We were thrilled to hear from Anjan Mitra who shared just how inspired he and his Executive Chef, Arun Gupta were by their recent journey with us to Kerala, India. So inspired were they, that they have adapted their spring menu at their two San Francisco restaurants DOSA SF, to reflect the home-cooked tastes they experienced in India. Here they reflect on their journey and share some insights in to their Nanda Journeys, Kerala inspired menu! Thank you Anjan and Arun, we look forward to our next journey together and of course your new menu!
The best dishes you can eat are definitely the home-cooked meals prepared in India that reflect the cuisine of the respective regions, the influences of their community, while using fresh, local ingredients in family recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation. Many of these dishes never make their way to the restaurants in India, let alone the U.S. or London (which is certainly a hot spot for great Indian food).
Consider the rich diversity of delicious recipes prepared everyday by countless families in a country of 1.3 billion people and you realize that we have barely scratched the surface! 🙂
For this reason, Executive Chef Arun Gupta took a two-week culinary trip to India tocook with several families and local chefs in Kerala, along the West coast of Southern India. This picturesque region has forty-four rivers that flow from the Western Ghats, and gently meander into the Arabian Sea to create a dense network of waterways known as the Backwaters; a picturesque ecosystem that defines not just the flora and fauna, but the lifestyle of the local people. You will see miles of rice paddy fields, millions of coconut palms and thousands of fishing nets all across this thriving landscape. The climate, topography and soil also makes it the spice capital in a land of many spices!
In addition to eating a various spots every day, Chef Arun Gupta explored the Spice plantations of Periyar and Kumarakom, enjoyed delicious family meals at the Home Stays of the Philipkutty’s Spice Plantation and the Kalaketty Rubber Plantation Estate. This region has a relatively significant presence of Christians and Muslims who define their own non-vegetarian culinary styles with dishes such as Fish cooked in banana leaves, Mutton Biryani and Beef Chile Fry.
Many of these local dishes are currently on our Spring Tasting Menu at DOSA on Fillmore which includes different dishes that are prepared to be shared family-style, and start with light bites and a delicious spice-driven salads. We promise it will transport you to this wonderful region of Southern India without being over indulgent. Or you can opt for our a la carte dishes like the Phillipkutty ChickenCurry (the best one we’ve done to date), Lake Kochi Grilled Prawns, Asparagus Avial, Kerala Fish Fry or even the PeriyarCurried Pork, which is only served at the DOSA on Valencia menu. Of course, some ingredients change daily depending on what’s available at our local farmer’s markets in San Francisco.
We are exploring hyper-regional and obscure dishesfrom India that we love, but are unfamiliar to most people in the West! We might not serve what people are commonly familiar with in the U.S., however, we deeply respect traditional Indian recipes, techniques and spices, to create dishes that use seasonal and local ingredients. We are excited to help you explore this richly diverse cuisine that varies from region-to-region, city-to-city, and often household-to-household.
Excellent global partnerships are integral at Nanda Journeys and enable us to create our unique and immersive journeys. To be successful in the travel industry, you must surround yourself with a team who strives for excellence and has an eye for detail. We truly believe our global partners are just the right addition to our team. Through these collaborations, we develop our customized journeys that ensure a unique and rewarding educational program. As you may know, Nanda Journeys sells more than just cookie cutter sightseeing tours. We prefer to focus our trips to include an immersive, career enriching experience, allowing professionals the opportunity to engage in site visits and roundtable discussions with their overseas counterparts.
For the last 20 years, we have been collaborating with our South African global partner headquartered in Cape Town. They are a passionate South African team with a deep love for their country and, through programs like ours, they have the chance to showcase all Southern Africa has to offer. Nanda Journeys counts on industry experts in their team and values the friendships that are built by working closely with them. Our mutual passion for international travel, along with the ultimate goal of providing a unique journey, cements those bonds. The opportunity to visit their country and spend time training with their team is one I will never forget. I have fond memories of driving from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park with their managing director. She shared her passion for her home country with me, leaving an impression of not only the diversity of the flora and fauna but an appreciation for the rich culture, history and people themselves.
Our global partner in Tanzania focuses specifically on inbound travel to Tanzania. Their knowledge and passion for their country really shines through and their dedicated staff are truly unique. The teachers and music enthusiasts enrolled on our Music Education Journey to Tanzania will be spending time at the School of St. Jude this coming July. They are a non-governmental organization (NGO) I had the pleasure of visiting a few years back and one that we continue to support with each new journey that visits their lovely country. The school is dedicated to providing innovative educational services to the most disadvantaged children of Arusha and you can really see the love for the children and country the staff have. Our upcoming group will explore the education system in Tanzania and take part in various school activities like joining in a music and art class with the children. We are passionate at Nanda Journeys about giving back and proud to support organizations like this one, who is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of the children living in poverty. I would encourage you to take a look at their website and learn more about their fantastic school.
Gemma Sisia, founder of the School of St. Jude, speaking with a past delegation
Lunch with the children of St. Jude
I will forever have memories of exploring Egypt guided by an incredible team of Egyptologists. They are truly experts in what they do! From bringing the history of ancient Egypt to life, to making sure every experience is not only educational but magical and fun too, they make sure each journey is an incredible experience. One of my favorite memories is visiting the Step pyramid of Djoser in the Saqqara necropolis. It is the oldest complete stone building complex known to history and was truly a marvel for its time. Djoser was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt and was in power around 2670 BCE. He is believed to be the first to build in stone. It’s amazing to have the opportunity to step back in time and just take it all in!
Learning to walk like an Egyptian from our Egyptologist
Our dear friends in India have hosted, adopted and nurtured us as if we are family. The experiences they have helped us to build over the years have been truly remarkable. Imagine, meeting the Supreme Court Justice in India, chatting with the King & Queen and Prime Minister of Bhutan, being the first western guests in a remote village in Rajasthan, dining with a family and learning how to cook true South Indian dishes. These are all experiences we have collaborated on and designed with our colleagues in India. We know, without a shadow of a doubt, that our clients will be cared for like family when traveling to India, Bhutan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar & Thailand.
We are honored to be able to deliver the programs we are so passionate about. We couldn’t do what we do without our global partners! Nanda continues to build on these relationships and to seek new partnerships each year to offer even more exciting destinations. These relationships are built based on a lot of hard work, mutual respect and trust, and dedication to a common mission. I am honored to call our global partners my friends and want to really express how much we value their professionalism, dedication and passion.
When you travel with Nanda Journeys, you can trust that you will have a wide network of industry experts putting their extensive experience to work to ensure you have a fantastic, educational and fun program! We at Nanda want to extend a big THANK YOU to our global partners. We could not do what we do without each one of you. Here is to the next 20 years!
KERALA, INDIA – A culinary journey home with Chef Arun Gupta & Restauranteur Anjan Mitra. Coconut & rice, lamb & fish and all things spice – these are the tenants of Kerala cuisine in Southern India.
At a time when Indian cuisine appears to be everywhere in the Bay Area and being recognized with accolades and Michelin stars: (August 15, Rooh & DumSF and more), I joined the team behind San Francisco’s first South Indian restaurant DOSA (opened 2006) for a one of a kind culinary adventure. Chef Arun Gupta & restauranteur Anjan Mitra embarked on a trip home to India to rediscover their culinary roots and find inspiration to place on the menus at popular DOSA restaurants in San Francisco (on Fillmore & Valencia). I had the joy of tagging along for this bucket list once in a lifetime “foodie-cation”.
“For me this journey was an opportunity to find the best of Kerala cuisine and to understand what is at its heart” said Anjan.
In one week we travelled from Mumbai to Delhi to Kerala. From the coast of Kerala where the Kerala fish curry rules and further south into the mountains to tea country and further in to Periyar, known as India’s “Spice box”. The bounty here is impressive, it’s a pantry in nature. It’s mind blowing what can be found on one farm.
“You can go into the back yard and pick and taste and smell curry leaves and cloves from a bush and pull up ginger and tumeric from the ground. Then you step into the kitchen and smell the same spices being cooked, simmering in fresh coconut oil” says Chef Arun.
Nanda Journeys cooking class with the experts
We cooked and learned with amazing chefs from the region’s resorts and with home cooks too. Each chef provided a chance to delve deeper into the roots and culture of this spice driven Indian cuisine. Chef Jerry of SPICE VILLAGE cooked “Avial” – a vegetable dish with coconut, curry leaves and turmeric. Home cook Anu Mathew cooked the Kilcutty Chicken Curry with her Mother. It was indeed one of the highlights showcasing the best of the region, an impressive embarrassment of riches from the 35 acre farm. A chicken curry made Kerala style with coconut oil & milk and all the spices the garden grows: Cloves, curry leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, fennel, cumin and allspice. Chef Arun hopes to feature this Kerela favorite on the DOSA SF menus. A dish that will represent Kerala with spices from region coupled with fresh California ingredients.
I learned a thing of two as well on this culinary adventure by Nanda Journeys. I learned that the best of Kerala’s cuisine is to be found at the homestays, the food cooked by mama or grandma, recipes passed on through the ages and each cooked with that extra portion of love and soul. Visitors who stay at these homes get an authentic Kerala experience, eating and living like a local. They also get three full tasty meals a day and will often eat with the family. The homestays are as varied as the spices that show up in Kerala dishes. One we visited was on a 100 plus acres rubber plant farm and the other on a 35 acre farm that grew it all: Bananas, coconuts, curry leaves, cloves,cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, peppers and more.
The food came from the back yard to the table and the fish from the river just feet away. The freshness of the cuisine was palpable, the flavors banging, the joy from each tasty bite expressed through the quiet as we ate and satisfying smiles from all as we finished every soulful bite on our plates.
Chef Arun on the Kerala culinary journey: “We spent 10 days in a region of India that is very connected to the land, to what they eat and what they grow. You have a people that are very proud of their culture and eager to share it and teach it. We got to experience the whole food story here in Kerela for example picking pepper corns from a tree and seeing them evolve from bright and green to a biting black and later to a bowl of prawn pepper fry.”
Kerala Backwaters cruise
Expect the flavors and spirit of Kerala to show up with a California sensibility soon on the DOSA SF menus. Perhaps Appam – the coconut flavored bread eaten with the Kilcutty Chicken Curry or a local fish cooked with Kerala spices wrapped in a banana leaf.
I cannot wait to return to Kerala for another food seeking mission but for now DOSA SF, closer to home will give me and you the opportunity for a yummy taste of Kerala. Every single Kerala dish an inviting spice party on your palate.
Enjoy my tasty “chaat” with DOSA’s Executive Chef Arun Gupta & owner Anjan Mitra. A big heartfelt thanks to them both for being my travel companions on this trip that took them to their ancestral home – India and to the heart of their native Indian cuisine.
1 medium (~4-5 striped bass gutted fileted and pinboned with the scales left ON)
—placeholder for Kerala marinade—-
1 bunch cilantro washed and dried.
1 TBSP ginger, finely grated
1TBSP garlic finely chopped
1 Jalapeño finely chopped with seeds
1 Thai chili finely chopped
2 medium ripe tomatoes (one chopped and one puréed)
3/4 cup sliced shallots
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
60 ml unsweetened coconut milk
5 of curry leaves
Salt to taste
Water as needed
Coconut oil for cooking as needed
Fish Marinade Ingredients:
1.5 cups coconut vinegar (sub white wine vinegar if coconut vinegar is not available
1 small red onion thinly sliced
8 dried red chilis
6 garlic cloves smashed
1 TBSP ginger freshly grated
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
4 cloves
1/tsp cinnamon powder
1 TBSP desiccated coconut
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients except dessicated coconut and let sit for 2 hours or up to one day.
In a small food processor purée until smooth. Fold in coconut and apply to fish. This marinade can hold for up to one week.
For the fish season well with salt and ground black pepper. Apply marinade thoroughly and let sit for an hour
Moilee Sauce Instructions:
In a medium stockpot, and heat coconut oil on medium high until oil is shimmering
Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring constantly until lightly browned.
Add jalapeno and fenugreek seeds and cook until fenugreek is lightly browned- this will help eliminate bitter flavor
Add shallots and cook, stirring constantly until shallots are golden brown, approximately 5-7 minutes
And curry leaves and continue to cook until mixture is dark brown (not burnt) actively scraping and stirring any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Approximately 5-7 minutes
Add chopped and puréed tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes or until raw flavor is gone
Combine powdered spices with 1/2 cup water and pour mixture into pot. Turn heat to low and cook 4-5 minutes
Add coconut milk and continue to cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes. If sauce looks to be getting too thick add water
Season to taste with salt and fresh lime juice
To cook the fish:
Using a gas or charcoal grill place filets on hottest part of the grill scale side down.
Cook for 5-7 minutes until fish is 80 percent cooked. Place cilantro on grill creating two separate beds for the fish filets to lie on and flip filets into cilantro.
Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes or until fish is cooked through.
The scales on the fish should tighten up and even blacken. This will help keep the fish’s moisture and also keep the fish from sticking to the grill. When the fish is cooked the flesh should flake write off the skin which should not be eaten.
Serve with Moilee sauce and rice as well as chutneys and mango pickle if desired.
(Note: if you do not have a grill you can substitute scaled filets of striped bass and bake fish in the oven wrapped in a banana leaf or aluminum foil until fish is cooked through 12-15 minutes depending on thickness)
CONTACT: DOSA on Valencia
995 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 642-3672 www.dosaSF.com
Dosa on Fillmore
1700 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 441-3672 www.dosaSF.com
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