Catherine Clearyon real Indian food, from the kitchen at award-winning restaurant Rasam
Tikka masala, korma and rogan josh were all that the average Irish Indian restaurant had to offer when Nisheeth Tak arrived here in March 1990. These dishes had more to do with the curry houses of London than real cooking in his home city of Mumbai. Coming from a background in the five-star hotels of India, Tak wanted to bring better Indian cuisine to Dublin.
"Around 1995 the type of Indian cooking on offer in Dublin changed and you had the food that is now considered top-end like Rasam, Jaipur and Vermillion happening. It means that today you have Michelin-star quality Indian food. I'm absolutely sure that an Irish Indian restaurant will be awarded a Michelin star soon," he says. "There are three Michelin-starred Indian restaurants in London and our chefs have the same qualifications." The difference between London and Dublin is the work permit system, Tak believes. Although they could open for lunch in Rasam, they are only allocated four permits per restaurant. As a result it would be too difficult to maintain standards for both lunch and dinner.
Tak met his wife Anna when they worked together in his first job in Ireland. They have two daughters and the family enjoys simple food at home. "I eat early in the evening, usually around 5.30pm, and meat is a side dish with vegetables as the main dish."
One of the secrets of good Indian cooking is roasting and mixing spices from scratch rather than working from pre-mixed packets. Rasam sells spices prepared in their kitchen to customers in the restaurant, and these spices are also available at 64 Wines, opposite the restaurant on Glasthule road.