
Atul Kochhar Sees Curry as Vessel for Cultural Exchange
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Atul Kochhar treats curry with care. Instead of confining it to oversimplified variations of green, red, or yellow, the celebrated chef and restaurateur, who was born in Jharkhand, India, considers the dish’s ingredients as a basis for experimentation and cultural exchange. For Kochhar, this approach to curry is part of a decades-long effort to transform how Westerners think about and experience Indian cuisine—particularly those in the United Kingdom, where he moved in 1994 to open his Michelin-starred restaurant Tamarind in London, followed by the Michelin-starred Benares and award-winning restaurants in Ireland, Dubai, and Spain. His signature fusion of classic Indian foods with traditional culinary techniques from around the world is appetizingly apparent in his upcoming cookbook, Curry Everyday: Over 100 Simple Vegetarian Recipes From Jaipur to Japan (Bloomsbury), out this month.