BENGALURU: Indians love their chai. Even Australian chef, entrepreneur, Masterchef contestant and author Sarah Todd knows this. She has recently collaborated with Swiggy and Chai Point to curate a special Christmas menu that includes two tea-time snacks that people can devour with their next cuppa: Vada pav and a samosa with chicken keema stuffing, both served with cranberry chutney. Besides these two dishes, the menu also includes paneer/chicken rogan josh poi, a mango and coconut tart and a sticky caramel toffee pudding.
Todd says, “India is close to my heart and I love the richness and diversity of the local cuisine. I had a great time reinventing classic Indian staples like samosa and vada pav into something unique. These dishes are an attempt to infuse the festive spirit of Christmas into local fare.”
This isn’t Todd’s first tryst with India or Indian food since she has a long-standing relationship with the country, even owning two popular restaurants here: Antares (Goa) and The Wine Rack (Mumbai).
Her journey to becoming a chef, however, was accidental. “Every two years, I did something new. I’ve done modelling and learned photography and makeup but when I tried my hand at cooking, I instinctively knew this would be it. I would look forward to cooking a three-course meal even after 12-hour shifts. At the age of 24, I finally bit the bullet and decided to try cooking for a year,” she recalls.
That was in 2013. Before she knew it, one turned turned into more and Todd soon became a well-known name in the global food scene. Her restaurant in Goa, Antares, serves a mix of Australia and Indian cuisine. “I wrote the menu for Antares when I was in Australia. So when I came to Goa, I couldn’t find some of the ingredients and that’s when I realised it wouldn’t work this way. I tore up that menu and created a new one,” she says.
Opening restaurants in India also took Todd through the length and breadth of the country, from Kashmir to Chennai, but one thing she found common was the passion Indians have for food. This also helped her source ingredients for her restaurants, her favourite being kokum, local lentils and Kashmiri spinach.
Her recent trip to the city was her third visit but on each visit, Todd makes sure to try her favourite Indian dish: “Dosa! I love it. I’m going to try to grab some before I head to the airport. I know Mumbai might be the wrong place for a dosa trail but I can’t wait to do one when I go back there,” she says.
The Chai Point Christmas Special Menu is available for order on Swiggy, till December 31.