As the chef behind Pickle, one of Dublin's most beloved and revered dining spots, not to mention Tiffin in Greystones and Street in Clonskeagh, Sunil Ghai has become a figurehead for authentic, accessible and delicious Indian food in Ireland.
From Punjab originally, Ghai moved to Ireland in 200 and made his mark working to expand the Jaipur restaurant group and Ananda in Dundrum alongside restauranteur Asheesh Dewan.
Ghai was named best chef in Ireland by Food & Wine magazine in 2009 and again in 2013, and cemented his position with the opening of Pickle in 2016, his first solo restaurant.
Now, with Spice Box, he has achieved another first with a move into cookbooks, bringing recipes inspired by his mother Mohini.
We caught up with the chef to discuss his favourite childhood recipes, the few Indian spices every budding chef needs, and his take on adjusting spice levels for less adventurous palettes, and whether that changes the recipes.
What inspired you to take your recipes and turn them into a cookbook?
As you know food is my passion and I learnt my food from my mother so the journey started from home seeing my mom cooking for whole the family and enjoying it so much. She was kind of sharing her passion with all of us and this thing just took place in my heart. When I began in the food industry and started cooking, I got so much happiness in sharing my learning with all my guests by serving them food.
I was chatting to Darina Allen and she suggested I write a cookbook so I thought, why not? It has given me chance to share my recipes and tips for the home cooks out there who may be afraid of cooking Indian food. There's a perception that to cook Indian food you need 30 or 40 spices, which is not true! In Spice Box I use a few spices that really easy to find and easy to use .
Tell me about your favourite recipes growing up, and how that informed how you cook?
There are so many of them, I adore potato cakes (aloo tikki), there are so many flavours and as you eat it, you get them one by one. The best thing about street food are the bold flavours, and authentic, fresh, textures. That is what I try to re-create in my restaurants.
Indian food is incredibly popular, but it can feel intimidating to capture the depth of authentic Indian dishes at home. What are your tips for this?
I have definitely noticed the rise in popularity of Indian food recently. I think the whole food scene in Ireland has changed in the last 10 years or so and it feels great to see it! The best way to capture the depth of Indian dishes is to keep it simple and use basic spices like turmeric, cumin, red chilli, bay leaf and coriander. And sorry to shamelessly plug my book here but Spice Box really does simplify Indian cooking, I’ve given loads of tips in each recipe and you’ll come away feeling very confident! As Darina said, 'If you can cook a Bolognese sauce, you can cook a curry!’
Pickle has continued to be one of the most popular and highly regarded restaurants in Dublin since opening in 2016. What do you think is behind its success?
Consistency! The only thing that keeps a business going is consistency. That’s what we tried to create in Pickle. The team works very hard to put a smile on and satisfy our guests. Our food is authentic, fresh and I always believe in keeping it real, we use the best ingredients we can get our hands on. Pickle is real!
What is your opinion on adapting spice levels in Indian food, do you lose or gain anything in doing so?
The Spice Box cookbook that we have done just now, that is modified Indian cuisine for people home. We have modified everything, simplified everything for people to cook at home. If you even see the butter chicken on the recipe, it is as authentic as possible, but it is still simplified for people to cook at home. We didn't use some of the spices which are not available in the market.
In the restaurant we serve dishes as authentic as possible, unless somebody wants it their way. If somebody wants it mild, we can do mild. Some people are crazy. Some people want very hot. So we do add chilies into that. Whether it is tasting nice or not, they don't want to know. They just want chilies, chilies, chilies! There's a thing called phaal in UK, it's a term that means very hot. I have never heard those kind of terms before. But people do, especially people that travelling from UK, they will ask you, can you do me a phaal curry?
What would you recommend as a starter recipe for people who want to learn how to cook Indian food at home?
The best place to start is with ingredients you feel comfortable using, something like lentils, a simple chicken curry, cumin potatoes or rice. You’re using base ingredients that you have used plenty of times before but the flavouring and the way you cook them will be slightly different.
Spice Box: Easy, Everyday Indian Food by Sunil Ghai is available now from Penguin.
