Last few years saw the rise of raw greens adorning salads on restaurant menus. The watermelon and rocket or arugula salad with feta cheese and pine nuts has been a classic case in point. Making an appearance on every menu, these greens changed the way we eat out. A dose of raw, fresh and healthy was thus introduced. Moving a step further, we meet microgreens. Tiny, edible green and red leaves render colour, flavour and aesthetics to your plate. Growing these at his father’s farm in Chhattarpur, Delhi, is Achintya Anand, who holds an international restaurant management degree from Le Cordon Bleu, Adelaide, Australia. “My training at the Michelin-starred Aquavit in New York introduced me to the world of microgreens,” says Anand.
What started as a ‘food project’ on the side with his regular job on return to India, soon turned into a lucrative career opportunity when Anand took to growing microgreens. He took his produce to chefs in Delhi for a look and ended up supplying microgreens to Indian Accent, Farzi Cafe, Le Bistro Du Parc and occasionally to Olive, Mehrauli. This success came after some initial struggle. “When I received my first big order, I realised I did not have the know-how to produce the required quantity i.e. 12 boxes of microgreens. I started researching and browsed a couple of books for guidance. Websites did not help. All gardening sites abroad use technical terms that are different and my gardener would not understand what I was asking for. As a result, I took to speaking the language he understood. Gradually, I got hold of the entire situation, learnt on the job and started delivering the required produce,” says Anand. He realised documentation was the key. Soon he started labelling all plants and recorded details like time and date of sowing the seed. He also records the pH-balance of the soil, water level, amount of sunlight and air, temperature of the soil and so on, to know his plants better. “As opposed to the hydroponic mat method, I grow my greens using the more natural cocopeat method,” he explains. “All the chefs like Manish Mehrotra of Indian Accent, Jatin and Julia of Tres, Alexis of Le Bistro du Parc and Sujan Sarkar of Olive have been very encouraging, and their creative use of my produce gives me immense happiness and satisfaction,” says Anand.
While the sowing and harvesting story is one side of the picture, the other side reveals how chefs put microgreens to different uses. “These have been used for a while in restaurants to add aesthetic value to the dish,” says Anand. “They add the visual elements of colour and contrast when served as a garnish on various dishes. Restaurants are making the dining scene spectacular by using innovative ways of food presentation like using microgreens. There exist restaurants which don’t feel the need to use microgreens, which can be attributed to the fact that their food doesn’t really need these elements. They do their own style of food and have a market for that. Like, if someone gives me microgreens on my Pandara Road butter chicken, I would take that as an invitation to a battle,” he chuckles.
There are primarily two dimensions for the use of microgreens —to add aesthetic appeal and to add taste. Anand explains, “All microgreens look and taste different. Radish greens are pungent, nasturtiums leaves and flowers are very peppery, apple blossoms are red in colour and sweet and sour in taste while mustard has spicy notes. Some chefs want different-looking microgreens rather than different-tasting ones as they feel they add more visually than they do to your palate. Beet cress lends a hint of red to the plate. Basil cress would work well in pasta with red sauce. Onion or rock chives would go well with a dish like chicken tikka masala.”
While India is only seeing the rise of microgreens now, its use in the global market is common. “The style of New York street food is such that they can use microgreens, which is not the case with Indian street food. However, the usage in India has increased in recent times and will continue to increase as the consumers become more aware about microgreens,” he concludes.