The new Indian cuisine

Yogurt spheres, chutney bubbles, freeze-dried mangoes and Bhunna mutton cooked sous vide style is probably not what you are expecting when you think Indian food. But Gaggan, a 24-month old restaurant located in the heart of Bangkok is set to change all that. For the first time, Indian food is deconstructed and reconstructed using an extensive application of molecular gastronomy techniques and at the helm is born-and-bred Calcutta native, Gaggan Anand. Trying to mess with a cuisine that has a 5,000 year history and influences from Iran, Portugal and Britain, seems like a tall order. But for the chef who has been dubbed ‘Captain Kirk of cuisine’ by TIME magazine in a geeky reference to the character from Star Trek, it was dream to change people’s conception of Indian food.

The 35-year-old chef knew he wanted to cook professionally since he was 16. By the time Anand was 22, he had undergone the Taj Management Training programme in India, and had also cooked for A.P.J Abdul Kalam, the former President of India, as well as Bill Clinton, ex U.S. President. In 2007, Anand arrived in Thailand and started cooking at the contemporary Indian restaurant, Red Bangkok. He later became the chef de cuisine for Bangkok’s Lebua Hotels and Resorts but left for a “life-changing” experience at the laboratories of El Bulli. For three months, Anand got acquainted with liquid nitrogen, gels, foams and sous vide. “The way that I was taught as a chef and the way they [El Bulli] taught me was completely different,” he recalls.

Before he was a chef, Anand was a musician—or more specifically a drummer. A rock and roll guy. It’s little wonder that a bit of cheeky attitude shows up in his food. A futuristic sounding Chowpati Year 2050 creation shows a deconstructed paapdi chat with yogurt orbs that explode in your mouth, small crisp canapés, potatoes, and foam made from green chutney juice, coriander, and soy protein. He even has fun with his dish names: the tandoori lamb chops is called ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’, while a simple chicken curry with fiery hot peppers and coconut is named ‘Who You Calling Chicken?’.

Excerpt from the March 2013 issue of epicure.