Vikram Vij

Cookbook / Indian / Seafood / Vikram Vij — View Comments
17
Feb 11

Black Cod with Vij’s Ginger Tomato Yogurt Broth

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

black cod curry
For the inaugural first official YouCook night of 2011, I decided to make something from one of my favourite recipe books of all time (and one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to): Vij’s. I had a craving for seafood and remembered the last time I was at Vij’s I had a halibut and spot prawn curry dish that was deliciously fresh and unforgettable. So flipping through the book I found a grilled sablefish in tomato-yogurt broth recipe.
black cod curry
On my trip to the grocery store, I saw a beautiful piece of Black Cod that was simply calling for me to buy it, and so I did. I didn’t exactly follow any steps in the recipe to prepare the fish but did stick to the broth as mentioned in the book. Instead of the tomato broth, I used Ming’s home-made tomato sauce. As for the grilled sablefish called for in the recipe, I marinated with a similar mix of spices but pan fried the black cod instead. To be honest, I made a whole bunch of mistakes not following the recipe, not marinating it for the 3-4 hours it called for (just 1-2 hours in my case) but it was seriously one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in a long time. The ginger, tomato, yogurt broth really complimented the fish like nothing I’ve ever tasted before. Really, everytime I eat at Vij’s or now cook from the cookbook, I fall in love with Vikram and Meeru all over again – they are really culinary geniuses when coming up with these recipes.

Summary

Preparation Time: 10 min for the fish before leaving it to marinate.
Servings: 3-4
Meal type: Main
Cost: ~$40.

Recipe Rating: ★★★★★ 

Ingredients for the fish

black cod curry

  • 2 lbs of black cod cut into 2 inch x 3 inch pieces ($30) – original recipe calls for 1lb 5 oz sablefish. Cutting them into chunks really helped reduce the cooking time and let the fish cook evenly.
    black cod curry
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt – I find usually reduce a lot of Vij’s recipe for salt, so its up to your tastes
  • 1/2 teaspoon of paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala – I used just a bulk brand of this. Actually, the recipe didn’t call for this in the fish but I screwed up while reading the curry instructions and added the garam masala anyways.

Instructions for fish

I’m going to stick to what I did with the black cod, if you’re curious about how to prepare sablefish, you should buy the elegant and inspired Vij’s book.
1. Mix oil, cayenne, salt and patrika in a mixing bowl.
black cod curry
2. Add the fish and mix well, making sure the black cod is well covered in the marinade.
black cod curry
Actually, I ended up cutting the fish into pieces after marinating because it took me a while to accept that I was going to cut up that perfect looking piece of black cod.
black cod curry
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap an refrigerate for 3-4 hours. I did it for an hour and feel that like was sufficient to bring out the flavours.
4. I went on to making the tomato-yogurt broth while waiting.
5. Lightly coat the black cod in flour.
(Keeping in mind that this is still winter with no access to a BBQ, pan frying was the next best thing. )
black cod curry
6. I put a pan and oil on medium heat. When it’s hot, add the pieces of fish.
black cod curry
I split it up into 3 rounds of fish so that I could pay attention to their cooking time. It doesn’t take too long to cook, you can tell when the fish is done when you press into it with a fork and it flakes off easily.
black cod curry
The texture changes from slimy/squishy into flakey. You also don’t want to over cook it.
black cod curry
7. As soon as it’s ready, cover with sauce and serve with basmati rice. I didn’t get a chance to get naan but that would taste delicious too.
black cod curry

Ingredients for the curry

  • 1 cup plain yogurt, stirred (4% milkfat is recommended, I could only find 3%) ($3)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon of garam masala
  • 1/2 tablespoon of salt – again I can’t let myself put that much salt
  • 2 teaspoon of paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 1/2 tablespoon of chopped garlic – this was one whole garlic
  • 3 tablespoon of finely chopped ginger
  • 2 1/2 cups of tomato broth – we used 3/4 jar of home bottled tomato sauce

Instructions for the curry

1. Mix yogurt, garam masala, salt, paprika and cayenne in a bowl.
black cod curry
2. Chop garlic and ginger.
black cod curry
Oh and here’s a trick I learned from Youtube of how to peel the ginger skin – just use a metal spoon and scrape off the ginger skin, it comes off easily.
black cod curry
3. In a pot, heat oil on medium heat and saute garlic until golden brown.
black cod curry
4. Add ginger and saute for 1 more minute.
5. Add tomato broth and then yogurt mixture. Here’s where I think I screwed up because some of the yogurt curdled.
black cod curry
If you have any tips on how not to let this happen let me know. Mix well is my only advice.
6. Stir well and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes.
black cod curry
7. Serve this with the fish!

Results

black cod curry
What really makes this dish was the fresh black cod in addition to the simple combo of spices. I’m very glad about the decision to pan fry the fish as it added another element (crispiness) that you wouldn’t get when grilling. The ginger, tomato, yogurt really worked well with the fish and it was definitely a hit – we all fought over the last pieces! Add some wine, basmati rice and really it was an enjoyable meal that I’d make again.

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Cookbook / Restaurant / Vegetarian / Vikram Vij — View Comments
13
May 10

Vij’s: Jackfruit in Black Cardamom and Cumin Masala

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Curry
I love Vij’s and having recently gotten to know Vikram and Meeru through interviews, I’ve really developed a great deal of respect for them, their philosophy, their food, staff and restaurants. I was delighted to be invited to come in and cook with Vij’s kitchen staff. We made a vegetarian dish that I absolutely love ordering at Vij’s, the Jackfruit in Black Cardamom and Cumin Masala. In traditional Vietnamese cooking, Jackfruit is a fruit that’s eaten as a snack or dessert. I’ve never attempted to eat young green Jackfruit before. I learned from Vikram Vij that green jackfruit is commonly used as vegetarian meat in India. In fact, his mom used to feed it to him telling him that it was meat until he tried real meat. The texture and thickness of the green Jackfruit allows for it to absorb spices and curries quite easily.

This recipe can be found in their award winning cookbook: Vij’s Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine.

I have to admit that I have not ever shopped for so many Indian spices before. I figure now that I own the Vij’s cookbook, it was time to stock my pantry with Indian spices. I went to Safeway and Save-on-Foods bulk sections and could not find all these spices. I found a great selection of spices at Famous Foods but only found the yellow ripe jackfruit in a can here. I went over to Sunrise market and happened to find the green young jackfruit needed for the recipe.

Video

Watch how it’s done in Vij’s kitchen.

Summary

Preparation Time: 1 hour (dry the jackfruit, deep fry jackfruit)
Cook Time: 45 min
Servings: 6 servings
Cost: $29.60 – $4.93 per serving.
Meal type: Main

Recipe Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Ingredients

*Note: I’m going to include the cost of the entire packages of spice to give you an idea of how much it costs to get started in Indian cooking. The bad news is that it’s pretty expensive when all things are added up. The good news is that these spices will be required in many Indian dishes.

  • 3 cans of young green jackfruit – $6.09
  • 6 black cardamom pods – $1.49*
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 Tbsp cumin seeds – $2.59*
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion (1 large onion) – $0.50
  • 1 Tbsp chopped garlic – $0.10
  • 6-8 whole dried red chilies (broken in half with seeds) – $2.29*
  • 2 cups crushed tomatoes – $2.50
  • 1/2 Tbsp ground black mustard seeds – $1.69*
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek seeds – $2.29*
  • 1 tsp turmeric – $1.99*
  • 1 tsp mexican chili powder – $2.59*
  • 1 tsp paprika – $1.99
  • 1 tsp ground cumin – $1.50
  • 1/2 Tbsp ground coriander – $1.99
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 6 cups canola oil for deep frying

Preparation Instructions for Jackfruit

1. Line 2 baking trays with dry tea towels.
2. Place jackfruit on the tea towels for 30 minutes to drain.
Jackfruit
I drained both kinds of jackfruit (green and ripe) to compare how both absorb the curry and which tastes better. If you want to stay authentic to Indian cuisine, use the young green jackfruit. I found that the ripe yellow jackfruit that I’m used to is a lot sweeter and I like it a lot but it might be too sweet for a savoury curry dish.
You can continue on to make the masala while the jackfruit is drying then return to the next step after the masala is put together.
3. The jackfruit should now be drained and ready for deep frying. Line a baking tray with paper towel.
4. Deep fry the jackfruit on high heat for 5 minutes.
Chef’s tip: You can tell if the oil is ready if you drop a small piece of jackfruit in and it immediately floats to the top.
5. Scoop out jackfruit and cool for 15 min.
jackfruit

Instructions for Masala

1. Break black cardamom pods, remove the seeds and discard the pods.
cardamom
2. Heat a pan with oil on medium-high heat for 1 minute.
3. Add cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds, cook for 3 seconds or until it sizzles.
4. Add onions and sautee for 8-10 minutes until brown.
onions
5. Add garlic and broken dried chilies and sautee for 2 minutes.
crushed dried chilies
6. Add tomatoes.
I used a can of Hunt’s Crushed Tomato and found it to be of a much thicker consistency than when we were cooking in Vij’s kitchen. It looked a lot more like a spaghetti sauce than curry so I had to stir and add in a cup of water before it looked as watery as the one in the restaurant. This is in addition to the water called for in this recipe to be added in step #10. There’s probably another brand of crushed tomatoes that is not so thick.
7. Add the rest of the spices: black mustard seeds, turmeric, mexican chili powder, paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander and salt.
Spices
8. Stir well and reduce to medium heat.
9. Stir regularly for 10 min until oil separates and masala glistens.
10. Stir in water.
11. Turn off heat and cover the pan.
12. Stir jackfruit into masala gently so that the pieces do not break.
jackfruit masala
13. Turn the heat back to medium.
14. Once the masala is boiled, mix and reduce the heat to medium low.
15. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes and remove the lid to avoid over cooking it.
16. Serve immediately.

Results

jackfruit in cumin masala

I remember having this dish for the first time at Vij’s and our whole table argued if it was pork or beef or jackfruit. This is definitely a great (and healthy) substitute for meat which does not taste like tofu. I think that if I had more time, I would soak the jackfruit in the curry for 30 min before serving to get it to absorb more curry flavour. Both kinds of jackfruit tasted really good in the dish. We served the dish with basmati rice and naan. It was a hit – between the 5 of us, we finished off the entire pan of jackfruit masala.

I will definitely try to make other curries with jackfruit instead of meat. I’m so happy that I have all the spices now which provide a good basis for more Indian dishes to come!

Thank you so much Vij’s for all your help.

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Restaurant / Seafood / Vikram Vij — View Comments
7
May 10

Vij’s::Prawns in Coconut Masala

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

I live in Toronto and while I’ve never been to Vij’s in Vancouver, I had heard a lot about it from my friends in Vancouver. It is consistently ranked as the top restaurant in Vancouver. So I decided that since I couldn’t easily go there myself, I could do the next best thing – bring Vij’s into my home by cooking his recipe. I chose the Prawns in Coconut Masala recipe because I love prawns, and the simplicity of the recipe. Here’s some words of advice from Vij via the Vancouver Sun: “This can be served as an appetizer or as part of a meal with naan or rice. You can substitute canola oil for ghee, but you’ll lose some of the flavour. The recipe follows a French style of cooking, where the prawns are cooked with the sauce.” I used canola oil instead of ghee because I didn’t have time, but I will definitely try ghee next time as the flavour was a bit subtle.

Summary

Preparation Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Servings: 6 servings.
Meal type: Appetizer / Main

Recipe Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Ingredients

  • 30 prawns, shelled and deveined
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons ghee or canola oil

    • Chef’s Tip: You can substitute canola oil for ghee, but you’ll lose some of the flavour. I used canola oil. See below for the recipe for ghee.

  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 3 large ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons coconut milk, stirred
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons chopped green chilies
  • 3 bunches green onions, white and green parts, chopped

Instructions

1. Place prawns in a colander and rinse under cold water. Allow excess water to drain. In a bowl, combine prawns and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in the refrigerator while you are making the coconut masala.
2. In a large frying pan, melt ghee on medium-high heat (or heat oil for 1 minute). Add cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle for 30 seconds.

3. Add onions and saute 5 to 8 minutes, or until dark brown but not burned.

4. Stir in tomatoes, coconut milk, vinegar, chilies and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until tomatoes are cooked through. Add green onions and stir well.
5. Add prawns, stirring constantly, until they become pinkish orange. This will take about 3 minutes. Immediately remove from heat.

6. To serve, place 5 prawns on each of six small shallow plates. Top each serving with one-sixth of the coconut masala. Alternatively, divide the coconut masala evenly among six small shallow plates, then top with 5 prawns per plate.

Recipe for Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Ingredients

  • 1 pound unsalted butter

Instructions
1. Melt butter in small, heavy pot on medium heat. Once melted, reduce the heat slightly and boil gently for 5 minutes.
2. Using a small sieve, scoop out the solids that are floating on top. Continue gently boiling butter and scooping the floating solids every 3 minutes. Scoop carefully so you remove only the solids and not the actual ghee that is forming. You will notice the butter changes slowly from a creamy light yellow to a clear golden liquid with fewer solids.
3. After 10 to 13 minutes, the ghee will start to foam. Using the sieve, scoop through the foam to make sure you have removed all of the solids. Once the foam reduces, you will have a clear golden liquid. This is ghee. Turn off the heat and allow ghee to cook for abut 20 minutes.
4. Pour ghee into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Once it is completely cool, refrigerate. It will keep refrigerated in an air-tight container for 3 months (or longer).

Variations

I liked this a lot for shrimp, but I could see this working with other types of seafood too, such as white fish and scallops. I actually found this recipe similar to Caju’s Moqueca Stew.

Results


The Prawns in Coconut Masala was very good, but I found the flavours a bit too subtle when served with rice. I usually like very strong flavours in my stews and curries when pairing them with rice since rice is so bland. I think this would be better served as an appetizer on its own. I found the recipe really easy and simple. I think next time I make this to serve with rice I may add more spices to it but it’s great as an appetizer!

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Main / Recipe / Restaurant / Side Dish / Vikram Vij — View Comments
2
Apr 10

Vij’s Lamb Popsicles

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 2.7/5 (19 votes cast)

YouCook recently visited Vij’s in Vancouver and tried the legendary Vij’s Lamb Popsicles. We got the recipe for Vij’s Lamb Popsicles and cooked it in our Test Kitchen in Toronto. These lamb popsicles have been so popular that it continues to stay on the menu year after year. Below is the photo from one of multiple Lamb Popsicle dishes that we ordered during our visit. Tell us how you plate it!

I think I’ve invented the next big home cooking trend! Do you find yourself constantly rushed for time? Wish you could prepare a fresh meal after a long day of work but just don’t have the time? Need a new culinary challenge? Well now there’s…car cooking!!

Vij’s recipe calls for two to four hours of marinating the lamb but my schedule didn’t allow me to get home to marinate the meat in time for dinner. So I rushed to the grocery store on my way to the gym, picked up the lamb and marinade ingredients, combined the two (I can’t give you the details on when and how, as some traffic laws may or may not have been broken in the process) and let the meat chill out in the car while I worked up an appetite at the gym. After an hour of aerobics class plus driving time to get home, the meat was just about ready to be grilled on the bbq.

The end result was absolutely delicious. I love melt-in-your-mouth rack of lamb and the mustard goes great with the flavour of the lamb. The cream sauce is like nothing I’ve ever tasted before – I definitely see why this is a favourite dish at Vij’s, even if they aren’t using my car cooking method. Just keep in mind to reserve this new cooking trend for cool spring evenings instead of hot summer days. Unless you’re frying eggs, maybe?

Summary

Preparation Time: 10 mins hands on plus 2-4 hours sitting time
Cook Time: 10 mins
Servings: 6 mains, or more for appetizers
Meal type: Dinner
Grocery Cost: $76.30

Recipe Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds French-cut racks of lamb, in chops ($60)
  • 1/2 cup sweet white wine ($4)
  • 1/4 cup grainy yellow mustard ($2.60)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Curry Sauce:

  • 4 cups whipping cream ($6.70)
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried green fenugreek leaves ($2)
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons canola oil
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic ($1)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric

A couple of things to note with the ingredients:

  • In the interest of not spending $60 on lamb, I used 2 lbs and mixed lamb rack with loin chops. The lamb racks tasted better, but the loins were much cheaper (approx. $10 per lb). I fed 4 people with the 2 lbs of mixed lamb.
  • This was the first time I’ve used fenugreek to cook with. Both the seeds and leaves are used in Indian cooking, but have different flavours. I couldn’t find fenugreek in the large grocery chains, so I picked it up from a Pakistani store – they call it methi.


Directions

Lamb
Combine wine, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add lamb and coat well with the marinade. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.

Sauce
1. In a large bowl, combine cream, salt, paprika, cayenne, fenugreek leaves and lemon juice.
I used the whole tablespoon of salt and I found the sauce a bit salty. A teaspoon or so would be better – or salt to taste.
2. Heat 3 to 4 tablespoons oil in a medium pot on medium heat and saute garlic until golden.
3. Stir in turmeric and cook for 1 minute.

4. Stir in the cream mixture and cook on low to medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until it is gently boiling.

To finish off
Preheat a stove-top cast iron grill or barbecue to high heat. Place lamb on the grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Serving
Serve popsicles piping hot off the grill. Depending on their size, place 4 to 5 lamb popsicles on each plate. Pour the cream curry over the meat or ladle it into a small bowl and use it as a dipping sauce for the popsicles.
I enjoy putting rice into the cream curry sauce and mixing it up after the lamb popsicles are gone.

Results

Variations

I am used to thicker curry sauces so I asked a friend how Indian cream curries are usually made. He told me his mom uses thick yogurt, like Balkan style yogurt except hers is home made, to make thick creamy curries. Traditionally it’s a mix of cream and yogurt but to make it lower in fat his mom uses all yogurt. So expect this curry sauce to be runny but delicious!

Also as I mentioned I found the sauce a bit salty, especially because I reduced it a bit in an attempt to thicken it. Next time I would use less salt, especially since it can always be added at the end.

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 2.7/5 (19 votes cast)

Vikram Vij — View Comments
1
Apr 10

Interview with Vikram Vij: Running Vij’s

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Vij and YouCook
Here is part two of our interview with Vikram Vij. We asked him about running the restaurant, how the menu is selected and what he sees for the future of fine dining Indian restaurants.

We also made Vij’s Lamb Popsicles in our test kitchen and they were DELICIOUS. Stay tuned for the recipe tomorrow.

Who creates the dishes?

Mostly my wife creates the dishes now. Maybe I have one or two dishes on the menu no more than that. She’ll make something up and ask me what I think. Then I’ll say do this to it, do that to it or don’t do anything to it, it’s perfect. It’s a very collaborative effort. It’s like a partnership for raising children. The dishes are our babies.

What should we order?

Your staff is all female and vegetarian. How do they taste the meat dishes in your menu?

They taste the sauce but never taste the meat. They’ll taste the saltiness that’s required. Usually around 12, 12:30 in the afternoon once they made the dishes I’m here or Meeru is here or Mike (one of my managers) is here. We usually taste the dishes to see if they’re perfectly flavoured. Otherwise in the evening in the kitchen I’m always tasting. I’m always improvising on the dishes.

How often does the menu change?

Every 2-3 months it changes. We left this one on for a little longer because of the Olympics. The way it works is that the oldest stuff goes but some of the staple stuff stays. The lamb popsicles and beef short ribs stay on the menu. It gives us the flexibility of people coming in and saying “Oh, we heard about the lamb popsicles” – they want that. The creativity comes from other dishes that are not lamb popsicles. If four people are sitting, they’ll order one lamb popsicle and will have 2-3 other new additions.

How was it for you to start a restaurant in Vancouver?

I started 16 years ago, in 1994. The first 3 months were tough. I opened it, cooking, served all by myself. After the 3 months and we got a good review from a food writer – we haven’t looked it back. But having said that, I’ve also worked extremely hard in making sure that I’m on the floor and taking these people’s hands and guiding them through the menu and educating them through the food.

I haven’t had the attitude – “I know what I’m doing, eat it!”. I’ve had more of an attitude of, “Hey you came to my house, I will educate you on how the food should be served and eaten.” I don’t mind going up to people and saying, “Hey why are you eating this bread with knife and fork? Use your hands”.

It’s tough though. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t want anybody to think you can just do it. 16 years have gone by. At the end of the day, I still absolutely love what I do. I get such a thrill out of cooking. I’ve not taken anything for granted. I get a little nostalgic thinking about it. I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I thought I was going to fail because the first three months was really tough for me. Now I have 2 restaurants here and my production facility.

I hear there’s a new restaurant?

I bought a piece of land on Cambie. Vij’s will move there. Rangoli will stay where it is. I’ve come up with a new concept for this restaurant (to replace the original Vij’s). I think it’s time for me to come up with newer things. It just gives me pleasure to do new things and juggling everything. I’m not the type to say “Hey I’ve done it, I’m going to sit on my lulls”. I will be at all four places – 1 hour here, 1 hour there.

I mean, if Obama can run a country at the age of 48, I’m sure I can run a small empire at the age of 45. If he can do it, so can I. That’s my motivation! I saw him last night at midnight giving a speech! It’s midnight and he was so articulate. I admire him so much. I feel like I’ve done nothing compared to what he’s achieved.

Tell us about your new facility at Cloverdale and your new line of frozen food?

The idea of the bags is that it’s home cooking. It’s like if your Mother made you delicious soup and she sent you home with it in a can and put it in the freezer, that’s exactly what we’ve done. There’s no preservatives, there’s no messing around. It’s home cooked meal by the ladies. I would want you to open it up, put it in a pan, heat it up that way instead of a microwave.

When you make pasta, you really don’t make pasta. Just for the fact that you boil pasta, makes you feel like you made the pasta. Even if you take the tomato sauce and put a few vegetables in a pan, it makes you feel like “I made the pasta”. That’s exactly what I want to do. My focus in life has been to bring the awareness of my cuisine up and bring the awareness of my culture up pretty strongly. Once you open up a pouch and put it in the pan and you taste it and you feel you can handle a little more chili or cilantro to it – you can add it. The perception in your mind is, “Oh I made it!”. That way, next time you might not buy the bag but you can buy the spices and start from scratch.

It’s a slow osmosis process of learning how to cook Indian food.

London has a $3 billion Indian food industry. Why isn’t Vancouver like this?

Well, the Indians that went to London went way earlier than the ones that came to Canada. Indians immigration to London started in the 1800s. The Indians in London are way more established than the ones in North America. As a result, the Indian food industry here has not been as strong. It will happen.

In November, I did a fun cooking show with Atul Kochhar and Vivek Singh. I must say that yes, there’s a huge Indian food industry there but there are a lot of mainstream restaurants (butter chicken, chicken tikka masala). There’s probably only 30% of these restaurants that are venturing out and pushing the limits. There’s Veera Swamy, Amaya, Benares, Rasoi – these are the restaurants that have pushed the limits. It takes time. Indian chefs have to travel and study abroad and learn French ways of cooking and incorporate these techniques with Indian flavours.

In North America, other than you, who else is doing this new style of Indian cuisine?

There’s Amaya in Toronto that’s doing similar to what I have done. My good friend Floyd Cardoz in New York at Tabla. He’s doing a great job with that. There’s a few restaurants that are coming up. It’s important for us to understand that without forgetting our cultural roots we need to expand our horizon. We need to move a little bit further. If we don’t, we’ll just be another cuisine that’s tucked under the carpet and not taken seriously.

What should you do to get Indian food to be taken seriously as a fine dining cuisine?

If you want to be taken seriously, you need to be in the playing field like the French cooking, Californian cuisine, Italian cooking. We’ve got to start thinking in their mind set. Putting it in nice stemware, making a nice roux. It’s not like your mother is cooking the curry, your sister is serving and your dad is doing the cash. Run the restaurant professionally and properly. As a customer, it doesn’t matter what comes on your plate – whether its French food or Indian food. As long as you’re getting the passion and love behind the chef and the owner. That’s how you get taken seriously.

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Vikram Vij — View Comments
26
Mar 10

Interview with Vikram Vij: Home Cooking and Health

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Vij's
We had the opportunity to spend some time with Vikram Vij, a proven Vancouver restauranteur whose restaurant, Vij’s, has become an institution in Vancouver in the past 16 years for combining French cooking styles with Indian spices. Everybody who has dined at Vij’s knows how good it is. Mark Bittman in the New York Times described it as “easily among the finest Indian restaurants in the world”. It has consistently remained on top of the Best of Yelp Restaurant list for Vancouver.

Vikram and Meeru now own Vij’s Restaurant, and Rangoli, a new line of frozen curry products in supermarkets all over Canada. There is also a new concept in the works!

We can only hope to be that successful 16 years from now.

We covered many topics but all of it revolved around the common theme of how passionate Vikram is about food: what he enjoys eating, drinking, cooking, shopping for, and presenting at his restaurants, as well as bringing awareness to his culture and cuisine.

This interview is split into three parts:

  1. Advice for home chefs and health.
  2. New Indian Cuisine and Asian Fine Dining around the world.
  3. Vij’s – All about the business – past, present and future.

What is your advice for new home chefs?

What is your favourite tool in your kitchen?

My kitchen has a big huge 10 foot long wooden chop block with little curves in it. I cut everything on it. I don’t use cutting boards. I scrape it, I cut it, I chop it. For me, it’s not a tool as such but it’s my work place.

What can’t you cook without?

I enjoy wine. I usually have a bottle of wine while I’m cooking and when I sit down and eat, we’ll have a second bottle. Maybe we don’t finish the second one but one and a half is normal.

How do you keep your restaurant food healthy?

Do you like grocery shopping?

It takes time but it’s also fun though. It’s something I did when I grew up in India. Going to the markets and buying some stuff. I still remember going out with my grandfather on the rickshaw and going to the farmers market and picking up stuff that we needed to pick up and bringing it home and then cooking it.

I don’t think of it as a chore, it’s not a big deal. You gotta do what you gotta do. It’s almost therapeutic – go to the market, looking at the vegetables, at the mushrooms. At the farmers market, I just go walk around for a couple hours just to see what’s out there.

Buy a little lamb from this guy, buy a little beef from that guy…

Do you have your own garden?

I do have a little patch of garden at home. We have Kale, herbs, carrots that grow. But not actively just because the time is not there…and it is easier to go out and buy it. I really don’t have the time – I’m pretty go go go. When I come home late at night, I’m not farming but wanting a glass of wine to chill out.

So are you involved with the UBC Farm?

Michael Pollen was here to promote Omnivore’s Dilemma and I did a cooking show with him at the UBC Farm.
Meeru maintains the dialog with UBC Farms. They tell us what’s growing and what’s happening there.

I’ve been to the UBC farm a couple times and I enjoy what they’ve done. I think it’s a great effort to bring the awareness of farming to the people on this side of the world. If you aren’t in the Fraser Valley, chances are you don’t know anything about farming so UBC does a great job in bridging the gap.

Do you share recipes?

VN:F [1.9.7_1111]
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)