When 25-year-old Munuswamy Gnanavelu landed on the shores of the Portuguese colony of Macao in 1978, he had little but for 250 Hong Kong dollars in his pocket, a yen for Bruce Lee movies and a hearty appetite for adventure. In the years that followed, his avatars included English teacher, sweater knitter and manual labourer. Today, 27 years after he first left the aromatic environs of his parents wholesale spice shop in Chennai, Antony Munuswamy (as he is now known), rules over a sprawling empire of 22 Indian restaurants in 10 different Chinese provinces.Indian Kitchen, as the restaurants are called, is possibly the most recognisable Indian brand in China. Munuswamy started the first Indian Kitchen in 1990 in Macao. At the time he was running a moderately successful construction company that specialised in metal fabrication and waterproofing. By then, he firmly regarded Macao as home, having married a Chinese lady in 1984 and found prosperity after weathering several bouts of near starvation and bankruptcy. However, while his appetite for adventure had certainly been sated, his longing for good, home-style Indian food remained unappeased. ‘‘I was born to eat,’’ smiles Munuswamy.The first Indian Kitchen was an instant success, with people queuing up for a table within weeks of its opening. Cooks from India put on a show every night with the chefs tossing up huge parathas, Italian pizza style, for an audience. Within the year two more Indian Kitchens opened in Macao. The only other Indian restaurant on the island, run by a Portuguese, unable to withstand the competition, quietly closed its doors.Munuswamy’s first foray into the Chinese mainland was in 1992 with a restaurant in Zhuhai city in the southern province of Guangdong. ‘‘I realised that Macao would soon be handed back to the Chinese in 1999 and that the mainland was where the future lay,’’ he recalls. What is remarkable about the Indian Kitchen is that its clientele is mainly the local Chinese. This is noteworthy because the Chinese have been cautious in embracing foreign cuisine. After setting up others in Zhongshan city and Guangdong, the restaurateur decided in 1995 to start a management company that would run future eateries on a franchise model.Under this a franchisee, once accepted by the management company, got design, training, engineering and marketing services. The Indian Kitchen Management Company then supplied the franchisee with four cooks and a manager. Additional employees hired by the franchisee were given intensive training. Today the company directly employs 250 Indians and 1,500 Chinese. Cooks and managers from India are paid around RMB 6,000 (Rs 33,000) a month and provided with shared accommodation. Munuswamy inspires fierce loyalty among his employees. Bimrao Sathish, currently Beijing branch manager, has worked for Indian Kitchen since 1998. ‘‘My boss,’’ he says, “is a man of great vision and we all trust him blindly.’’ What is remarkable about the Indian Kitchen restaurants is that the majority of them are located in provincial cities, away from the expatriate centres of Beijing and Shanghai. This means that the clientele is mainly local Chinese. This is noteworthy because though Chinese food has long been a favourite in India, the Chinese themselves have been more cautious in embracing Indian cuisine. According to Sathish who worked in Indian Kitchens in Zhongshan and Shenzhen before moving to Beijing, much has been achieved by tailoring both menu and flavours to the Chinese palate. Dishes are made creamier and less spicier. Popular main courses include beef curry and fish head korma.Success has not dampened Munuswamy’s ambitions. Having started a spice factory that manufactures curry powder and paste in 2001, he now wants to become the dominant player in the Chinese commercial spice market. Plans are afoot to open Indian Kitchens in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.In the meantime a new generation is gearing up to bridge the himalayan gap. Munuswamy’s second in command, his sister’s son, recently married a Chinese lady in Shanghai. Indian Kitchen looks set to sweeten the Middle Kingdom with gulab jamuns well into the 21st century.
