Naved Nasir, executive chef for Dishoom London, discovered his passion for cooking as a child growing up in Mumbai. He worked in some of the top kitchens in India including Bukhara and Dumpukht at ITC Hotels. He moved to the UK to open the first Dishoom site in Covent Garden in 2010 and has since opened a further two sites in Shoreditch and Kings Cross; the latest addition to the Dishoom family will open in Soho later this year.
The Staff Canteen caught up with Naved to talk about secret spice mixes, coming top of the Yelp! 100 Best Restaurants and how important it is to cook honestly.
What made you want to become a chef?
My mother came from a wealthy family and when I was growing up we had a big Haveli in the village and a few cooks who lived with us. Every summer we would visit my mum’s place and these cooks were great – they would make authentic North Indian dishes like koftas or kebabs, and that’s where my passion for cooking really started.
I used to help in the kitchen, just small things, as I was a kid at the time. Eventually the time came that I had to decide what I wanted to do for a living. My dad was a doctor and so naturally he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. I tried for a year, but quickly realized being a doctor wasn’t for me. When I told my parents I wanted to be a chef my dad hated the idea! It wasn’t really the done thing for a doctor’s son to be a cook!
Who in the industry inspired you?
Being a chef at the world-renowned Bukhara at ITC Maurya New Delhi would be a dream for any budding chef and I was no exception. When I got picked up as a kitchen management trainee by ITC Hotels I was over the moon.
Training in Bukhara at the age of 21 was an amazing opportunity and I learnt so much as I was working with chefs who had been there for years. It has a very unique menu, which hasn’t changed in over 30 years, and one platter is even named after President Clinton who once dined at Bukhara.
Off the menu:
Starters - Bhel, okra fries
Mains - Nalli Nihari (the King’s Cross special), Masala Prawns
Desserts - Kala Khatta gola ice, the Guju chocolate mousse
http://www.dishoom.com/food-drink/
Favourite ingredients:
Cumin - toast and make a powder, keep it airtight, sprinkle on your curry to finish it.
Garlic and fresh dill - chopped and golden fried,club it with chopped fresh dill leaves,we add it to our chicken ruby to give a crunchy texture plus great flavour.
Cauliflower - We marinate it in a yoghurt based marination with some other vegetables to make our veg biryani.
Garam masala - A combination of 10-15 different spices (including: clove, cinnamon, bayleaf, peppercorn, cumin, rose petals, saffron, coriander seeds), can be added to almost any Indian dish right at the end to elevate its flavour.
Signature dishes:
House black Daal, for its simplicity yet a patient almost 24 hour cook time for that extra depth.
How did your career progress?
We were given the opportunity to open a hotel ITC Grand Central in Mumbai - that was a big thing. I was setting up the kitchens from scratch and created a new brand called ‘Kebabs and Currys’, I was then moved to another hotel in Mumbai called ITC Maratha, and became junior sous chef at the famous Dumpukht restaurant. This was a really interesting move for me, as Dumpukht had more of a ‘fine-dining’ feel to it, whereas Bukhara was traditionally more rustic.
I was with Dumpukht for over two years and here I learnt a very different style of cooking called “Dum,” which means to cook in its own juices. This involves sealing the food in a pot with all the spices and slow cooking it over a very low fire. Dumpukht prepared some really authentic dishes like Haleem and Nihari.
I then moved to a very busy banquet kitchen which I headed up for four years and later was promoted to become the executive chef at the ITC Aurangabad. This is a 140 room property in the Western city of Aurangabad which is famous for the world heritage sites of Ajanta and the Allora caves. I was 27 so this was a huge achievement.
After becoming executive chef you moved to London. What made you want to move to the UK?
I moved to London to open Dishoom. I met Shamil Thakrar (co-founder of Dishoom) and we started discussing Dishoom. The name ‘Dishoom’ especially struck a cord as it is very unusual…in Indian dialect it is the background noise of a punch - like Kapow!
Shamil and I quickly realised we had the same aims – we both wanted to create a restaurant that served traditional, authentic and honest Indian food. All our dishes have diverse cultural influences and their roots are very much in India and even when we come up with completely new dishes, like our famous naan rolls, we still want these to reflect and maintain the same honesty that Dishoom was started with.
You opened the Convent Garden restaurant in 2010, did people understand the concept of Dishoom straight away or did it take time?
Dishoom is based on the old Bombay – or Irani Cafés. These were opened by Persian immigrants back in the early 20th century. They were great spaces, completely part of the fabric of urban life. They were open all day, every day, and served people of all backgrounds. At their peak there were around 400 of these cafés, but now there are only a handful left. It seemed sad to us that these lovely spaces were closing down. They are charming, of course, but they also represent an important tradition – they were the first places in the city where anyone of any caste, class or religion was welcome to have a cup of chai or a bite to eat. So we really wanted to preserve this heritage and share it with Londoners.
We put a great deal of love and care and enthusiasm into curating lively, buzzing spaces where all are welcome to come, sit eat, drink, meet, chat, read, work or simply linger and enjoy some chai. Fortunately, this was accepted very quickly by Londoners – they obviously like what we are doing and that is the biggest reward for us.
Are your dishes inspired by your childhood?
My cooking is hugely inspired by my childhood memories of helping the cooks in my mother’s kitchen. And also during my formal chef
