Gulrez Iqbal is the head chef at Chakra Kensington and has previously worked at India’s Taj Group as well as some of the UK’s top Indian restaurants including Dishoom.
The Staff Canteen spoke to Gulrez about the importance of training, why Indian food is so popular in the UK and why he aims to ensure that his food delivers not only on taste but wellbeing and inner peace too.
Gulrez Iqbal
Born and raised in Lucknow in India, it is no surprise that - a city which is renowned for biryanis and korma that Gulrez Iqbal ended up in the professional kitchen. He was passionate from an early age to learn the secrets of cooking. This led him to undertake his professional training in India's leading hotel management college IHM and that is where his culinary journey started.
He recalled: “In a nutshell, the flavoursome food I enjoyed at home inspired me to learn and cook and further encouraged me to perfect the art.”
Gulrez then took his training to the next level with a place on the Taj Kitchen Management Trainee Programme (TMTP) at the renowned Taj Group - an advanced learning program for graduates of the hotels' management scheme where students undertake placements carried at a variety of prestigious properties within the hotel group. Students didn’t just learn Indian cooking techniques and recipes, but also were taught European, Oriental and even pastry skills.
He was then recruited by a national level selection procedure and went through a vigorous training module. From here, he was appointed to the position of senior sous chef in Taj Bandra, Mumbai, a member of the ’Leading Hotels of The World’’ community. Despite his extensive training (both practical and theoretical) in the kitchen, this role proved to be incredibly beneficial for Gulrez.
Chakra Kensington 'Food for your soul'
“That helped me immensely as I was exposed to world-class cooking procedures and standards whilst cooking for a very elite clientele. It was very satisfying in that I could learn the industry standards whilst also have a platform where I was gaining exposure at a very high level.”
It is this experience that resulted in Gulrez being offered the job as head chef at Chakra Kensington. Within his role, he heads up a team of ‘dynamic and dedicated’ chefs who create an array of traditional North Indian and Punjabi-style dishes with a contemporary influence.
He said: “My role involves maintaining quality standards and working to ensure all the dishes keep to that standard. It makes it all the more worthwhile for me as I take great pride in the fact that the restaurant has been recently refurbished whilst the private dining room downstairs has been designed in such a way that it increases the restaurant’s seating capacity.”
Chakra is often described as serving ‘food for the soul’ and uses ingredients that ‘positively impact your sense of wellbeing’, but how is this executed?
Gulrez explained: “Both Chakra Kensington, and our recently launched Chakra Riverside in Kingston, serve a concept of Indian food based on the fact that certain foods or ingredients provide inner peace and wellbeing in a person. Indian culture has long practised this belief.
Chakra Fish Moilee
Usage of particular ingredients like onion, garlic or spices such as turmeric, cumin and carom – the latter for instance helps with digestion - strengthen and heal the body, protecting it from various ailments. We use these and many more spices in the cooking at Chakra.
He added: “My food style incorporates the traditional concepts of Indian cooking infused with the techniques required to attract a well-travelled and modern, British clientele. The cooking is rendered to be flavourful yet subtly spiced. Oil is used sparingly so that we keep an eye on being more health conscious, whilst at the same time, using quality British ingredients, which gives our menu an appealing spin.
"These concepts have been deployed in my cooking for many years and are pretty much part of my DNA now. Working in a London restaurant kitchen teaches one to adopt changes which are occurring frequently on the culinary scene so the food and how it’s being prepared becomes an evolving process.”
Gulrez finds inspiration for his dishes from his home cooking in India and his own personal experience. His favourite dish to cook is the Jalandhar Chicken which is very popular amongst Chakra’s regular guests. The chargrilled chicken is simmered in the fenugreek flavoured sauce which affords a rich creamy taste with a burnt charcoal aroma.
Amina Di Shami
He said: “A great Indian dish is always full of flavour brought on by a combination of spices - whether it’s chargrilled prawns, a saucy curry or a street food item, it must have the perfect balance of spice.”
Indian food remains a popular choice of cuisine and was voted the second most popular takeaway cuisine after Chinese in a recent survey. Why does Gulrez think that Indian food remains such a popular choice here in the UK?
“Indian food has the curry and carb combination – not to mention all of the spices which are very satisfying and quite addictive! Indian cuisine also has the advantage of being quite varied regionally so there’s an array of dishes and flavours not just in India itself but countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, which provide a backdrop to subcontinental cooking."
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