Lady and the revamp

12 September 2002 by
Lady and the revamp

In the fast-changing London restaurant scene, Indian restaurant Chutney Mary has become something of an institution. Opened back in 1990, it has seen countless other eateries come and go, but it has consistently managed to please restaurant critics and the dining-out public alike.

So what's its secret? Founder and proprietor of Chutney Mary, Namita Panjabi - who is also responsible for developing the restaurant's dishes with her chefs and regularly works in the kitchen - believes the restaurant's success is largely down to its culinary philosophy.

"Right from the beginning we wanted to bring to people's attention the fact that there is no such thing as Indian food," she declares. "India is the same size as Europe and has a vast array of climatic conditions, religions and historical influences that have played an enormous role in shaping the wildly contrasting foods of its different regions. For example, in the South, you will see coconut and red chillies regularly used, while in parts of the North, tomato, cream and dairy products are common ingredients in sauces, and the dishes in coastal regions are very different from those inland. So, Indian cuisine is not one cuisine - it's numerous different styles, as varied as French, Greek, Italian and Spanish, say."

In the early days of Chutney Mary, Panjabi brought over five specialist chefs from different regions of the subcontinent, and they were each given their own separate kitchen area. "At the time, even in India - let alone in the UK - there were no restaurants that offered food from so many different regions all in the one place," Panjabi says, "But I was determined with this idea because I wanted to showcase the subcontinent's cuisine."

Furthermore, the aim of Chutney Mary was to produce Indian home cooking, rather than to emulate the food of the country's hotels and restaurants. "In India there are two distinct kinds of cooking: home cooking and commercial cooking in hotels and restaurants, which I call three-pot cooking. The three pots usually contain: a white cashew-based sauce, a tomato sauce, and a brown onion sauce. Nearly everything that's on hotel or restaurant menus is based on these three sauces or a combination of them," she explains.

In contrast, in the "gourmet homes of India", dishes are far more varied, with upper- and middle-class housewives working closely with their cooks to produce stunning cuisine. In such homes, Panjabi explains, the masala (spices) are ground freshly each morning, the varieties depending on the recipes for the day ahead.

"That type of cooking wasn't available here before 1990, so that's what I decided to do. I gave my chefs the freedom to cook with the same kind of passion and creativity they would have if cooking at a family wedding, rather than at a hotel," she says.

Considering the number and diversity of Indian restaurants in the UK, it is incredible to think that Chutney Mary broke new ground when it opened by serving dishes such as kedgeree, crab cakes, shank of lamb marinated in Indian spices, and sweet samosas on the dessert menu.

That said, by early this year Panjabi recognised that for Chutney Mary to remain cutting edge, it needed a revamp. In the 12 years since its birth, other restaurants had caught up (two, London's Tamarind and Zaika now have a Michelin star apiece). So when the time came for a kitchen refurbishment, she took the decision to redesign the restaurant's interiors and to look anew at the menu.

Seven new chefs were recruited from different regions of India to inject some new blood into the kitchen. Then, when the restaurant was closed between February and May this year, Panjabi worked with these chefs "to take the food to another level".

One of the first changes she made was to begin sieving sauces for dishes in order to make them more refined. Previously, sauces were coarser and more rustic. Second, Panjabi changed all her meat and fish suppliers and upgraded the cuts of meat used. "We now use only corn-fed chicken and best-end of lamb in our passandas, and fresh crab instead of pasteurised crab."

The kitchen takes a daily delivery of live crabs from Devon, and they are cooked to order for the tandoori crab main course (£16.50). "Tandoori crab is all the rage in Bombay right now, so I wanted to reflect that trend."

The length of time that meats are cooked for is different compared with past practice, too. "Our dishes are totally authentic in terms of how they are spiced - Goan dishes are hot and Lucknow dishes are mild - but we do now make a concession for the Western palate in more delicate treatment of meats. Indians like their meat and fish cooked through and through, they don't want to see any pink anywhere, but we now follow Western preferences. So, lamb chops and duck breast are served slightly pink and, in the passandas, the lamb is tender inside."

Modernising the presentation of dishes was another priority for Panjabi and her brigade. "I did 30-40 trials with many dishes before I was happy with how they looked," she says.

A much wider variety of kebabs and seafood dishes has been put on the menu, reflecting current North Indian trends, and a whole new dessert menu has been created. This includes strawberry crème brûlée with garam masala (£5.50) and dark chocolate fondant with orange blossom lassi (£5.50). "We are not a fusion restaurant at all, but I allow a little fusion to creep in at dessert as authentic Indian desserts are very sweet and milky and don't tend to appeal to Western palates," states Panjabi.

While it's still early to judge the long-term impact, of the changes, Panjabi claims the restaurant is already benefiting from its makeover. Average spend has leapt from £40 to £47 and Fay Maschler of London's Evening Standard, the notoriously picky doyenne of restaurant critics, recently awarded Chutney Mary her top accolade of two stars. It seems Panjabi has a point.

Namita Panjabi's restaurant history

In a recent NOP poll for Channel 4, Namita Panjabi was ranked among the top 10 role models for British Indians - alongside the likes of Labour peer Lord Alli, cricketer Nasser Hussain and actress Meera Syal - because of her success as a restaurateur.

It's an achievement that seems all the more incredible when you consider that she started her mini restaurant empire almost by accident. Having worked in India in the late 1970s and 1980s for US company Associated Merchandising, sourcing fashions and other products for export, she left Bombay for London in 1987 after marrying Ranjit Mathrani, a merchant banker. "He was a total workaholic, and that left me with lots of time on my hands," she explains. "I needed to do something as a hobby and, as I had always loved food, my sister, Camellia, suggested that I open a restaurant."

Acting on the suggestion, she opened Chutney Mary in 1990 and it continued as her sole restaurant interest for the next seven years. She then expanded her empire, buying Veeraswamy in Mayfair, the UK's oldest Indian restaurant (in its heyday a haunt for the likes of the Duke of Windsor), which, she says, "had been rather neglected" since the mid-1980s. "I wanted to breathe new life into it, so it would continue well into the next century," she adds. "I chose to decorate it in a contemporary way, with vibrant sari colours, while in the kitchen I appointed regional chefs from across India. The recipes they cook are the comfort foods of the country."

Only a couple of years later, Panjabi was looking for another challenge. She passionately believed that most curry houses in the UK, while charging low prices, were serving indifferent cuisine, with every meat served in the same gloopy sauce. "I felt it had to be possible to serve fresh, good-quality Indian food in a contemporary environment for £15 a head," she says.

It wasn't an easy nut to crack - working out how to make a profit, while charging only £15 and serving what was highly labour-intensive cuisine - but after three years of brainstorming with her husband and sister, Panjabi came up with Masala Zone. "We're the Wagamama of Indian food. We manage to keep prices low by having fast turnover and offering a compact menu."

Now that the renaissance of Chutney Mary (see main feature) is also under her belt, Panjabi says her future plans may include opening more Masala Zones and entering the mid market, opening a restaurant charging about £20 a head. "I'm really excited by the mid market at the moment and have loads of ideas for a restaurant. I just need to find the time and energy to take these ideas forward."

Wines at Chutney Mary

In order to differentiate Chutney Mary further from other Indian restaurants in the UK, wine expert Matthew Jukes was brought in earlier this year as a consultant. He has put together an extensive list, which is carefully annotated, suggesting matches with various styles of cuisine.

A good match for the tokri chaat is: Thelema Sauvignon Blanc 2001, Stellenbosch, South Africa, £24. "Refreshing, crunchy acidity is essential in whites when matching to Indian food, as a clean, crisp finish helps to cut through creamy, ginger tandoori dishes, douse the fire of a hotter, mustard seed, chilli-and-spice dish and rejuvenate the palate," say Jukes's wine notes.

Suggested match for the guinea fowl almond korma (see right) is: Sancerre Rouge 2000, Domaine Jean-Jacques Millet, Loire, France, £25. "Served a touch colder than usual… a perfect style of wine to enjoy with some of the tomato-based or mellower meaty dishes. As you turn up the spice, cool down the wine," according to Jukes.

Tokri Chaat (serves 10)
Guinea fowl korma (serves four)

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