Chef Jimmy Singh spoke about taste preferences in Russia and India, restaurants and vegetarian cuisine

The history of Jimmy Singh's chain of establishments began in 2013 with the opening of the first restaurant in St. Petersburg. Today, under the Jimmy's Indian brand, there is a restaurant and several corners on the food courts of the northern capital and Krasnoyarsk. Recently, this list was replenished with the Indian cuisine corner "RaBBi" at the Moscow Market in Kazan.

Rabbi in Hindi means "master", "guru", "teacher", and the Jimmy's Indian brand is a tribute to the traditions of Indian cuisine, seasoned with modern gastronomic solutions.

- How long have you been in Russia? Why did you decide to become a chef?

- My name is Jimmy Singh, and I come from the northern Indian state of Punjab. When I was around 15 years old, I came to Russia to study at a medical institute. At first, I studied in Makhachkala, Dagestan, and then moved to St. Petersburg in 1999, where I graduated from the Mechnikov Medical University.

After that, I went to India, where I worked as a doctor for one year, but then returned and enrolled in a residency programme. However, I lost interest in studying and started working as a chef, first in Mexican cuisine and then in various Italian dishes.

- Are there significant differences in gastronomic habits between India and Russia? What are the popular dishes in each country?

- In India, people love to go to restaurants and avoid cooking at home. There are also places like stalls or small cafes that have been operating for 50 to 100 years, where a single dish is served by a single person. This dish is so popular that people travel to these places specifically to try it, regardless of their financial status.

For example, in my hometown of Chandigarh in Punjab, there is a man who prepares chickpeas with fried flatbreads, and this is his entire menu. And he doesn't have time to cook it, he only works 2-3 hours a day - who had time, he had time.

There is a place that is known for its pot. In this restaurant, they use an 1800-year-old brass pot to cook lentils, and the dish is simmered for about 48 hours. People only come for this dish.

In general, people in India love dairy products, such as yogurt. In the state where I come from, chicken dishes are popular, but not other types of meat. Seafood is also not popular, it is only available in the most famous restaurants. Vegetarian food is more popular.

- Did you manage to try Tatar cuisine?

- Not yet – I still don't know what's for sale here. Probably more meat dishes?

- Meat, potatoes, dough, mostly.

- I'm not a fan of eating meat – I rarely even eat chicken. I'm a vegetarian, but I cook everything and I can try what I cook.

- Why did you choose Kazan to open a new institution?

- My partner and I came to Kazan last year as tourists. At that time, I didn't even know what kind of city it was. And I really liked the capital of Tatarstan. We were in the summer, the weather was great, I liked the service in the local bars – then I came up with the idea that it would be nice to open my own place here.

A few days after returning from that trip, friends wrote to me with a proposal to open a corner of Indian cuisine at a new market in Kazan. It was fate. I replied, "Yes, of course, let's have a project and an offer."

- Are you planning to move to Kazan?

- I would like to open a restaurant here. I have a strong desire to do so. However, I need to receive feedback to determine whether people are interested in Indian cuisine.

- Have you visited any Indian restaurants in Kazan?

- I have not yet had the opportunity to do so, as I have been exploring other gastronomic destinations. However, I do not consider other Indian restaurants to be my competitors. I have a different approach, and I always try to change something in classic cuisine: the presentation, the ingredients. For the corner in Kazan, we chose a menu that includes traditional Indian dishes in our own interpretation. I would call it "progressive Indian cuisine." For example, we have a dish called "Shrimp with Mango Sauce," which is not a traditional Indian dish. This is an experimental dish that was well-received in St. Petersburg, so we added it to the menu in Kazan.

- Is Indian cuisine in demand in Russia?

- It depends on the region. Now, in my opinion, regular visitors to public catering are divided into two categories: some can afford to go to expensive restaurants, others eat in budget places where the average check is 300-400 rubles.

Indian cuisine was very popular in St. Petersburg from 2019 to 2022. We were located at the Vasileostrovsky Market and all this time we were in the third-fourth place in terms of revenue among all the presented institutions. Projects have been running for 5-6 years, and we continue to maintain our leading position, as we have earned a certain reputation.

- The cuisines of other Asian countries have taken root in Kazan, but there are still few Indian restaurants.

- This is familiar to us, as there were no Indian restaurants in Krasnoyarsk before our corner. When we were not yet restaurateurs, our friends would visit us and search for Indian restaurants in St. Petersburg, where there were only two or three. And they were either very expensive or tasteless. And I couldn't understand why.

In my opinion, such establishments in Russia were always opened by those who already had some kind of main business, and the restaurant was an additional source of income, for example, for Indian tourists or "for friends only."

I opened my first restaurant in St. Petersburg in 2013, and it was a speakeasy-style establishment, a secret bar that you couldn't just walk into. He worked for 8 years and was very popular. At that time, many people changed their view of Indian cuisine.

- Do you think that people in India would like Russian cuisine?

- Probably not. It's just that the cuisines are too different. I don't eat without spices, as it makes the food bland. I liked borscht in Russian cuisine, but only with chicken. I used to cook it when I worked at a restaurant, and it took two days to prepare.

I also like to make mashed potatoes from Russian cuisine, but I do it my way – with coconut milk, turmeric, and garlic. It's delicious, try it out!