How a number of recently opened eateries in Australia are redefining Indian cuisine

 How a number of recently opened eateries in Australia are redefining Indian cuisine

 

Little India in Sydney is a vibrant neighborhood filled with Indian eateries, markets, and confectionary stores. Amidst the approximately twenty Indian eateries and food carts in the vicinity, a select few specialize in difficult-to-find Indian cuisines, appealing to both knowledgeable locals and adventurous food enthusiasts.

Bustling Wigram Street eatery Momozz serves up Indian-Chinese cuisine, which dates back to the Hakka Chinese traders who came to Kolkata in the late 1700s, when it was the Indian capital of the British Empire. The majority of Chinese immigrants at the period were carpenters, tanners, cobblers, and silk sellers. Chinese communities sprung up all over the place, but particularly at Tangra and Tiretta Bazaar, Kolkata's two Chinatowns.

Since the majority of Indian immigrants thought Chinese food was boring, they "amped up" the cuisine by adding garlic, chilli, and thick gravies that gave the meals an Indian curried consistency. The locals loved this modified dish, and it started what is still India's biggest food trend, which has expanded from Kolkata to Mumbai and throughout the country.

Momozz's owner, Michael, dishes up Manchurian Chicken, a crimson sauce meal flavored strongly with garlic, ginger, and chilies. He stir-fries Hakka noodles with shallots, carrots, capsicums, and soy sauce for his chow mein. His dumplings with butter chicken taste just as good as they sound.

As more and more Chinese immigrants left India, the customs of Indian-Chinese cuisine expanded globally. A Hakka Chinese family who immigrated to Australia from India founded the Parramatta eatery Dragon House. Before relocating to Sydney, the proprietor, Francis Li, worked in a Chinese restaurant in Mumbai. He provides the same spicy Chinese cuisine that is served in Chinese restaurants throughout India, including items like chop suey, triple Szechuan, and hot and sour soup. "We use ginger, garlic, chilli, and some other Indian spices to make our Chinese food more suited to the Indian palate," Mary, Francis' partner, explained. It's not the mild spice that you get at fancy fusion places.

According to Li, the majority of Dragon House's clientele consists of individuals from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, and Sri Lanka who are seeking the Chinese-Indian food they are accustomed to from their homeland. However, adventurous Australians, Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese are also big fans of the dish. "They think it's really nice and tasty; it's not like other Chinese restaurants."

Similar to Indians, Indian food is incredibly versatile. With its origins believed to date back thousands of years, curry has become a genuinely global cuisine thanks to trade, immigration, and colonization. Curry is popular everywhere these days; you may find it in Thai green curry, Japanese katsu curry, South African bunny chow, and British chicken tikka masala.

North Indian cuisine dominated Australian Indian cuisine for a very long period. "People with limited or no knowledge of India will only be familiar with food from the northwest or Punjab." The vegetable or protein is usually floating in brown, orange, or red sauce, according to cookbook author and TV personality Padma Lakshmi, who made an appearance in the Netflix culinary documentary series Ugly Delicious.

One of the earliest groups of Indian immigrants to Australia was the Punjabi community. Indian restaurants' menus primarily featured rich tomato or dairy curries served with bread, a result of the significant inflow that changed Australian perceptions of Indian cuisine. For the benefit of the local palate, Indian cuisine was frequently rendered bland, with a few dishes becoming staples. Even though tikka masala was created in Britain and butter chicken is a modern dish that was originally developed in Delhi in the 1950s, most Australians associate "Indian food" with chicken tikka masala and butter chicken.

Australians have become increasingly appreciative of the diversity in Indian food in recent years. Indian cuisine uses locally available spices, herbs, and vegetables and is a mash-up of numerous regional traditions impacted by differences in soil, climate, culture, and religion. Additionally, real flavors are increasingly frequently served in Indian restaurants in Australia these days rather than a homogenized version of northern Indian food.

One of the first establishments selling authentic South Indian cuisine in Australia was Dosa Hut. Praveen Indukuri and Anil Kumar Karpurapu, two telecommunications students at Victoria University of Technology in Melbourne, founded it. "When we first came here, we had to travel 60 kilometers for a half-decent dosa, so we decided to change that," adds Anil. Their South Indian food uses local ingredients such coconut, lentils, tamarind, plantain, and ginger together with flavors from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. Since its 2007 launch in Footscray, Australia, Dosa Hut has expanded to dozens of locations, catering to more than seven million patrons a year.

To accommodate the expanding diaspora, some of the biggest Indian brand restaurants have begun to open locations in Australia. Originally from Chennai, Saravanaa Bhavan is a vegetarian restaurant with 120 locations around 28 countries. In 2014, it set up shop in Parramatta, Australia. Australia was not originally on the company's radar, according to spokesman Shekar Mani. "It took us a while to come," Mani remarked, explaining that they had held off on making an appearance until after the Indian community in Australia had increased.

Unlike most Australian suburban Indian restaurants that serve food tailored to Western palates, Saravanaa Bhavan isn't like that. It aims to cater to the Indian diaspora's need for pure South Indian flavors. "Taking our Indian customers back to the village, to their hometown" is the stated objective. Mani stated that Parramatta was our choice due to the "steadily increasing Indian population." "We intend to open a few more stores within Sydney because the response thus far has been tremendous."

Australia's thriving culinary scene serves as a living metaphor for the country's multicultural and dynamic society. Recently, Australians have recognized Indian restaurants as among of the best places to eat. Five Indian restaurants were highlighted in the Australian Good Food Guide (AGFG) Chef Hat Awards in 2022; three of them were located in Melbourne and two in Sydney. These include the eateries Tonka, Atta, and Ish in Melbourne, as well as Manjit's Wharf and Urban Tadka in Sydney. These top eateries are well-known throughout the neighborhood for fusing contemporary takes on classic dishes. The blending of people, stories, and customs that has come to define the modern Australian identity is reflected in the blending of ingredients and cooking methods from around the world. Food emerges as a global language among this vibrant and diverse melting pot.

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