Chef Sweety Singh is trying to defy the myth that Punjabi food is creamy and rich. He tells Divya Kaushik that the secret to a good recipe lies in cooking techniques and use of balanced spices
He hastily moved from one table to the other, passing bowls and closely monitoring how their steaming content was being poured on plates. Sometimes he peeped inside the kitchen and then fixed his gaze on the guests again, smiling to himself and at times murmuring the old melodies playing in the background. Chef Sweety Singh comes across as a man who enjoys feeding people more than cooking. The sheer pleasure that floated on his face, each the time the guests cut into crispy surface of roasted meat to discover its juicy insides, denoted his delight. The man about whom it is famous that he can help you rediscover Punjabi cuisine was at Dhaba, The Claridges, recently for a day.
He decided to host a special preview of the food festival (beginning from May 16) at the famous Punjabi restaurant of the hotel. In just a span of half an hour and even before serving us food, Singh had made fans. Courtesy his familiar tone and friendly way of interaction. He sticks to his mother tongue, Punjabi, but he makes sure that the Punjabi he speaks is understood easily by everyone who understands Hindi. He vouches that his preparations can come as a surprise to those who are used to rich, creamy and nutty food in the name of authentic Punjabi. “Punjabi food has always remained a favourite and we have been seeing so many experiments happening around it. But I feel that in the name of experimentation people have only started adding more cream, nuts (read cashews) and other ingredients that make the food too heavy. Thanks to that, today the overall perception of Punjabi cuisine is that it’s too rich and heavy on the palate and is definitely not for those who prefer to eat healthy. My preparations remind people that Punjabi food is simple ghar ka khana, prepared fresh without dollops of cream and nuts. In some dishes deep frying might be involved, but then why add additional butter or cream to it just to say that it’s Punjabi. Simple ingredients and right cooking technique add flavour to the dishes. Today people want to do a hurried job by adding rich ingredients to the gravy and cooking it on high flame. Food should be cooked with love, passion and patience. I prepare every dish myself, I ground my own masalas, keep the recipe simple and cook it on low flame for long to let the spices emanate flavours,” shared the chef, who has conducted Punjabi food festivals at many hotels across the country in the last 19 years. He started cooking at the age of 19 and Singh runs a popular dhaba, Kake Di Hatti at Asaf Alli Road, Delite Cinema, near the Delhi Stock Exchange. He has been part of many food shows on the small screen as well.
He inherited the art of cooking from his father, who used to sell curries and other delicacies on a food cart in 1950s.
“Tandoori or roasted dishes came much later. He began with chicken curries and he used to sell them at popular work places. Since childhood I was fond of eating and making food. When I started cooking I only kept in mind the recipes cooked at my home. It was only garlic, onion and ginger paste mixed with basic spices that lent flavour to the food. So I always keep in mind that whatever I cook, spices should not overpower the flavour of the meat of vegetable that is being cooked,” said Singh.
The festival menu at Dhaba features all of Singh’s specialities, like macchi dia seekhan, tandoori bhuniya meat, Kandhari murgh de tikke and keemein di seekhan in the starter section. In the main course there is tawa magaz gurde kapure kaleji, jheenga masale de naal, batau da bharta and saag meat.
The chef has created an interesting variety for vegetarians. There is chukander de kebab, soya pyaaz di seekh, paratdaar paneer tikka, gheeya wadi di sabzi, chikkad chholey and sarson da saag. As he mentioned, each dish is prepared in a traditional way and what came as a surprise was chholey served with Amritsari kulcha.
Prepared without the use of butter, onion or garlic, chholey was served with tamarind and onion chutney, just like they are served in Amritsar. “If you really want to know what real Punjabi cuisine is all about, you should eat at the streets of Amritsar. The food is the best Punjabi food you can ever find,” he said.
For desserts, he has prepared kesari kheer, chukandar ka halwa and panjiri, that stands out among the rest. “Experimenting is good but that should be done in a way that it enhances the flavour of the dish. It should not change perceptions of the cuisine,” he ended.
photos Pankaj Kumar