LADEN WITH LOVE & LEGACIES
Perfection in food comes from patience, passion and respect for every ingredient. Chef Mahabir Singh’s epicurean journey is dotted with delightful stories from his childhood, of festivals and time-honoured inspirations
WORDS by SHARMI ADHIKARY
Picture a young boy traipsing down a hill path after school, with a ditty on his lips. His end destination is the small dhaba tucked in a quaint corner down the same road. After speeding through a frugal lunch at this shop — owned by his distant relatives — he hangs around the kitchen area watching the cooks prepare the evening meal. The humble rustic dishes he sees being rustled piques his mind as he grows up.
“This childhood routine made me wish for a career in cooking,” Chef Mahabir Singh reminisces about his early years spent at the tiny hamlet of Kandar Gaon in the Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.
While this was happening, it was the meethi roti his mother packed for his tiffin everyday that instilled in him the desire to serve people food that would not just satiate their palette, but also bring joy to their hearts. Just like how his mother’s jaggery laced flatbread brought him.
This sweetmeat returns in the menu of Aure Heer, Chef Mahabir’s latest legacy kitchen serving wholesome north Indian delicacies in New Delhi’s Malviya Nagar.
“It also informs the guests about my roots; the idea was to make them sample the flavours I grew up on.”
This heartwarming preamble sets the mood for the conversation MOSAIC engages in with the expert who has been flooring connoisseurs in the city with his culinary prowess. In a food landscape where north Indian fare has often been typecast, the authentic dishes he serves bear testimony to his dexterity in using ingredients in a more considered manner.
“Food traditions are like legacies that require cherishing. The cooking methods of my ancestors were slow, refined and reflected the vast array of indigenous produce of our country. I want to protect and nurture those legacies,” he says.
TRIAL BY FIRE
Chef Mahabir recalls the day in early 1990s when he set foot in Delhi after completing Class 8.
“I called up an older cousin and asked him to pick me up from Kashmere Gate bus stand. He would recognise me from the green shirt I was in.”
While he came to the Capital with the dream of becoming a chef, his first responsibility became washing pots and pans at a local dhaba. “At that time, I did not see it as a setback. It was my first step into the world of kitchens, and I kept learning while doing every task with patience.”
After spending years observing and assisting senior cooks, Chef Mahabir joined Peacock Narayanam in 1996, where he received formal culinary training. His career later took him to kitchens in India and overseas, including Shanghai, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, followed by a 18-year stint with the legendary Jiggs Kalra and his son, Zorawar.
“My dream was always to cook like my mother, Jalma Devi,” he adds, explaining. “The flavours of my childhood and the warmth of food made with care have stayed with me throughout these years.”
AROUND THE WORLD
The stories Chef Mahabir shares from his tenures in Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are brimming with insights on the food cultures and traditions practised there; especially what he noticed during festivities.
“Authentic Chinese food is nothing like the kind we get in India. When I first went to Shanghai — I was hired as the Head Chef who would initiate operations for a new Indian restaurant there — I didn’t know the language, hence, communicating was a huge issue. I remember ordering noodles and couldn’t eat the bland preparation. It was diametrically different to the flavours we thrive on in India.”
During festivals however, he witnessed how the Chinese nationals eat a variety of dishes that have their own charm; he even enjoyed the magnificent fireworks and the colourful processions while stationed in Shanghai.
“Our boss soon recruited two more Indians, so I got someone to talk to. I trained them in my style of cooking. The Chinese nationals who came to our restaurant loved our food.”
After the Shanghai stint, Chef Mahabir landed in Abu Dhabi, followed by Dubai. While he found many Indian restaurants in those cities, their reputations suffered from the usual ‘butter chicken-dal makhni’ tag.
“Indian food, while being so much more than that, has also been tarnished with erroneous techniques. For instance, dal makhni. It isn’t supposed to be laden with butter and cream. The makhni word comes from the silky texture of the dal, rendered after hours of simmering and churning. This slow cooking requires patience, which I want foodies to appreciate all over again,” elaborates the gastronome.
INDIAN AT CORE
In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Indian migrants trooped into the restaurants Chef Mahabir worked at, to eat the food that reminded them of their Indian upbringing. During festivals like Diwali and Janmashtami, they lapped up the vegetarian fare and the sweet dishes he served. During Eid, the Emirati citizens polished off the kebabs and curries infused with ingredients he carried from the famous spice gullies of Chandni Chowk.
“Nostalgia is a gamechanger. The concept of time travel operates on that module. And food is the most potent format to unify the two. While I was reliving the memories of what my mother fed me and what we savoured during festivals, they were time-travelling to their best growing up years,” the chef deconstructs.
Cut to the present, some of the best sellers in the Aure Heer are inspired by that element of nostalgia and flavours Indian cuisine is feted for. The Murg Ki Khass Kaliya, coated with pepper butter and bhatti spices from Khari Baoli, Asia’s largest wholesale spice market, is a mouthwatering slow-charred starter. The Truffle Malai Tikka is essentially the favourite creamy kebab we love but spiked with Truffle oil. There are international twists introduced by the chef but in extremely measured quantities so that they don’t overpower the hero ingredients.
His Lahsuni Palak Chenna consists of paneer dumplings in a spinach-and-cream gravy. The restrained use of garlic is a glorious twist to the ubiquitous Palak Paneer.
“I do not like using too many masalas,” Singh says. “If spices overpower a dish, they can hide its natural taste and aroma. I use a carefully balanced blend of spices, but always in a way that supports the main ingredients.”
The chef’s mother, he tells us, used to say that the true test of food is how a person feels the next morning.
“If a customer sleeps well and wakes up without any discomfort, then the food has done its job. Be it during festivals, where the offerings are varied, or daily meals. I still consider that the ultimate feedback as well as a benchmark for quality.”
With that, we round up the epicurean time-travelling, as Chef Mahabir presents a plate of Sweety Singh before us. The strawberry sponge interspersed with apricot jelly discs is a lush reminder of the apricot jams from the hills of Tehri Garhwal, while the saffron and blue berry kheer is a lipsmacking twist to the wholesome dessert his mother made during Diwali every year.