Mumbai’s Man in the Kitchen

Travel Blog  •  David Farley  •  02.02.09 | 11:32 AM ET

oberoiPhoto by David Farley

Chef Hemant Oberoi wants to introduce you to Indian cuisine. Not the curry-laden stuff simmering in a chaffing dish at your local Indian buffet. Oberoi, the head chef for the international Taj Hotels, is on a mission to introduce the world to the vast array of relatively unknown Indian dishes. And he’ll be coming to a city near you. His Bombay Brasserie is a hit in London and he’s finalizing plans on a Boston eatery. I caught up with him at his home base, the Taj Palace & Tower in Mumbai, which made international headlines in November when the hotel was attacked by terrorists. Read the interview after the jump.

World Hum: Can you say something about your experience during the November 26 attacks on the Taj Palace & Tower?

Hemant Oberoi: It was traumatic. I lost seven chefs. They were very close to me. When you see people who you know and love collapsing right in front of you, it’s something you obviously will never forget.

Tell me about your philosophy of cooking Indian cuisine.

The Indian food you find in most restaurants in America and around the world is almost not India. It’s heavy and greasy and it focuses on about 20 dishes. But there are 10,000 different dishes in the Indian repertoire. There are 250 different types of breads. There’s more to life than chicken tikka masala or naan bread. I try to get back to the real roots of Indian cuisine; for example, we have a chapati cart that goes around the restaurant, cooking up fresh bread tableside—this goes back to the Indian moms and grandmas that are constantly cooking fresh bread in the home.

So I won’t find any palak paneer on your menu?

Absolutely not. You will never find chicken curry. You will never find chicken biryani.

What are some restaurants that you would get on a plane to go eat at?

French Laundry in Napa Valley; Per se, Jean Georges, and Adour in New York; Alain Ducasse’s restaurant in Monaco, Louis XV; as well as Alain Ducasse in Paris.

In general what do you think of the dining scene in Mumbai right now?

It’s great. And hugely diverse. Within a two-square-mile radius from here, you can find a dozen different cuisines, all of which are done very well. The Mumbai dining scene, I think, is even better than that of the great cities of the world.

You’ve cooked for several American presidents. Who was the best eater?

Yes, I’ve cooked for the two Bushes and Bill Clinton. I had heard that George W. Bush was not a very adventurous eater, but when I looked out of the kitchen, he had the bowl up to his mouth and was scooping in the food with his spoon. I think he liked it.



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