Das Sreedharan: Kerala's Culinary Ambassador

Anyone who has been lucky enough to visit one of the Rasa restaurants in London is as likely to remember the smiling, gentle presence of Das as the taste sensation experienced on their plates. If you engage him on either of his favourite subjects, food and Kerala, his enthusiasm is infectious.

GWG: What is distinctive about Keralan food?

Das: What we think of as Indian food in the UK derives mostly from the north of India. Kerala is a lush state in the south with amazing produce that is allowed to shine through in the cooking. I think three aspects set the cooking apart: it's very simple, it's healthier, and it uses little or no oil. The recipes tend to use a small number of ingredients and most of them are fresh. Kerala people believe that the main ingredient should take centre stage and should be enhanced rather than smothered by lots of other flavours. The dishes don't require long heavy cooking, and the flavours are built up in layers - different ingredients are added at different times in the cooking processto provide grace notes.

GWG: What are the main ingredients used?

Das: Ginger, curry leaves, tamarind and coconut crop up in a lot of recipes, in different proportions and combinations, so no single flavour dominates.

GWG: You trained as an accountant, so what inspired you to turn to cooking?

Das: I started cooking when I was very small, helping my mother. Dad realised she spent a lot of time cooking and she needed help, so we all worked as a team. This was quite unusual, as Indian men don't usually help with the cooking. As it was so much a part of family life, she enjoyed experimenting and we spurred her on to innovate.

My father had a restaurant when I was born and I enjoyed working with him, but in India nobody aspires to be a chef; it just doesn't command respect. So my family encouraged me to study accountancy and marketing, but food was my destiny. I moved to Delhi and started working as an accountant but kept falling asleep on the job. I was fired twice! I started working for a friend, serving tea in the street - this was just one stop up from begging but I enjoyed it. I went for a job as a computer salesman, but had to admit I knew nothing about computers. The man interviewing me liked me though, and asked me more about my background. He recognised my passion when I spoke about food and he immediately offered me a job in a hotel restaurant he owned, as a greeter. There wasn't really such a job but he reconised that enthusiasm is infectious and customers responded well. That's where I learned that food and hospitality are inextricably linked. Within a year I was running the show. It felt absolutely rights.

GWG: Did you have the idea of opening a restaurant when you arrived in England?

Das: Not really. When I arrived in 1989 I took various menial jobs, and drifted into being a waiter in an Indian restaurant in north London. It sounds melodramatic, but that's when I realised what my dream was. I felt it could be done so much better and I wanted to share the kind of food I'd enjoyed at home. There, the enjoyment of food is so bound up with relationships and a sense of hospitality. Your mother's food always tastes the best because you know it's made and served with love, in a convivial way. I believed those values could be applied in a commercial setting. I studied the market and worked out what I had to contribute. I married Alison in 1993, and she encouraged me to realise my dream.

GWG: Was it difficult to establish a restaurant offering an unfamiliar style of cooking?

Das: At first yes. People are loyal to their favourite 'brands' and need to be persuaded to try something new. But we were very lucky. We hadcustomers who followed from the restaurant I'd worked at before, and there's a constituency of open-minded people in Stoke Newington! Our approach was very personal: in a 40 seater restaurant you can build a relationship with everyone, and it was very important to me to tell them about Kerala, and help them understand the food, and to get feedback from the customers. One night I had a 40 minute conversation with Fay Maschler, but I didn't know who she was. I hadn't understood the importance of critics in this country. Guy Diamond was another customer who had become a friend before I realised that he was a food writer. People returned regularly and word soon spread.

In 1995 I organised our first Kerala harvest festival, where a the food was served on banana leaves, as it is at home, and with traditional music and dance. It gave local people a chance to experience the food in its cultural context and people were charmed - there's a great thirst for more knowledge. We won our first Time Out award that year as well, and we've never been quiet since!

GWG: Did you have to make many compromises to fit your recipes to local ingredients and palates?

Das: In Kerala there are over 300 types of banana, each with it's own uses. Obviously we don't have that choice here. But plantains and green bananas are available and you work with what you've got. Some unusual vegetable like drumstick and snake gourd are available here and are popular additions to our menus. I've also adapted dishes to take advantage of the best local produce - I was fascinated by broccoli when I first ate it and tried lots of ways of combining it with Keralan spices.

I haven't really compromised on taste. Dishes should have spiciness but not be overpowered with chillies. It should be subtle. Most Indian people don't like very hot food, but I'm sometimes asked to make a dish hotter - there's a macho Vindaloo-eating element - but the the amount of chilli used should be determined by the nature of the dish. The chef needs to use his judgement. That's what makes each dish unique.

GWG: How would you describe your relationship to tradition?

Das: Oh, it's very important to me. I feel I'm keeping alive the traditions that nourished my own early enthsuiasm. But Keralans are very innovative, so although I'm using traditional techniques I'm inventing all the time, but always within the recognisable boundaries. The 'new wave' of Indian chefs sometimes seem to be running to fuse the culture with other influences, and the results are not always successful. You lose what is distinctive. I believe that the traditional can be as exciting as the new, so instead of running forward, I delve deeper into the past. When I go back I talk to the old people and learn new recipes. They have more ideas and great insight into Indian traditions, particularly the importance of medical balance in cooking. It goes beyond the basics of nutrition, treating the body by adjusting the elements in a dish, particular in the use of herbs and plants. There are so many different combinations of taste and balance. In India though, many of the traditions are dying. Ironically I'm now being asked to reimport authentic Kerala cooking back to Kerala!

GWG: Your new book is full of vibrant colours, and so are your restaurants. Are the visual aspects important when you're devising recipes?

Das: It's almost as important as taste! Food is a sensual celebration in India: it's all about colour, smells, texture, even sound - the music, conversation, the crunch of food. It's part of the big ritual of taking time to cook, and enjoy the food, and thinking about pleasing the guest. The guest is equivalent to god, so the preparations for a guest are always elaborate, even in a humble home, because food is more than just sustenance. It's a life force.

GWG: You've got four restaurants now, and you've published two books. What's the next part of the dream?

Das: I want to recreate the Indian street food I remember from my childhood. Snacks were very popular when I was a child, but they're not served in restaurants any more. I want to revive that tradition, providing a more wholesome alternative to 'fast food', and make people passionate about it by gving them the variety. I want them to smile when they bite into their lunch. I want to change the way people eat!

To try some of Das's recipes, click below:






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