HerDaughter-in-law isaTwisted Indian

Some unique and memorable names are popping up in the new Indian restaurantscene

(Note:Allnames listedhere belong to realIndian restaurants in SydneyandMelbourne)

BY RAJNIANAND LUTHRA

oveoverCurry Houses and TandooriDiners, there's a newtrendin Indianrestaurant natnes.Overthelasttwo decades,asIndianrestaurantshave mushroomedacross SydneyandMelbourne, there'sbeenaninterestingevolutionin nomenclature.

They'renolongerweighteddownby havingtoconstantlyreflecttheir native cuisine in theirna1nes.

What'sontrendinstead,is tosuggest thebusiness owner's mission.Andmost recently, togiveahintoftheirpersonality, ifsomequirkyanduniquena1nes areany indication.

Indian foodis111uchmorethancurries. Thisisan ideathat'sfinallybecoming understood, yearsafterourfavow·itechefs sloggedtoget themessageout. Howoftenhaveyousaidthis yourself?OneSydney the �i·wisted

Aunty popsup. Don'ttellauntythat their foodisproudly'unauthenticIndian'ornot sotraditional- heck, they putwhiskeyin theirchai!

It's thesamewith lsh: thefoodonofferhere restaurant putthls thoughtdirectlyin its name- Not Just Curries.

TheTwisted Indian isdoing indian is lndian-ish, modernish andallprepared withtheblessingsof lsh(war),ifyouaTe spirituallyinclined.

Andwhile exactlythat too.As itsaysitself,thefood the averageIndian eatstodayis amixof cunau: sICOCICTAILS GIICAf rc>ol> traditional andmodern, desiandglobal, andso,being twistedseemsperfectly norn1al. Twist- such aswishwordforchange,for novelty,forquirky.

Talkofquirk,andthe na1ne Don'tTell millennialsmight not getDaughter-in-law, therestofustotally do.It's atributetothe influenceofnewmembers inablendedfamily, toits foodculture. (Not to bemissed hereis theobviousextrapolation to the benefitsofimmigration).

ThenodtoIndiaanditscultul'e isloud and clearinthesewonderfullydescriptive andrne1norable names. (TheTadka isohso-Urban,don'tyoureckon?)Andnarya hintofthatubiquitoustermfor Indianfood -curry.

Havingsaidthisthough, there's one interestingrestauTant name that stillfeatures thecwordinit,butyouknowwhat, it's so esoteric thatwe'recompletelyonboardwith it: iCurry.

Itisquiteclear thatthenewIndian restaurantscene isjustasmuchaboutthe essenceof thefood,as it is about the target audience - food enthusiasts of allagesand backgrounds,hungryfornewexperiences.

The early days

Intheearlydays (readbeforethe1990s), whenIndianfoodneededtobe introduced toan unawarebutwilling-to-experiment communityofAussiediners,theeasiest optionsfornameswereas simpleas

'Flavour of' or'Taste of' India.

Comethe 1990swhen Indian food trulytookoff, and tennslike 'curry' and 'tandoor'becan1e better known,you'd pick these foryour restaurant name. ldeaUy, you'd gowith a double-word phrase: thefirstword wouldtypicallybe Curry, Spice,Tandoori orChilli. The second would be House, Hut, Corner, Palace, Diner orExpress. The combinationsand pern1utationsgaveyou a large enough variety to workwith.

And then as the lndiansthemselvesbegan to venture out to eat morefrequently,they looked for more authenticversionsoftheir cuisine than those available. And so the 'Dhaba'becan1evogue,givingus Mehrey Da Dhaba, Babe Da Dhaba, Kake Da Dhaba.

Meanwhile, mainstreamAussiesbecame curry-savvyandpicked up relevant Indian terms. When theylearnedthat'masaJa' as a spice mixisdistinctfrom 'marsala' as fortifiedwine, itwassafetoput thatinto ourrestaurantnames. Awhole newlistwas born: MyMasala, Masala Barand Grill, and howcoolis MasalaTheory?

But,eternally, itis spicethat isthe selling point in Indianfood.And sowe continue to haveThe Spice Roo1n, Spice Lounge, Spice Nation, SpicedBy Billu's. And sometimes, the numberofspicesthe restaurant probablyworkswith-likeThousand Spices, or somethingmoremodest,like 49 Spices.

Very muchlike spice mixesthemselves, permutations and combinations today continue toworkinrestaurant nomenclature,with terms like Zayka,

Rasoi, Affair, Delight,Central, Tiffin in frequent use.

Atadka boom

A recent entryinto this ntlxistheterm 'tadka',even though itisprobablyadifficult word forAussiesto understand, perhaps even say. It stands fortempering, and as a finalflou1·ish,can raise the successofa dishwith itsmultisensoryexperience.Alien to all othercuisines, itisbasicin Indian cooking. When elite Sydney restaw·ant UrbanTadka burst on to thescenein 2011,itsnameseemed bettersuited toa restaurantso1newhere i11 northern India, but thatdidn'tcome inthewayofits sustained success. Indeed, its achievements spawned a seriesofrestaurants withsimi1a1· nan1es-Turban Tadka,Tadka,ZeeraTadka, SpicyTadka,Tadka Boom,Tadka Hut, even UrbanTadkawithan extra a attheend (promptingan indignantpublicrebuttal fromthe original owners), and bizarrely, UrbanDelight,whichtellsyounothing about the nature ofthe restaurant

And asiftocounterthatlastone, Rustic Masala.

Whateverfloatsyourboat.

Thesingle ingredient

Whilewen1ayboastofthenumberofspices thatgointoourdishes, sometin1esthesingle ingredientstandsouttoour restaurateurs.

SuchasHaldi. Tamarind. TheClove. Cumin. Bayleaf. Zaaffran. Lentil. Black Pepper.

AnupmarketMelbouTne restaurant takes the cake inthiscategory,with its most non-cake-like name:Atta. Perhaps the most basicofingredientstobe found in an Indian kitchen,it iselevatedhere torepresenta classyand elegantdiningexperience. Full marks!

Location-based names

Pickingarestaurant name from alocation in India isanothereasypath tofollow. lt might (or might not) inform the styleoffood thatyou couldexpect toeat, butitallows the restamanttodescribe the historyofthe place it is nan1ed after.

Sowe have DelhiO' Delhi, Delhi Rocks, Oh Calcutta, Mumbai, LastTrain to Bombay, Roadto Goa, Chennai and Hyderabad House.

Slightly moreexotic are Nilgiris, Tellicherry, Dakshin,Konkan,Mathma, Jaipur, Samarkhand,Ajmer, Malabar, Kochi, Koehl, Himalaya, Mount Everestand quite interestingly, BaseCamp. Ofcourse,geographyis not always limited to the subcontinent. TrySouthall. OrBrick Lane.

Ora Sydneyhotspotsuch as Barrangaroo Wharf, in Manjit'sWharf.

Owner-based names

TalkingofManjit's, anotherofSydney's leading Indianrestamants, bringsus to eponymouslynamedeateries. Billu's, Abbi's,Aki's, Surjit's,Tahira's, Meera's, Mrs Singb's.

The stereotypical vs the atypical Stereotypes,there's afewofthose.Anything to dowithTaj, forexample, or0111. Perhaps even Colonial. Orsomethingbased onpop culture, such as Jai Ho. Dawatand Handi would be similarly stereotypicalwithin the Indian community. Andyetthereare othersthatare atypical as titles, butdeeply traditional in their referenceor meaning.

Feast-related, such as Bhoj, Bhojan, even Chatkaaz.

Spiritual,such asYrindavan, Govinda's, Moksha, Kammadhenu, Nirankar.

Earthy,such as Aangan, Banyan, Bhoomi. Musical, suchas Sitar, Santoor. Majestic, such as Jai Hind, Sanu·at. Obscure, such asChichora, Jawani. Andsomethatperhaps only Indiankids ofthe '70swill relate to: Foreign Return. Horn Please.

The bizarre

In 1nost majorcitiesoftheworld,you'll find Indian restaurants na1ned, curiously, Gaylord and Woodlands. The guessis the originalswereBritish Raj era restaurants (write intousifyouhave abetter explanation).

Some namesthough, completely defy logic, butwe'rewilling to be enlightened. No. 21. Yo India. Indian Leaf. Mukka. Masti. Nashaa.

And thenthere are some thatsimply make you go, WHY?

Like Bhang. OrPagla. Or 3 Idiots. OrThe DodgyIndian - I 1nean, reaJly? Andasfor Delhi Belly, I doapologise,but it doesn'tappealtome as aneateryofany sort.

elbourne has anenergyyou'll feeljustbybeing there. From anever-changingskyline, to excellent restaurants, asmall barmovement,streetartanddynamic culturalprecincts, Melbourne is anexciting destination that'seasytoexploreonfootor bytram. Here's aguidetowhatyoucansee anddo there.

Gran architecture

Melbourne's streetsarelinedwith1nany imposingbuildings builtafterthe 1850s goldrush.Mostimpressive isCollins Street, renowned forits churches, majestic bluestonebuildings, high-end boutiques anddeluxe hotels.

Opulent arcades

Melbourne'sarcadesarestunning.The RoyalArcade dates from 1870,while the nearbyBlockArcadehas abeautifuldomed ceilinganddecorative mosaicfloortiles. While here,visittheTea Rooms thatsince 1892 has served exquisitecakesandscones.

Laneways

Melbourne'slanewaysarespreadacross thecity. Fromeleganttospraypainted withgraffiti,theyareoneofthecity'smost distinctivetouristattractions. HosierLane,a cobbledJaneway,showcasesstreetart. Less knownstreetartlanewaysinclude Platypus, RainbowandLang's Lane,while Degraves

Streetand HardwareLanearerenowned for theirbars,restaurantsandpavementcafes.

Culture

FromMelbourneMuseum,thelargest museumintheSouthernHemisphere,tothe StateLibrary,andlmtnigrationMuseum,to performancesattheArtsCentreandtheatres, MelbournehasarichcultuTa1heritage.The NationalGalleryofVictoriaisstunningand vast,showcasingAustralianandinternational art,whiletheJan PotterCentreatFederation SquareshowcasesAustralia'sfinestcollection ofIndigenousAustralianart.

Parks and gardens

Melbourneissurroundedbyseveralsplendid gardens,includingTreasury,Carltonand FitzroyGardens.AlongsidetheYarra River is BirrarungMarrParkthatmeans"riverof mist"inthelanguageofthearea'soriginal inhabitants,theWurundjeripeople. Nearby Southbank'sriversidepromenadeislined withrestaurantsandbars.

Founded in 1846 the Royal Botanic Gardens isoneoftheworld'sfinest botanicalgardens with plants fro1naround theworld.Highlightsarethe lakes, fernery and majesticpines.

Queen Victoria Market

Forover 140years stallholdershave offereda staggeringarrayoffruit, vegetablesand freshproduce,themarket asgoodasany in theworld. Visit the continental delicatessen forcheeses, small goods, cakes andbread.

Discover Melbourne's neighborhoods

Taketimeto discoverMelbourne's distinct neighborhoodsbytram. Efficient, and extensive,it'sthelargest trainnetwork in the world.

Fitzroy and Carlton Fitzroy's shopping precinct, bounded byBrunswick, Gertrude, Smith and JohnstonStreets, iswhereyou'll findretroanddesigner boutiques,bookshops,coolcafes,bars,and artgalleries. ln neighboringCarlton, the Italianheritage isespeciallyevident along Lygon Street. StopbyBrunetti's forcoffee, pizza,gelato and cakes.

SouthYarra andPrahranAwalkthrough the RoyalBotanicGardens leadstothe exclusivediningprecinct on Domain Road and nearby,bustlingChapelStreetlined withrestaurants andhighendAustralian fashion.Catchthetrambacktothe cityafter stoppingbythePrahran Markets.

StKilda VisitAcland Streetforcoffee anda slice ofrichEuropeancake, before headingtothebeachforaswim andwalk alongSt Kildapier. The best daytovisit isSundayfortheoutdoorcraft market. If you're driving,continue along the bayside suburbs tothe brightlypainted timberhuts on BrightonBeach.

Further beyond

Explorethestunninglybeautiful Mornington Peninsulaofhillsandvalleys,quaintseaside villageslikeBalnarringand Flinders,lush farmland,boutiquevineyardsandarugged oceancoastlinewithpoundingwaves. Thisis oneofVictoria'smostbeautifulregions,and myhomefortenyears.Tomaximizeyour visit,takethe Flinders hinterlandscenicdrive andconsideranovernightstay.Drivebysurf beachesincludingPointLeoandGunnc11natta, visitfarmsforfreshfruit,especially strawberries,samplewineatcellardoors,and dineatoneofthemanyrenownedrestaurants suchasPointLeoEstatewithastunning sculpturegarden.Themostenjoyableway toexperiencethebeautifulforestsandfern gulliesoftheDandenongRangesistotakea rideonthehistoricPuffingBillystean1train fromBelgrave,onehoureastofthecity. Therearealsomanyquaintvillagestoexplore includingSassafras,OlindaandTecoma,with cafes,artgalleriesandcraftstores.

NorthofMelbourneagreatdaycan bespentexploringtheYarraValley. Visit HealesvilleSanctuarywhereyoucan encounterAustraliananimalsincludingkoalas, kangaroosandemusinabushlandsetting.

TheYarraValleyregionexcelsinpremium coolclimatewineswithboutiquewineriesand restaurantsofferingfoodthat'slocallysourced andgrown,farmgatesandfarmer'smarkets. ThisisVictoria'spremierfoodandwine destination.