Malvani mutton curry, Cottonseed halwa… These might sound like dishes conjured up in a land far, far away. But the truth is that the spotlight is slowly shifting from the usual chhole-batura and idli-sambar to the lesser-known dishes from pockets of the country.
Meet chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Arun from Chennai who seems to be the culinary maestro of small town cuisine. This chef holds a Guinness world record for the longest barbecue and has travelled to the interiors of Tamil Nadu to rediscover forgotten dishes and put them on the menus of restaurants. “Instead of looking to the West for inspiration, all we need to do is look around us. There are so many things waiting to be discovered in India itself, it is truly a treasure trove of cuisine,” he says.
Says Aditya Bal, a chef and TV show host who travels across India looking for the best that the country has to offer, “The food from small town India gives a real picture of the country. The food here is untouched by commercialism, true to its roots and very satisfying for the mind and the body. I always make it a point to try local food wherever I go, and thanks to the numerous food shows on TV, the mindset of people is also changing — they no longer want to head to the nearest KFC if they’re in Ladakh but are happy sitting in a shack nearby and slurping on thukpa and nibbling on steaming hot momos.”