My dream is to cook for PM Narendra Modi: Michelin star chef Manjunath Mural
Chef Manjunath Mural speaks to Hindustan Times about his food philosophy, the likelihood of a Michelin star for an Indian restaurant and more.
There are very few Indian chefs around the globe whose restaurants have been awarded a Michelin star and chef Manjunath Mural is one of them. For three consecutive years, The Song of India in Singapore bagged a Michelin star with executive chef Mural at its helm. On a recent trip to India, the chef, who is originally from Mumbai, did an innovative pop-up at The Leela Palaces, Chennai. As he sat down to talk to Hindustan Times, chef Mural says he loves Chennai and the people there. (Also read: Paris 2024 Olympics: 10 best places to eat in Paris)
On par with world's best
Ask him how he felt being the first chef of Indian origin in South-East Asia whose restaurant was awarded a Michelin star and chef Mural replies, “I think it was one of the proudest moments when I got the credentials saying you are on par with the world’s best. Around 2015, the perception was that Indian food in Southeast Asia was not up to that level and restaurants featured in the Michelin guide were more Western and French. When the first Michelin star was awarded to Song of India in 2016 it was a recognition not just for me and my team but Singapore as well. There was not a single Michelin star restaurant in Singapore then.”
Chef Mural's food philosophy
Chef Mural has now started his own restaurant called Adda and it has been listed in the Michelin Guide Singapore. “My food philosophy is refined Indian food and also combines Southeast Asian food and Indian flavours. I use Indian sauces but I refine and restrain them but the flavour is impactful. The food has to be classy and plated well. I always think that the taste is the motherhood of Indian food and I don’t want to veer away from that. For instance, I have created an innovative Laksa – which is similar to a Kerala moilee sauce. People in Singapore are familiar with Laksa but this will taste different. I orchestrate the dishes in a way that it’s familiar to Indians as well. Presentation is the most important aspect and I present it in such a way that it doesn’t look Indian but tastes Indian,” he smiles.
Manjunath Mural hails from a family of doctors and grew up in Mumbai but finding that food was his true calling, worked in that space in India before he moved to Singapore in 2006. What does he think about the Indian culinary space today? “There are very good restaurants I have been to like Indian Accent, Bombay Canteen and Masque. We seem to be creating Indian food with an influence and fusion of international cuisine and techniques. And I also see that there are many young chefs who are innovative and this is really good. I think in the next five years there’ll be a big evolution in Indian cuisine and people here seem to be enjoying this new modern trend,” states Mural.
A Michelin star for India soon?
However, there is no Michelin Guide yet in India and no restaurant thus has a Michelin star. How does Mural think Indian restaurants would fare if there was? “I think we need to have consistency in the quality of food and that’s very important to earn your stars. The days are not far behind when they’ll launch in India and I think some restaurants in Mumbai and Delhi will do well. We are on the right path but we need to create more individual restaurants which are operated by the chefs themselves. It’s because the food is their vision, he designs the recipes and it is his creativity that is finally dished out,” he predicts.
Though India is a vast country with a vast array of cuisines and dishes, Mural says the world only talks about North Indian or South Indian food and this has to be changed. He states, “When they think North Indian, they think butter chicken and if it’s South Indian, it’s dosa. This is unfortunate. Like it is said, the food in our country is different every 100 kms you travel. I think Indian food is from five different regions and we can showcase dishes from all regions. For instance, people abroad don’t know that rice hoppers are not just eaten in China or Vietnam but in India too. Recently, I did a three-week promotion of rice hoppers and stew in Singapore and people loved it.”
Coming to some innovative dishes on his own menu at Adda, Mural says he has combined Indian and Southeast Asian cuisines and has, for instance, a chicken pot pie (butter chicken as a pie), a gulab jamun cheesecake, a laksa salmon (a signature dish) and desi tacos (made with theplas), on his menu. His exotic food has seen him cook not just for the former President of Singapore but also other politicians like the former Indian Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, former Maldives President, Shivaraj Patil, and actors as well. As he signs off Chef Manjunath Mural says he wants to be brand ambassador for Indian cuisine and take it to the masses. And yes, there’s one person he definitely wants to cook for and he says, “My dream is to cook for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”