The Great Indian Food Trail

Created in 1974 by Nelson Wang, 52, the star of Indo-Chinese cuisine, this tangy sauce is an ode to a part of China near Mongolia, inhabited by the Japanese, which ceased to exist post World War II.

‘‘I personally love the authentic Chinese sauces, especially steamed chicken in oyster sauce. But when I started cooking, I realised that India preferred more tangy varieties to the genuine flavours. Hence I chose to make a sauce which would be essentially Chinese but tweaked with an Indian taste,’’ says Wang.

He chose the basic chilli-garlic-ginger base, common to the Indian and Chinese palate, added soya sauce, thickened it with corn flour and garnished it with coriander.

Another Indian favourite—Butter Masala—was created 57 years ago by Kundan Lal Gujral. Owner of a small dhaba with a flamboyant name—Moti Mahal—Gujral invented the creamy orange gravy by combining tomato purée, cream and butter. Grandson Manish Gujral, 38, holds the reins of Moti Mahal Delux, today a 250-seater restaurant in New Delhi’s Greater Kailash.

Butter Masala, synonymous with North Indian cuisine, is rampantly imitated in eateries in London and New York. Some have tried innovations with the tangy gravy, combining it with succulent cubes of chicken tikka, reshmi kebabs and other delectables.

But these enhancements sidestep the dish’s simple origins. ‘‘My grandfather fled from Peshawar and took refuge in Daryaganj, on the outskirts of New Delhi, where he started his dhaba as an ode to his ex-employer. But he wanted to add something new and while experimenting with gravies, created Butter Masala,’’ says Manish.

What Butter Masala is to Delhi, Frankies are to Mumbai. The city’s most wanted snack was concocted 37 years ago by a chemical dealer, Amarjit Singh Tibb, 76.

Seeking to create a fast food chain, Tibb knew he needed a recipe tailored for the Indian palate. So juggling with the Middle Eastern pita bread, hummus and shawarmas, Tibb conceived a bread roll stuffed with curried meat. The Mutton Frankie was born.

Today, variations are available all over Mumbai. ‘‘But when my father came up with the term ‘Frankie’, he had it registered, so that there is no misuse of the item,’’ says elder son Charanjit Singh, in charge of sales and marketing for the company.

The Tibb family’s protectiveness of the trademark is understandable—the name was coined after much deliberation by the senior Tibb. ‘‘Only during a cricket match 35 years ago, when a player by the name Frank hit a great shot, did he conjure a nickname for the sportsman and came up with a name for his product,’’ says Charanjit.

Unlike the Tibbs, Wang handles his creation more lightly.

‘‘I laugh when I see a long list of Manchurian dishes at restaurants. They don’t even know that the person tasting it is the creator,’’ says Wang. He adds, laughing, ‘‘When I created it, I was very young and a true chef at heart. I didn’t even know about patenting. If I had, I’d have created many more and made lots of money.’’

Sometimes, the creator names the invention after his family. Take, for example, the Dal Qureshi. Imtiaz Qureshi, 77, master chef at ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton, Mumbai, picked this arhar dal recipe from his father.

‘‘He specially tweaked the dish for my mother by reducing the heaviness and strong essence of the pulse with some curd, and cream extracted from curd, and sautéing it in desi ghee,’’ explains Qureshi.

He says his other creations include Gucchi Biryani with morel mushrooms, Badal Jaam, a dish of deep fried brinjal slices, and the lyrically named Kurusheturush (Urdu for ‘sour chicken’).

Call it food—or poetry of a culinary kind.