Ahāra appeals with modern Indian flavours  

AHĀRA IS A UNIQUE NEW restaurant that joins the slew of vibrant restaurants in the Keong Saik Road dining enclave. Chef-owner Vikramjit Roy is the maestro behind the contemporary menu. The name, Ahāra, is derived from the Sanskrit word used in ancient Ayurvedic philosophy to define food as the root of all wellbeing. Officially opened on Nov 29, this intimate 32-seater restaurant located at 20 Teck Lim Road welcomes diners to revel in the diversity of India’s food cultures and flavours. 

Creative possibilities

Chef Roy is widely acclaimed as one of India’s culinary trailblazers for developing and elevating progressive Asian cuisine in the subcontinent.  

For more than two decades, he’s worked with the country’s top luxury hotel groups including The Oberoi Group, Taj Hotels and ITC Hotels. The chef also led iconic restaurants Pan Asian in Chennai and Tian in New Delhi under ITC Hotels.

His culinary outlook is shaped by his culinary journey in Tokyo. At 22, Roy spent his first eight months washing dishes in order to earn himself the opportunity to work as a sushi chef at Yamazato, the lauded fine dining Japanese restaurant at The Okura Tokyo. At that point, Roy was the only non-Japanese working in the establishment. This was where Japanese Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto discovered the Kolkata-born chef. 

Roy spent five years from 2006 working alongside his mentor, Morimoto, playing pivotal roles in the celebrity chef’s cutting-edge establishments in New York and Napa Valley, as well as India.

Subsequently, the chef left for the UK to acquire more culinary expertise. He had a valuable three-month stint with Heston Blumenthal’s research and development team in Bray.  There, he delved into the exploration of food science and was given the opportunity to create concepts that he was culturally close to. Further into his career, he also gained more understanding of standalone restaurants and how they operated. “I came from humble beginnings, and I had the privilege of learning from some of the world’s best chefs. I wanted to bring all my experience into Ahāra,” says the 39-year-old chef.

To devise Ahāra’s menus, Roy embarked on his research nearly two years ago with a team of three. They journeyed to different regions across India, delving deep into food cultures, recipes, ingredients, rituals and traditions. 

The outcome of this extended endeavour is what guests in Singapore will get to experience: India’s rich diverse history, culture, traditions and creative arts kept relevant to a cosmopolitan, global audience.

“I am creating and serving contemporary Indian cuisine that reflects India today. It is my reimagination of Indian cuisine that is not bound by geography,” chef Roy explains.

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Inventive plates 

Ahāra’s one-of-a-kind menus focus on balanced Indian flavours. Guests can experience a range of signatures in the nine-course Explore (S$248++) or 16-course Expedition (S$338++) menus.

The meal kicks off with a series of snacks such as Hay Smoked Oysters with Sol Kadhi. This creation is inspired by sol kadhi, a refreshing digestive popular in India’s coastal regions. The chef marinates raw oysters from Kumamoto in fresh curry leaf and herb oil, and lightly smokes them with hay. He then laces the oysters with sol kadhi made with sourish kokum and spices like roasted cumin and fresh coriander before topping them with onion relish.

Other snacks include Duck & Foie Tikki Chaat, composed of foie gras, saikyo miso, yoghurt, and chutney. And Potato and Truffle, an achari masala yoghurt potato stack topped with truffled potato mousse and shaved fresh black truffles.

Next is Ahāra’s Bread Course of caramelised onion pao and smoked Edam cheese pao  accompanied by a nihari gravy (from a rich, slow-cooked stew), Goan chorizo dip and homemade herb butter.

The meal progresses with a light appetiser of Hokkaido scallops. The delicate shellfish is expertly compressed with aromatic shiso leaves and alternated with textured scallops embellished with shiny gold varq (edible gold leaf). The plump scallops rest on a mash of aloo gobhi (potato and cauliflower) served with pickled cauliflower florets. The dish is finished with a sauce of Madra curry made with almond and curd, and topped with glistening briny ikura.

Diners also get to indulge in Ahāra’s beautifully plated Caviar Course. Glistening caviar is paired with Rajasthani buckwheat khichdi, hazelnut emulsion, and puffed buckwheat for some textural contrast.

The Grandeur course features a sublime atta chicken – a whole marinated chicken is encased in intricately decorated wholewheat dough and slowly baked in the tandoor. The succulent poultry is served with an array of accompaniments including dal makhni cooked over the tandoor for over 18 hours, four textures of spinach in the lehsuni palak, a selection of kulchette, roasted onion pulao, lemon and green chilli compressed shallots and walnut raita.

Sophisticated setting

Guests will make their way into the restaurant via a narrow gold and grey lime wash entryway lined with black fluted panelled walls. Artist Parul Gupta’s sculptural works reflect the gold and light, creating the sense of entering a stylish private residence. This opens into an intimate main dining room decked in plush materials, colours, fabrics and art. 

Simran Kotak, founder of Ahāra, says that the restaurant is a product of their deep rethinking of what it means to have an elegant, unhurried, slow food restaurant that truly represents the depth and sophistication of Indian cuisine. “We have juxtaposed this with an equally thoughtful curation of art from the Indian Subcontinent for a discerning Singaporean and global audience.”

The restaurant’s interior is adorned with contemporary artworks by artists from India. The pieces are from the art collection of The Eight Foundation established by Simran and her partner Vir Kotak. You’ll also notice repurposed fabric sculptures by iconoclastic designer Kallol Datta suspended from the ceiling.

Diners in Singapore will undoubtedly leave Ahāra satiated after a sublime meal of well-thought-out flavours, coupled with a warm atmosphere and gracious hospitality. 20 Teck Lim Road, Singapore 088391. Tel: 9726 9720. For more information, visit www.ahara.sg