Embracing traditional Indian recipes, organic vegetables and her signature style of gasless and open-fire cooking techniques, Chef Amninder Sandhu is back and launched her new restaurant Bawri in Goa's valley of flowers, Assagao. Labelled as "the girl with gold in her fingers" by none other than the legendary Chef Marco Pierre White, Sandhu told CNBC-TV18 that Bawri for her is a dream come true.
This 9,500 sq ft open-air, canopied space with rattan chairs, macrame hangings, gigantic ferns, and my personal favourite low seating, perfectly enhances the overall Indian dining experience. Bawri promises food aficionados and history enthusiasts a unique culinary odyssey where their taste buds will go on a mesmerizing time-travelling adventure.
Discussing how the culinary maestro unlocked the secrets of ancient India's gastronomic wonders, Sandhu said, at Bawri, the specially-curated menu and the way I cook is a tribute to the deeply rooted culinary traditions.
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"I have a sigdi (a wood fire oven), josper grill and oven, a clay tandoor and an iron tandoor. We like to make authentic sheermals and bhakar khanis in our clay tandoors. At Bawri, we've gone that extra mile to bring out the very elaborate recipes which are painstakingly like they're absolute, she said.
"My kitchen is not meant for the faint-hearted," she added.
Bawri isn't Sandhu's first experiment with a gasless kitchen, open fire and heavy-vessel traditional cooking. In 2017 the chef launched Arth in India's financial capital of Mumbai, which was shut three-and-a-half years later. In 2020, Sandhu experimented with cloud kitchen models in Mumbai and Pune.
Now at Bawri, Sandhu is channelling all the hard-earned lessons she gathered in an inspiring journey of her 22 years being in professional cooking.
Declaring that Bawri has a "tough kitchen", she mentioned that all the vegetables they use are organic, poultry is antibiotic-free and they only use nut oils.
"Cooking here is a process-oriented, time-consuming, manual labour. So many staff members who have seen the work that goes on in the kitchen have left. It's hard work in a very hot atmosphere," she explained.
Bawri is not only a place for delectable food, but its "Coast to Coast" inspired drinks menu with flavours from the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, are a must try. The mixologists here produce stunning, clarified versions of various cocktails each with their unique visual appeal and taste.
Post-pandemic, Goa has witnessed a massive influx of breweries, new restaurants, slick bars and innovative cocktail programs, so answering what brought Sandhu from charismatic Mumbai to Goa, she said, "I always felt there was a gap when it came to Indian restaurants in Goa - a regional Indian restaurant of this kind. We have created our own space where India and our guests are at the centre of the whole Bawri experience."
"Bawri is the place where you will be made to feel special and it'll feel like you're back home," she added.
Highlighting everyday struggles of running a restaurant of this scale, Sandhu explained, "There is no cookie-cutter formula. After learning tough lessons, I know consistency is key. And restaurants don't run, you have to run them. So, every day you must study the pattern and see what works and what doesn't and accordingly you improvise. Because, like I said, there is no right or wrong."
Sandhu's Bawri is in partnership with Sahil Sambhi of VietNom and Molecule.
Carving her way as a female chef, Sandhu emphasised, "It is a tough industry to be in and, it's still very male-dominated. But at this point in my career, it's very important for me to do meaningful work. And, with my other projects, I'm uplifting women with me."
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
