to create different types of masalas or spice mixtures—and that takes a bit of work and time.”

Much of what Woytisek has learned about authentic Indian cookery he’s picked up from Julie Sahni, author of several cookbooks and operator of a cooking school in Brooklyn, N.Y. “She’s a scholar, conducts several culinary trips to India each year, and is my mentor on Indian foods,” he notes.

Hot and cool: “I’ve learned it doesn’t have to be hot. When we’re cooking for a large group of people, we need to make adjustments to the heat. Spicy foods are really ‘in,’ but (for Indians) there would be a balance across the table—spicy dishes served with cooling ones, such as yogurt-based raitas that are typically served with bread in the Northern region or with rice in the South. A cucumber raita, for instance, includes diced cucumber, some spice, salt and yogurt.”

Woytisek cautions his chef students to know their audience and season food accordingly. “‘Authentic’ isn’t a static thing, there’s lots of room for movement and everybody has their own interpretation,” he says. “We’ve seen an increase in interest in authentic. I think the appeal has broadened and it will continue to grow; even mid-size chain restaurants are offering Indian-style items. In San Francisco, probably the most popular of the Indian restaurants are the ‘dives’—and it’s not just Indians going there.”

Although the experts agree that having a tandoor oven in the kitchen is not absolutely necessary for the preparation of traditional naan bread or tandoori dishes, a few locations have purchased them. Last year, Aramark installed a traditional brick and clay unit at the Santa Clara (Calf.) Convention Center in order to better serve the rapidly growing Indian market segment.

In fact, the tandoor oven is credited with helping the venue book several meetings, conventions, weddings and social events including The Indus Entrepreneurs Conference (TiEcon), the premier annual gathering of South Asians in northern California.

Authentic tandoor: Flik also purchased a tandoor oven several years ago in order to bake authentic naan bread and to prepare a range of tandooris, executive chef Pyka recalls. “We put casters on it and rolled it from account to account,” he says. “It was incredibly authentic. However, moving a hot oven—it heats to 800°F—was not a good idea and it took quite a while each time to let the oven cool down enough to move.”

Sandra Renken, executive chef at Consumers Union, a Flik account in Yonkers, N.Y., finds no problem in serving an array of Indian dishes including tandoori-style fare to conference attendees as well as to approximately 350 daily lunchtime customers. “We put Indian food on our menu every couple of months,” she notes.

Meatless option: “Depending on the time I have for prep, it’s either simple or more elaborate. I recently put it on the catering menu for a group that’s going to be here for five days. It’s nice for a change and also there may be vegetarians in the group. That’s one of the main reasons I do Indian—to provide a vegetarian option.”

When she menus tandoori chicken, Renken might also offer saag (spinach) paneer. “Paneer, which comes in a block, is similar to a fresh mozzarella and a lot firmer than a firm tofu,” she explains. “You fold paneer into the saag for a vegetarian entrée and serve with basmati rice and chutneys (which are optional).”

Twice a week, the World Market station at Telcordia Technologies, a Whitsons Food Service account in Piscataway, N.J., menus a selection of Indian dishes for its approximately 800 daily lunchtime customers.

According to executive chef John Koutras, chicken tikka is most popular and his naan, prepared from scratch with nigella (wild onion seed), is quite the hit.

“I make naan from scratch every Wednesday and sell about 80 to 100 portions each time,” Koutras says. “I purchase nigella at a local Indian store. I make my bread from a basic recipe and the seeds get folded in toward the end. There’s no tandoor oven here, but I have an old electric flat top that gives plenty of heat.

Ghee whiz: “We sear it on top of the grill, a few minutes on each side. After it’s removed, we brush it with ghee—that’s clarified butter browned to a nutty color. I portion the dough out to five-ounce dough balls and form it into ovals, two orders to each bread—so I make 40 breads, then cut them in half. Adding the seeds and butter gives it the special flavor. It takes some time but it’s worth it.”

Koutras, a CIA graduate, has also been hitting the books recently and talking to the experts in order to improve his Indian culinary skills. He’s also a “toast the spices” proponent and will quickly prepare basmati rice by adding a mix of toasted spices—cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaf, whole cumin seeds and star anise—to dry rice and water, then putting it in the steamer. Proving the cost effectiveness of the menu, he sells a meal of chicken tikka, basmati rice, saag aloo (a mix of spinach, diced red potatoes and spices), naan and mango chutney for $5.50 with about a 35% food cost.

Executive chef Daniel Dernetz doesn’t really mind the extra work that samosas—potato-crusted, filled and deep-fried pockets—take to prepare since they are extremely popular among the approximately 2,500 daily lunchtime customers he serves at The Washington Post headquarters.

How to samosa: Indian cuisine is on about once every other week at this Brock and Company account, where some prepared product, such as masala spice mix for marinating chicken, is utilized for consistency of flavor and easy prep. But here the samosas are always from scratch. “Potato and pea is the most popular,” he says.

"However, in the past, I’ve done crab meat samosas to serve with lamb chops as a play on ‘surf and turf.’ Samosas are an easy-to-serve finger food—you fry them, drain them and serve them.

“Traditionally, roti dough is the outer covering but I can take shortcuts and use another dough such as a pre-made ball of pizza dough. You roll it out, cut a round shape, then cut a pie slice wedge out of the round. Bring the edges together to form a cup, then fill with potato and peas plus coriander seed or red pepper flakes, mustard seed and a bit of red curry powder. There are just layers of flavors.”

To prepare chicken samosas, Dernetz combines shredded or pulled chicken with fresh cilantro, mint, a bit of tamarind paste and coriander. The samosas are served with scratch-made green curry sauce and pre-made naan.

Doctoring the recipes: Talk about mentors working hand in hand with chefs to guide them in de-mystifying Indian cuisine, and John Zappone, CEC, CDM, production manager/executive chef at 292-bed Regional Medical Center at Bayonet Point in Hudson, Fla., will quickly name Dr. Nirmala Konda, an anesthesiologist on staff and regular customer, as his.

“We got to talking one day and she asked if we could do Indian specialties in the doctors dining room where we serve about 250 for lunch each day,” Zappone recalls. “Soon after, she started bringing in recipes from home. Of course, when you do things in bulk, they turn out differently, but we adjusted the quantities.”

In addition to the Chicken 65 recipes provided by Dr. Konda—it was the 65th item on the menu at a restaurant she favors—the doctors, many of whom are Indian, now enjoy such fare as chole (pronounced “cho-lay”), a vegetarian entrée served with basmati rice and whole wheat pita in lieu of naan.

“Chole is a combination of chickpeas and stewed tomato curry,” Zappone explains. “It starts off with hot oil and diced onions. Get them sautéed to dark brown, then add ginger paste and garlic paste. Next add channa masala powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and a bit of salt. Continue to fry the onion and add fresh diced tomatoes. When softened, add drained canned chickpeas; finish with chopped fresh cilantro.”

Bathing basmati: To prepare basmati rice, an integral part of the dish, Zappone finds the trick is to rinse it well to get rid of every bit of the milky white residue. “We put it in a tall, stainless steel bain-marie and let cool water run in,” he says.

“With a spoon, stir frequently until the water is clear, then draw it through a fine mesh china cap. Next, sauté onions in butter and sauté the rice with that. Finally, transfer the entire mixture to a steam table, putting about half an inch of water over the rice; let it steam, uncovered, then fluff after 15 minutes. Finish steaming for another 10 minutes or so.”

Many of the doctors Zappone serves are vegetarians and not all are Indian, yet vegetable biryani rice is one of their favorites, he reports. For this dish he’s learned that the sautéing of the onions to a nutty browness is the secret to success.

“First, put the spices—cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaves—into heated oil, then sautéed diced onions are added to the mixture. Next, add equal amounts of ginger paste, garlic paste and biryani paste plus fresh cilantro. Add frozen peas and carrots—they’ll get steamed with the rice. Add turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, coriander powder, a bit of salt and continue to saute. At this point, add washed basmati rice, a bit of yellow food color (egg shade), then it all goes into the steamer, covered with water. Fluff and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.”

To date, Zappone hasn’t received any requests for Indian desserts, but if and when he does he figures he’ll whip up a batch of kheer—roasted vermicelli. To prepare, he’d thicken milk with roasted vermicelli, butter, sugar and cardamom, add fried cashews and serve warm. Meanwhile, these doctors and their visitors enjoy cheesecake, éclairs, cream puffs and anything that’s chocolate or strawberry, he’s discovered.

Sukhi—The secret ingredient

What do the various Indian concepts offered by contractors such as Guest Services, Sodexho, Aramark and Compass Group (including Flik International and Bon Appetit) have in common?

They’ve all been inspired, and many of their chefs have been mentored, by a former educator and private school operator-turned-entrepreneur by the name of Sukhi Singh.

Focusing on business-and-industry as well as college and university locations for the past 13 years, “Sukhi,” as she’s known to all, approached contractors and self-ops alike. At the outset, she called them. Now, she says, they call her.

Ahead of the curve: “In the (San Francisco) Bay Area, I created the curve, that is, the demand for Indian food,” she claims. “I called on a Marriott account, before it became Sodexho. They didn’t have the time to learn since the cooking techniques are so different.”

Sodexho’s dosa concept is now offered in several of its Bay Area accounts. “Now, we train about 200 chefs annually. We go out and train them at their locations and at their regular meetings. I also gave a class at the CIA in Hyde Park.”

Sukhi worked with Bill Chodan, Flik’s corporate executive chef, to develop its dosa concept and dosa mix. She also worked with Aramark to create an Indian-inspired tikka masala and tandoori wrap, part of a program introduced last year.

“We give them hints as to how to do it right,” Sukhi explains. “Broccoli, for example, is not an Indian vegetable—although it’s OK if you’re doing fusion.”

The real thing: Even Sukhi herself is amazed to see how people have become more receptive to Indian cooking. Now they want “the real thing and the real Indian name for it,” she says.

“Now people want it hotter and spicier. People want naans and rotis with spinach and lentils in the dough along ith mango powder and ginger. There’s misi roti, a flavored bread with real cooked leaf spinach in it. You heat it up and eat it with yogurt or butter—a very traditional Indian bread.”

Guest chef brings Indian interest to Bon Appetit

Many non-commercial foodservice organizations bring guest chefs into their operations to expose customers to ethnic foods and train staff in their subtleties. Indian cuisine is certainly no exception to that approach.

Bon Appetit Management Company has served Indian cuisine for quite a few years in its West Coast accounts. Finding that it was a challenge to be authentic with curry mixes, Marc Zammit, director of culinary, found a source for prepared varieties. Recently, in his quest for authentic—and to generate further student interest—he has brought celebrity chefs to campus for book signings and a meal.

Celebrity chef: “As part of our Star Chef program, we take Raghavan Iyer, author of Turmeric Trail, to various accounts,” Zammit explains. “His book focuses on Indian street food and home cooking. We select several dishes from recipes in his book. He’ll arrive at the location early in the day and work with the on-site chef.

“Having Raghavan on campus,” he continues, “serves to generate interest in Indian food and vegetarian dishes. But Indian flavor profiles are included on a daily basis on those particular campuses. To me, it should be in every café.”

Chef Raghavan has paid visits to several of Bon Appetit’s B&I accounts including Oracle in Redwood Shores, Cisco Systems in San Jose, and Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, where 800-900 students and faculty are served daily at lunchtime. Last spring, general manager Pam Franco had just begun menuing Indian items, she recalls. Chef Raghavan arrived early, checked out the preparations her staff had already made, was excited by the flavors achieved and suggested only one spice substitution.

“We provided appetizer-size portions of a couple of the dishes so students could sample them, but the aroma drove them to want everything,” Franco says. “We serve Indian a few times a year but this was a first menuing so many items, including moochi, which is like a tandoori fish—we used hoki—plus naan from scratch.

“It was also a first in promoting Bon Appetit’s mission to think global but buy local. We have our Indian spice purveyor as well as local Indian markets in a town close by.”