With over 30 million Indian nationals living overseas, it’s no surprise that the world is familiar with Indian food. Curries, biryanis and naan bread are what often springs to mind when thinking of the South Asian cuisine.
Trèsind Studio offers a modern Indian dining experience in downtown Dubai. Cuffnews met the restaurant’s head chef, Himanshu Saini. He has been introducing the foodies of Dubai to the lesser-known cuisines of India.
Chaat is a popular street food in India. The literal meaning of chaat is ‘to lick’ and the dish got its name because after eating the tangy and spicy dish people tend to lick their fingers.
With over a hundred different kinds of chaat, he explained that many Indian dishes can vary greatly depending on which part of India it originates from. The flavour profile of the chaat must be tangy and spicy but how a chef achieves this and what ingredients they use is up to their creativity.
Chef Saini’s ‘blossom chaat’ is made with a zucchini blossom. He marinades the Zucchini Blossom with other flowers creating an eye-catching and mouthwatering dish. He admits that the street food dish is not commonly on restaurant menus but creating it in this way can introduce people to cuisines that they may not have tasted before.
He spoke passionately about how he wanted to change the world’s perception of Indian food. “I want to say to all my fellow chefs let’s make dishes that are not known to the world more popular”.