Currying flavor
Second annual Varli Food Festival showcases best of Indian cuisine
Six amateur chefs are putting their cooking chops to the test in a “Top Chef”-like competition highlighting Indian flavors. “Heritage of India,” a cookoff judged by four renowned chefs and restaurateurs, is a fun new addition to the annual Varli Food Festival.
“We selected cooks who have passion for Indian food to celebrate the cuisine and the culture and to have people share ideas,” says event organizer Varli Singh. “The concept is to motivate the people at home to make our food.”
On Friday, two of the competitors, Niru Kumria and Preet Singh, both from Long Island, will be whipping up their version of a childhood favorite: cream chicken.
Kumria, a business owner who learned to cook from her dad while growing up in India, makes hers with spinach and a mix of spices like garam masala and turmeric.
“I lived in different states in India and have seen authentic food cooked at each place. I was interested in food everywhere I went,” she says.
Preet Singh, on the other hand, adds a unique twist to his interpretation.
“I like to mix things and not just do them the Indian way,” says the mortgage banker. “Cream chicken is very common in India, but my mixture of basil and ground cumin gives it a totally different flavor.”
Although neither has cooked competitively, both are passionate — and confident — of the skills they’ve honed at home.
“I’m a bit nervous, but at the same time, I’m ready to flip some knives,” says Preet Singh.
Among the cookoff judges are chefs Sanjeev Kapoor and Kunal Kapur, who will also participate in the food showcase on Thursday.
With Padma Lakshmi serving as hostess, more than 60 restaurants from across the globe will be sharing food, wine and desserts, including New York’s Junoon, Tamarind and Brick Lane Curry.
In addition to samples of each restaurant’s signature dish, there’ll be cooking demos, a gift bag full of Indian spices and a free celebrity chef cookbook.
“We wanted to properly introduce Indian food to mainstream American audiences and also second-generation Indians,” says Varli Singh, publisher and editor-in-chief of Varli magazine.
‘There’s so much richness in the cuisine,” adds chef Aliya Leekong, culinary creative director at Junoon. “It’ll be fun to see everyone’s interpretation of what they grew up eating.”
Junoon’s dish, lotus root prepared three ways, is a modern spin on a traditional Indian ingredient.
“Lotus root is a very forgiving vegetable and it’s used in a lot of Asian cuisine. The sous-chef and I did a bunch of experiments and the recipe came out beautifully,” Leekong says.
But Leekong is equally excited to see how the amateur chef-testants will do.
“Indian cooking is home cooking,” she says. “What we do here at Junoon is elevate Indian food, whether it’s the ingredients or stylization and plating, but to see the food as it comes out of the home is a beautiful thing and I think it’s great to give people the chance to show us what they’ve got.”