Food Heaven With Shweta Razdan

Editor’s note: We take no responsibility for side effects such as stomach rumble and hypersalivation that you may experience. 

Tucked away at the corner of a quiet street in an otherwise bustling Putney is UK’s only restaurant serving authentic Kashmiri food, leaving no room for decadence. Since its inception in 2016, it has been owned and run by our star community couple, Shweta and Rohit Razdan. 

Let’s dive straight in and speak to the co-CURRY-tor, Shweta. 

In your professional partnership, who is the strategic boss and who is the chef? 

Rohit is the head chef and I am the creative and strategy brain – but at the end of the day, it is all team effort. We have a hand-in-hand partnership. If I have ideas to evolve the feasibility of our menu, Rohit works on implementing those ideas at the kitchen top. 

Although I initially wanted to do something else, I saw more growth, enjoyment and sustainability in this career. We both love meeting people and find immense satisfaction in cooking delicious food every day. 

Were you always interested in a career in hospitality? It’s not a very traditional option for a Kashmiri Pandits, we seem to have boxed ourselves in few quarters. How did you come to choose this path? 

When I first met Rohit, he was already in the world of hospitality, as opposed to my corporate job. The idea of starting something of our own was first born when Rohit was running a restaurant offering Japanese Cuisine in GK2, New Delhi. Why not showcase our own rich Kashmiri heritage through the medium of food? We started Saffron caterers in 1999, which was received very well from Kashmiris and non-Kashmiris alike (later renamed Razdan’s Saffron).

In 2007, we knew we were ready to take the next big step but owing to the logistical challenges in opening a restaurant in India, we decided to relocate along with our dream all the way to Singapore. Our first restaurant was called Little India, which paved way for two more restaurants along the way. After that, we decided to make the move to London, where we could reach out to the taste buds of a larger population and attract more investors.

We don’t see many authentic Kashmiri restaurants in India let alone in U.K. why do chefs and restaurant owners want to play it very safe and go for pan-Indian image and why did you not want to follow the Holy Grail? 

At the heart of all these moves, the idea was to always popularise Kashmiri food. We didn’t want to build something run of the mill, but instead globalise our kitchen and tell the world that Indian food is not just butter chicken and chicken tikka masala. 

There is a big risk involved in trying to find the balance between running a business and staying true to your identity. Most people worry about sustainability of running the service and ease of navigating around business due to which authentic dishes are often not served in commercial line. For this reason, it is difficult to find other Kashmiri chefs who share the same passion.

You have run restaurants in India, Singapore and U.K. and all three are completely different environments. Does moving from one coast to another need a lot of change in your menu or adapting or altering to suit the changing tastebud? 

We have always educated our customers about the vast variety of flavours in Indian food, and that it is not just about the spice and sweet. Not much changed with when moving from India-Singapore-UK, as we believed in maintaining the sanctity of the recipes at all restaurants. 

Sure, there was some variations in locally sources ingredients that can influence the look, but as such, the recipe did not change to cater the population. We purposely left mainstream dishes out and only decided to serve authentic Kashmiri food in all the three countries. The common denominator is that majority of our ingredients from India – the good old INA market, Delhi. 

How is the food different at Kashmir Restaurant? 

The beauty of Kashmiri food lies in the spices that are very distinct compared to other parts of India in their flavour, texture, taste. Just like Mughlai food, there is unfortunately a common misconception that Kashmiri food has to be spicy – some customers are apprehensive and we try our best to clarify this when going over the menu. 

The famous Lamb Roganjosh that we offer is how you would have tasted it exactly in Kashmir – authentic spices and no onion, garlic or ginger. Most restaurants would compromise on ingredients to alter the taste, we do not.

Another example is that we use chicken thigh pieces. These are the finer differences, some of the Michelin star restaurants would not serve anything other than breast pieces.

What are your hottest selling dishes? (Pun not intended…) 

Without a doubt, it is Lamb Roganjosh followed by a tie between Tchok Wangun + Aloo Bukhara kofta. Among desserts, our Firni is a much-loved item.

Covid hasn’t been kind to hospitality sector in particular. How have you managed to keep up with the changing demands? 

Things are still nowhere near pre-pandemic level. People are still careful about dine-ins but it is gradually picking up. We made sure to go above and beyond to ensure safety measures are strictly followed, which resulted in slightly reduced service – we had to update our opening hours due to staff shortage across the board (drivers, waiting staff, chefs). We overcame this by multi-tasking and sharing roles amongst ourselves.

Restaurants are meant to be a dining experience, although there have been some innovative takeaway platforms or services launched during Covid, do you believe people will want to come back to experience the experience like they once did? Do you feel a hesitation somewhere? 

Just like other businesses, we had to also adapt during Covid so went on from being only a dine service to one doing take-away! We launched our own website and slowly improvised. 

Putney community is very supportive and loving. Good personal relations with all customers is key for a family run restaurant. Many of our customers are elderly, so waiting for them to hesitate and return to dine-in safely and slowly is very much understandable. 

What are your plans for future? 

In the coming years, we might revive our large-scale catering and take wedding orders. Of course, only authentic Kashmiri food will be served even if the wedding is not Kashmiris 🙂 

Would you recommend someone aspiring to be a chef to start on their own? 

Follow your dreams without fear. If you make a dish you love people will love it too. Even if you have to stand alone, come out of comfort zone because nothing grows there.

Visit us at:

Kashmir Restaurant

18 Lacy Road London SW15 1NL

London

[email protected]