MY UNCLE’S MUSTACHE &

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA (CTM)

Now the question is what my uncle’s mustache has got to do with the famous Chicken Tikka Masala!

For some years in the recent past I have been hearing about this great ‘English’ invention of an original Indian dish called CTM, which has now come to be known as "Britain's True National Dish".

One can read about a hundred odd yarns on how CTM is a true Bangladeshi recipe, while others talk of its original limey (English) version and so on. Apparently someone is running a bull shitting industry, fully loaded with facts about CTM. The truth is that the CTM was and is one hundred percent a dish of Indian origin.

Perhaps little story from my past which (involves my dear uncle Mr.Bhisham Varma & and his sexy moustache) will help all to discover the truth behind CTM.

The story begins in early 60’s in Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon where my mentor, my guru, my uncle Bhisham Varma lived…

He was wild restless & rebellious from the very beginning. At the age of 21 he had three Harley Davidson of his own. He had a knack for repairing cars; motor cycles and all kinds of motors. It is because of these qualities my father wanted to send him to Rolls Royce for training on completion of his graduation. He was studying in Hindu College-Delhi. Due to his rebellious nature (during the final practical examination) he tried to reason with his professor defending his own method of solving the practical which was different than what his professor had taught, after lots of reasoning and altercation, when the professor didn’t agree with him then my uncle told the professor to his face, “Sir, If you have not seen London, it doesn’t mean London doesn’t exist”. The livid professor ‘failed’ him. After this incident he lost faith in the academic system and refused to study any further.

…He owned and operated a chain of Indian Restaurants in the Middle East and London. He was a versatile genius. His imposing personality was aptly complimented by a moustache which he sported. He was a national swimming champion, and commercial pilot turned Restaurateur. He was a visionary and an entrepreneur of his times, who worked hard to become one of the richest and most influential Indian Businessman in Lebanon.

As I finished my schooling he called me to Beirut and there I lived with him for over 8 years. Under his wings & fold, I learnt a lot and more to became a thorough hospitality professional.

Beside the restaurant chain, we also ran a very large flight kitchen operations that catered to Air India, PAN AM and BOAC (now British Airways). In fact, outside India we were the largest Indian food caterers in the world. Our Indian restaurants were the single most popular and renowned chain in Europe and the Middle East, with branches in Cyprus and London. It was called ‘Sirena- Indian Restaurants and Flight Kitchens’.

It must be mentioned at this moment that PANAM & BOAC use to load our Indian Food for their global network, including India. Mr.Bhisham Varma’s association with Air India was well knit and strong. We had the likes of JRD Tata and Bobby Kooka, Air-India's then Commercial Director visiting our restaurant whenever they were in Lebanon.

Mr.Bhisham Varma started his restaurant business with six partners to become one of the most distinguished restaurateurs in the world in sixties and seventies. He also owned a huge restaurant and recreation center called COCODI, situated next to Beirut International Airport (now known as Rafic Hariri International Airport).

I remained under the tutelage of my uncle for eight years,during which I observed, prepared, entertained and once in a while even tried Indian cuisine -Life was good, I was happy.

It was in Beirut, for the first time, that I noticed the name TCTM on the food menu. TCTM is a spicy curry in which boneless tender pieces of Tandoori Chicken are cooked. Since we had limited number of Chefs of Indian origin, every evening we kept a decent stock of half baked Tandoori chicken to meet the rush (a common practice even today) next day, we used the remaining tandoori chicken to make CTM. The bones were removed, the meat was then diced and cooked with onion, tomatoes, green chilies, garlic & ginger paste and finished with yogurt marinade, which is how the CTM gets its rich red color and unique taste. This ‘creation of compulsion’ was called TCTM.

The CTM was actually a dish born out of necessity and ingenuity of Indian Chefs who ventured across the seas in search of promising pastures. Perhaps they had the recipe in their minds not knowing that it is destined to become the most served and sought after dish globally. The good thing is that each claim is as interesting as the other. But we must pause and think and ask ourselves- Just-what can go wrong when these simple ingredients (onion, tomatoes, green chilies’, garlic - ginger paste and yogurt) are married, especially in the Indian cuisine & context.

In 1969 when I went to Hounslow-London to look after ‘Sirena’, TCTM was added to the menu. It was an instant success and soon it became a hot seller on the menu. The standard order with TCTM was stuffed parantha and half Chicken Tandoori.

TCTM was available at Sirena only till 1994.After which Sirena in London closed the same year, and I have enough feed back to believe that TCTM was in demand for a long time and that every restaurant made efforts to develop their own version of TCTM. Some Bangladeshi restaurants even went to the extent adding tomato soup to the replicate the taste. Sirena is still open and operating in Beirut under the name 'India'.

The purpose of dedicating this blog to CTM and my uncle is to clear the haze (In all humility) that surrounds this humble Indian staple dish and its genesis, also put to rest all the feverish claims and controversies that revolve around CTM.

My Chef Pratap Singh, first for many years in Beirut and subsequently in London who prepared thousands of portions of CTM during 1969-73 will happily vouch for my words. Our efforts and hard work made Sirena one of the best Indian restaurants in London where the most popular dish use to be TCTM. Yet another hot favorite creation was, Seekh Kabab Rolls - Crispy Fried Paratha with Seekh Kabab, chopped onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes , served with mint chutney.

Those days we had a tie up with Air India, they provide us with menu covers for our restaurant. For reasons of posterity I still have one copy of the menu cards. A scan of which is placed below for all to see and draw their own conclusion about TCTM that was made by Sirena chefs and served with pride in London during 1969 to 1994.

Ah! yes the Brits can now officially call it the "Britain's True National Dish", I give them my permission to do so.– Enjoy!

ENDS

Written by Anil Chak & Virat Varma

Dream Gone Sour

The McDonalds India Story

My exposure to McDonald restaurants started in 1977-78 when I visited England on a holiday. My cousin Sunjay Vadhera - a graduate from Hamburger University in Illinois, Chicago- took me to MacDonald in Twickenham - where he used to work - for a burger meal.

I loved every thing about the place the burgers, the fries and the shakes. In those days Americans use to say that “most nutritious food is Hamburger, shake and fries. Whatever, wherever McDonald did it become a trailblazer. They selected best portions of beef, lamb and chicken, used the best of ingredients to produce the most amazing food at amazingly low price. Like many millions I loved everything about McDonalds, my hero was Ray Kroc, the Chairman, millionaire entrepreneur and founder of the internationally successful fast food chain McDonald.

Like all hospitality professionals I was enamored and obsessed by Mr.Kroc. His achievements somehow had, a sort of humbling effect on me. I read his biography five times over and later the McDonald’s story ‘BEHIND THE ARCHES’ by John F.Love, a couple of times. Belonging to restaurant industry my singular purpose in life, at that point in time was to bring McDonald to India. In 1984 when I opened the chain of pizza restaurants for Vijay Mallya called McDowell’s PIZZA KING, it was then I wrote many letters to McDonald’s requesting them to visit India. In response, their President even visited and met with my Boss Kisan Mehta at The Oberoi, Delhi, but apparently they were not ready for India – or at least till then.

I moved back to my hotel industry. Many years later McDonald’s finally arrived with its first outlet at Vasant Vihar in New Delhi. Today there are over 150 outlets. Sadly enough the McDonald’s India story is not the same as Europe or the US. It seems that the quality standards laid down by McDonalds for the rest of the world are different for India.

However I will not like to highlight any other strength or weaknesses, baring just one very serious issue as a professional.

“Because a McDonalds burger which has a life of just 10 minutes (after which it is destroyed) can it be sold & delivered even after 30 minutes to the Indian customer…!”

The abovementioned observation is based on the fact that life of a burger is 10 minutes, as per the McDonald’s own researched food parameters, and is confirmed by McDonald on their official website dedicated to all queries; clarifications and information dissemination (Follow the link below). Anyone can post a question or two about product or any other aspect of McDonald. It will be promptly answered.

http://www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk/question-search?key=how%20safe%20is%20the%20food;nh=1#question1

The following question has been reproduced from their website for your immediate reference:

Q. Why is it acceptable for burgers to be kept for up to 10 minutes before being disposed of? If this is considered to be a safe way of handling cooked meat products, are you saying that such products are kept at a constantly high temperature (presumably above 70-75 degrees C) to ensure that they do not deteriorate, and are therefore 'piping hot' when served and eaten immediately? Also, can you please reassure me that your products are adequately cooked by saying how long they are cooked for?

A: Food safety is an area that is rigorously assessed by independent auditors and these standards are outlined in the Food Safety Regulations. These stipulate that it is acceptable for food to be held for up to two hours at room temperature prior to being sold. McDonald's procedures are much more stringent for all its food items: for example, the company insists that burgers are kept at a temperature between 63 and 66 degrees centigrade for a maximum 10 minutes after which it is discarded. The cooking equipment and technology is bespoke to McDonald's and takes into account the company's requirements. Every menu item again has a tightly defined cooking procedure that should ensure that each order is delivered in perfect condition to the customer. For example, the regular Hamburger is cooked for less than a minute from frozen on the specially designed double sided hot plate and reaches a cooking temperature of 70 degrees centigrade. You can rest assured that the whole kitchen process and equipment along side the training programmers’ for staff are all focused on ensuring the best quality food is delivered in the shortest service time possible. (December 2006)

Abroad the same McDonald’s logic of freshness applies when it comes to home delivery of a burger. And I quote from the website:

Follow the link below:

http://www.makeupyourownmind.co.uk/question-search?key=delivery;nh=2

“Q. Why don’t you start a delivery system?

A. Many factors have to be taken into account to provide a delivery service, for example the length of time taken for the staff to reach their destinations to ensure hot fresh food in the quickest time. As a company, McDonald's feels that it could not adequately meet these goals at the present time.”

If all the above is true, the obvious question that raids my mind is that which new technology and ingredients are being used in India to extend life of the burger- For logically it just cannot be same, as it is for the rest of the world. It is even more difficult to appreciate the fact that in India, McDonalds are doing home delivery as well - though from select outlets and interestingly enough the delivery time is 30 minutes- A phenomenon that is quite reasonably intriguing and is important to understand, if nothing, at least we will all be a little wiser, hereinafter.

It is important to ‘know and demand’ quality, otherwise we will never be able to enjoy a true hamburger and we will keep gobbling down the modified Indian version of the McDonald burger at our own risk & consequence. Best Wishes dear friends.

Written by: Anil Chak & Virat Varma

When Nature Calls

I can still recall those vivid childhood outings with my mother. Every time, just before stepping out of the house for a drive, or a trip to market, our mother would absolutely insist that all of us (we are five siblings) must visit the toilet as we may not find one in town, besides it was bad manners to use a wall or a corner. Interestingly enough the situation remains – well almost – the same even today, as we still do not know where to look ‘when nature calls’. Once we are out of our homes, ‘The Toilet’ factor still haunts us...!

Recent times have witnessed burgeoning population of malls, shopping centers, restaurants, cafés like never before. To match this growth we have a cheering population to enjoy these high profile world class eateries. Behind all the glitz and glamour it is unbelievable how we have missed out on upgrading the basic facility for urban population i.e. a nice, clean, functional ‘Public Toilets’ OR ‘Rest Rooms’ as they call it in the west.

I find this platform most suitable to address this fundamental need of all humans and the law and the norms that govern the Industry of restaurants, cafés, bars, lounge and eateries. A study conducted by Global Hospitality Consultants has revealed some startling facts on the subject. In Delhi, the law clearly states;

“Every eating house requires proper toilet facilities for their guest and if an outlet has over 100 covers, it will also need to have not only proper locker rooms, but also separate staff toilets for both gents and ladies”

Ironically enough the situation in reality is very different. Here are some disturbing revelations of the GHC study:

· Our study found that the most up-market restaurants are the ones located in the shopping centers and malls. These restaurants per force follow legal requirement - not out of respect for the law & rules made by the government, but the class of the visiting guests in their outlets compel them to create this basic requirement.

· Most of the cafés located in Delhi’s high profile shopping centers have either small cubicle as a common toilet or just have nothing at all. Furthermore the GHC study reveals that all the classy cafés & restaurants in plush areas of C.P., South Extension I & II, Greater Kailash Part I & II and similar elite areas have cubical as a common toilet for guest and staff . Interestingly enough one popular brand name Cafe operating from posh ‘Friends Colony’ doesn’t even have toilet facilities on the premises – GHC Advisory –Spot a corner or a wall before entering these PJs (Plush Joints) - pun intended. OR just read this limerick from GHC – When nature calls, in restaurant or mall. Leave your muffin or focaccia. Look for the corner or a wall. If this is the state of affairs in south Delhi, the condition in the west & north Delhi can be left to our imagination or is anyone’s guess. ‘I am sure the script writer of the film 3 IDIOTS got his inspiration from; either by regularly using the corner or a wall in desperation or after keen observation of this every day roadside spectacle.

· Major International fast food chains boast of highest standards world wide, but when they confront the Indian system & people, they start wilting- why? is anybody’s guess. Forced, pushed and tossed around, they start ‘loving it’. As the time passes by they mould themselves to become as incorrigible as the system here.

The World Standards

Any premier food chain serving 1000 /2000 covers / meals every day, any where in the world will always have minimum of 3 to 4 urinals, 2 toilets (including one for handicapped guests and a similar configuration goes for ladies. In contrast what we have in India is two small cubicles one for ladies and other one for gents. To add to the anguish, this cubicle also has a WC - and if they were to have there way, they would squeeze in a BIDET (For the record its pronounced Be-day) too and start boasting of a plush ‘Rest Room’ which is a cubicle.

Flouting these norms anywhere in the world would mean ‘closer’ any where in the world. But in our India its, Jai Ho! Balle - Balle. A Liaison consultant flippantly quipped, ‘ that is what they pay additional money for’.

· All Indian sweet houses with Indian fast food who boast of phenomenal

sales have pathetic wash rooms. Just as a token, in the name of rule, there is a small poorly maintained toilet for a 150/200 cover restaurant with flush system not working or no running water. Little attention is paid to hygiene standards. We are referring to some of the well known cash rich Indian fast food chains and sweet shops. Will someone tell these filthy rich owners that how filthy is their RESTROOM or are we used to filth & grime with no nostrils.

· The sad part is that most of these toilets are so badly maintained that they only add to the deteriorating of standard hygiene. There is no soap in the dispenser, no water in the faucet, no toilet paper in the ring or napkin in its place and a hand drier that doesn’t work. What a shame! What Mockery! What anguish! What stuff are we made of?

Are we a country of self opinionated bull shitters? Let’s ask ourselves this very moment.

Due to sub human hygiene conditions of toilets in Delhi, it is not surprising that a large number of people suffer from gastric disorders. I guess for this reason some one coined the appropriate phrase ‘DELHI BELLY’.

GHC has taken upon itself the task of sensitizing both intelligentsia and the government about the critical need to address this problem at the same time GHC accepts responsibility to offer solutions as well.

GHC Recommendations:

We strongly urge the government and other social bodies to:

1. Promulgate a law for:

a) For all new restaurants that are coming up, and

b) a separate law for existing eateries, with a separate set of rules keeping in view the conditions and space constraints.

c) To set up an advisory committee consisting of hospitality professionals, Doctors and qualified health officers to scrutinize and clear all new projects and proposals by majority secret vote. Thereafter it can be forwarded (with the Committee Recommendations) to appropriate government authority for final stamp of approval.

2. The government must authorize the committee to carry out inspections of all eating houses based on the draft of guidelines.

3. Subject to approval, all restaurants licenses must be canceled after giving three months to rectify the situation.

4. For non-compliance after 3 months the license must be canceled for minimum three years.

This is a simple and workable solution, we are confident that our Government will find substance in these overtures. As for GHC it will always remain willing to make its humble contribution to lift the standards of the Hospitality Industry in India.

Written by Anil Chak & Virat Varma

What Ails The Hospitality Industry.

Dear Friends!

Indian Hotelier Remains Committed to the cause of improving the hospitality sector in India.

In months to follow will post a series of incisive articles to draw the attention of the powers that be towards the troubled facets of the most important Industry from the 'Global Perspective'.

Till then I urge you to think!