CHENNAI: Cooking is often a very mainstream thing when you work in the hospitality business. But even after all these years, Chef Najma Mubarak from Myanmar who spent a while in the city - handling the Burmese Food Festival at The Residency Towers, told us that her cooking is very close to her because most of the recipes were her mother’s. Excerpts from a conversation about our city with an outstation chcf.
What is Burmese food all about?
Generally Burmese food is all about seafood. Personally, Burmese food is all about childhood memories of growing up with my mother’s traditional preparations. My mother’s Khow suey and Mohinga are still my favourites and now they are favourites of my children too.
Other nostalgic dishes are Bala chaun, Prawn sebian and of course Suno miki, a Burmese dessert made with coconut milk. I also have a strong preference for seafood and noodle based items. In Myanmar, we consume lots of seafood and most of the food items are prepared out of fish sauce or fish paste.
Spices used commonly are fried onion, fried garlic and red chili powder. A lot of Burmese food is noodle based - be it for main course, soup or snacks.
How do you find the city?
More modern and developed compared to my city. More people are educated here and very friendly too. I feel welcome here.
What about the food that we have in the city?
I feel South Indian food is very tasty and healthy and also familiar in many ways as Burmese cuisine has a lot of Indian influence. I find lots similarities between – Napio jo and kerala’s banana fritter, Indian samosa and Burmese samosa, Baya joand vada. In Chennai, I love digging into masala dosas. I also love the spread at Peshawari, ITC Grand Chola.
If people here want to try making Burmese food, what is the most important thing that they have to keep in mind?
Focus on authentic spices as they will give you an authentic Burmese taste.
The spices you get in Chennai is different from what we get in Burma. For the recent Burmese food festival at The Residency Towers, the spices were brought in from Burma. Also use groundnut oil to get the local flavor.
What do you like the most in the city?
The beaches of course. And I like the chat in Chennai. I love eating all chat items and they are very tasty and crunchy. The best of all are bhel puri and dahi puri.
What does being a chef mean to you?
It means a lot as it gives me great self-satisfaction when people appreciate my cooking. And since most of my recipes are from my Mother it is very personal and special to me.