These restaurants and food ventures are putting the spotlight on unique global culinary traditions

From soupy Ladakhi Chutagi to salted egg yolk lap cheong and authentic Pondicherry sit-down meals to Brazilian Pão de Queijo, there is much on offer for the Indian diner

In Bengaluru’s Magrath Road locale, Sao Paulo’s iconic Christ the Redeemer, Bossa Nova musical instruments and vibrant toucans form the theme of a massive mural outlining the exteriors of the recently launched Boteco—Restaurante Brasileiro. Serving authentic, hearty Brazilian fare as well as some reimagined dishes, the restaurant draws inspiration from neighbourhood botecos or bars in Brazil, popular among locals for after-work catch-ups over drinks and snacks. Think deep-fried appetisers, a meat-focused menu including Churrasqueira—Brazilian-style barbeque, mega sharing platters and Cachaça-infused cocktails.

Founder Praveesh Govindan says that frequent work trips to Brazil during his stint in the United States as a mechanical engineer introduced him to the community-driven food experiences of botecos. And thus began his quest to find the right chef to greenlight his dream of opening a Brazilian restaurant in India—with the soul of botecos but a more refined menu. Fortunately, he found Guto Souza (Executive Chef & Partner), a noted chef from Brazil, right here in Goa, running his own restaurant. The fact that Souza is well versed with the Indian palette made him curate and tweak authentic Brazilian dishes that would appeal to Indians. “When we decided to cook Brazilian food here in India, I tried to make the menu as authentic as possible,” notes Souza.

Brazilian cuisine can be spicy, flavoursome and its curries are cooked with coconut milk, chillies and ginger, like Indian versions. The menu offers glimpses of Souza’s mother’s recipes, such as the sublime Lemon Mousse, and Indian influences are evident in the Camarao Copacabana, prawns tossed in garlic, wine, topped with roasted tomatoes, aioli, pineapple chutney and dill, but served in mini puris inspired by Souza’s tryst with trying and loving Indian puris.

Pão De Queijo, or cheese breads made with tapioca flour and cheese makes for a really addictive snack—you just cannot stop at one. From the small plates section, the Casquinha de Siri stands out. It comprises crab meat sauteed with coconut milk, palm oil, paprika and tomatoes, baked in its shell with loads of cheese. We loved mopping up the sweet, umami crabmeat with bread. Another unique dish on the menu is the Escondidinho—home-cured, dried, salted beef layered with mascarpone, parmesan and mildly sweet pumpkin cream. “Dry beef is a traditional speciality in my home state of Minas Gerais where we either sun-dry it or cure it in sea salt. It’s a long process where the beef is first dried, then cooked in milk for a few days. It is then slow-cooked under pressure and then with aromatics before being paired with cheese and pumpkin,” he explains.

While Souza brings touches of his culinary heritage to the Boteco menu, closer home, the Godrej Food Trends Report 2022 predicts a growing awareness and pride in one’s culinary identity and heritage. It also mentions a rising interest in “mountain cuisines” of India—those of Himachal, Ladakh, Meghalaya and more.

Putting the spotlight on Ladakh

Located in Alchi village in Leh, the Alchi Kitchen has been attracting a steady stream of visitors since 2016, including Bollywood stars, thanks to its authentic Ladakhi menu. Nilza Wangmo Lonpo runs an all-women, open-kitchen-style eatery serving bestsellers such as soupy thukpa, fresh, hand-rolled, pasta-based broths such as Chutagi and Oskew (with milk) and fermented breads such as the Khambir roti (stuffed with meats, vegetables or female yak cheese) to be dunked in traditional butter tea or Thaltak, a baked version eaten with curries or milk.

“Ladakhi cuisine completely relies on wheat and barley and a drying culture [a nod to its nomadic practices] traditionally where we dry chives, garlic, leafy greens, wild herbs and root vegetables like turnips, carrots and radish. This is then used in tempering and cooking,” explains Lonpo. Other popular offerings include the Mok Mok (steamed wheat or buckwheat momos) the Yarkandi Pulao, or mutton pulao cooked in stock with short-grained aromatic Kashmiri rice, nuts and carrots, and seasonal produce such as apricots and walnuts in salads and dessert.

From Philippines and Vietnam, with love

Maria Isabel Pol, a Filipino, offers cuisine from her home country in Bengaluru, perhaps a first in India. Cucina de Maria was started as a hobby during the COVID-19 pandemic but soon grew to become a well-known food business. Maria started her Filipino food service to reach out to her community in the city. Popular dishes include Philippines' national dish—the sweet, spicy Adobo (chicken, pork or mutton), Pork Sisig (sizzling pork belly), a typical Filipino breakfast of rice, eggs sunny side up, and longanisa—a breakfast sausage, and salted egg salad made with duck eggs, eaten as a side dish. She also creates a jam spread with ube or purple yam and bakes cakes with it.

Salted egg yolk sausages are also a specialty of Ho Chi Minh City native Tuyet Ngyung of Tuyet’s Kitchen, who moved to Raipur after her marriage. Tuyet started experimenting with lap cheong—a dry, cured sweet and salty Chinese sausage made from pork meat, lard, seasoned with two kinds of wine, salt and sugar. Lapcheong is perfect in fried rice, quick stir-fries, fresh spring rolls and salads too. Encouraged by her sister who owns Little Saigon restaurant in New Delhi’s Hauz Khas, Tuyet soon acquired equipment to make sausages in volume to be able to ship across India. Salted egg yolk lapcheong, beef jerky and pork ham are some of her other specials.

The original cuisine of Pondicherry

What is native Pondicherry cuisine like? Seventy-one--year-old Motchamary Pushpam (Pushpa) holds some delicious and intriguing answers with her reservation-only home dine-in (table d’hôte) experience—Chez Pushpa. Anita De Canaga, her daughter, tells us that her family eats a mix of Vietnamese, French, Tamil and Creole foods at home on most days. This is because De Canaga’s father was born to Indian-born French nationals (her grandparents) who moved to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos while working with the French administration, back when Pondicherry was a French colony. Her grandma learnt to cook the cuisine of the countries where they would settle. Soon, her culinary repertoire included French, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Tamil and Portuguese influences. Pushpa learnt to cook Pondicherry Creole cuisine from her mother-in-law once she married into the De Canaga family.

An integral part of Pondicherry Creole cuisine is Vadavoum, a spice blend of shallots, onions, cumin, mustard, oils and more, which is ground into balls and then sun- dried. This is then crumbled while tempering dishes such as Mutton Markandam (ribs) Sambhar—a star dish on Chez Pushpa’s menu, pork or duck Vadavoum, Ourandai (meatballs) Curry Kozhambhu and fish curries. Then there is Creole salad with steamed vegetables and fresh onions, tomato, coriander, lime and vinegar, to which fish or boiled eggs can be added too. This is eaten as a side with mutton biryani.

Chez Pushpa was established six years ago when De Canaga pushed her mother to start offering an authentic taste of Pondicherry from her home. “When I moved back from France to Pondicherry a few years ago, I realised that this kind of food is not available in Pondicherry anywhere. We needed to highlight Pondicherry’s own cuisine otherwise it would just disappear,” laments De Canaga, who was brought up in Paris. Not only do you have to reserve a table much in advance but the menu—curated by Pushpa—remains a surprise, depending on the day’s availability at local markets.

Also Read: Meet the women who quit law to become dedicated food entrepreneurs

Also Read: How to set up and run a successful food delivery business in India

Also Read: Is the organic food you are eating, actually organic?