Curry On Dining

Ahead of its much-anticipated grand opening, Dean Muscat takes a sneak peek behind the kitchen doors of Essence of India, an all-new curry house located at Golden Sands Resort & Spa in Malta.

In front of me lays a feast fit for a sultan. Crispy poppadums. Heavenly, just-out-of-the-oven naan. Sizzling tandoori dishes. Fluffy jeera rice. Steamy copper bowls of tikka masala, korma and jalfrezi. What olfactory fireworks! I pinch a stray bhaji lying on a serving dish and pop it into my mouth. Sometimes there really aren’t the words.

I am here to meet the key talent spearheading the revamped Essence. The former Mediterranean eatery has recently been transformed into a lavish Indian diner and, as Executive Chef James Bartolo explains, the process was not without its challenges. Following months of dead-end talent searching, things finally started to fall into place when they chanced upon chef Ranjeet Patil. This accomplished expert of authentic Indian cuisine was recruited directly from India after impressing James and his team.

‘It was immediately clear Ranjeet was the perfect fit,’ James says. ‘We invited him over for a food tasting. Ranjeet entered a big kitchen that was unfamiliar to him and prepared 12 dishes in a matter of minutes. They were all delicious.’

Ranjeet, a convivial soul who speaks spit fire fast, certainly has the life experience to back his impressive culinary skills. Growing up on a family-run, 40-acre farm in the state of Maharashtra, just outside the city of Mumbai, Ranjeet’s cooking journey began at a young age. With his parents, uncles and aunties busy tending the fields, and a brood of siblings and cousins in need of care, cooking duties fell to Ranjeet.

‘My mother said to me: “You are the eldest. The children need to eat good, healthy food and you must cook for them,” Ranjeet recalls with a smile.

Thus began young Ranjeet’s gastronomic journey. Using ingredients sourced from the family land – basmati rice, sugar cane and a delicious array of fresh spices – the eldest son soon learned how to whip up a variety of dishes to please a variety of palates. But it wasn’t until he was rejected from the Indian army due to height regulations that Ranjeet decided to turn his passion into a profession. The chef is quick to point out that such career-oriented thinking was a break from family tradition.

‘In my family nobody was working before like me,’ Ranjeet explains. ‘In our culture, there’s no need for jobs. We have a 40-acre farm. We provide for ourselves and sell what we can.’

Ranjeet didn’t take his radical decision lightly. He attended top culinary schools in Mumbai and took on apprenticeship roles in local restaurants. The fledgling chef had a hunger to learn all there was to learn about the multifaceted flavours of India.

‘In India there is a lot of different types of cuisine,’ he explains. ‘You move 200 km, the food changes. From soups to deserts, there are hundreds of dishes. Some use an onion base. Some use yogurt. I wanted to learn how to cook each of these, using very different approaches.’

That’s why this Maharashtra-born chef decided to move to the bustling capital of Delhi, in the country’s north, where he lived and worked for eight years. During his time here, he went on to run the kitchen at the popular Svelte Hotel, which saw some 500 diners enter its doors every night.

Rather coincidentally, this relocation northwards was also undertaken by fellow Essence of India chef, Kannan Muthusamy.

Born in Chennai, Cuddalore in southern India, Kannan first fell in love with cooking after a friend began teaching him some recipes at the age of eighteen. This simple gesture has led to an almost 30-year career in restauranteering. Eager to master more styles and dishes, Kannan left home and joined a north Indian restaurant back in 1992.

‘North Indian food features more cashew nuts and spices,’ Kannan explains. ‘South Indian food has less masala. It’s a different way of cooking.’

In 1999, an opportunity arrived to emigrate to Malta. Kannan flew to the small Mediterranean island not really knowing what to expect, but he was soon in high demand from local restaurants seeking his particular Indian expertise. He now proudly calls Malta home and is especially excited to be part of such a talented team at Essence of India.

‘I want this to become the number one Indian restaurant in Malta,’ he says beaming with pride.

So with such well-versed Indian foodsmiths working here, what can patrons expect to find on the menu?

‘We’ve designed the menu as a celebration of the best of India,’ Executive Chef James explains. ‘We have curry dishes, tandoori options, biryani and more. With the help of Ranjeet, Kannan and the rest of the team, we can ensure everything is authentic. We are also introducing dishes that take dietary requirements, intolerances and allergies into consideration, always without losing any of the extraordinary flavours and spices that are the foundation of Indian cuisine.’

Any personal favourites?

‘I love our jalfrezi curry and the lamb sukka with naan,’ Ranjeet says, before reeling off a whole list of highlights.

‘All dishes are good, all of them are nice,’ Kannan says after a lot of thought. He then adds with a cheeky chuckle: ‘Because I am cooking everything, everything is good.’

Down the line there are plans to evolve. Kannan is keen to add typical southern Indian dishes such as idli and dosa. He believes it will be interesting for guests to compare flavours from different Indian regions. And Ranjeet suspects there’s a possibility to include a few traditional Maltese dishes with a special twist. Succulent rabbit infused with Indian spices? Sounds divine.

With spirits high before the opening, I steal one last delicious bhaji and leave James, Ranjeet, Kannan and co. to their preparations. Needless to say, I’ll be booking an al fresco table at Essence of India as soon as possible.

This article originally appeared in Living Wow magazine issue 2.