Spice Up Your Life!

Mr Surera Sunderlal

A few months ago, Kochi had its first taste of Indian curry. Many people rushed out to devour this new experience, yet some are still a bit hesitant to discover the joys of the real deal. Oi! Kochi spoke to Surera Sunderlal, head chef at Masala Restaurant, about his life and eating curry in Japan.

Oi! Kochi (OK): What brought you to Kochi Prefecture?

Surera Sunderlal (SS): Personally, I came to Kochi because of my job and our company. There had been no Indian restaurants here before, so we came to test it out.

OK: Have you worked anywhere else in Japan?

SS: I’ve worked in Mie Prefecture for one year, then Miyazaki prefecture for a year, and then moved to Tokushima where I worked for seven years and three months.

OK: Did your family come along with you to Japan?

SS: No, I’m living in Japan single.

OK: How often are you able to travel back home?

SS: I’m able to travel back home once a year on vacation.

OK: Compared to your life in India, did your working and personal lifestyle change when you came to Japan?

SS: There is really little change in my lifestyle. In India, we work in big teams, so we feel we are really working. Here, we also work in teams but it is a little small, so I think we work too much (Laughs). Living in India in a major city like Bombay is perhaps a bit different to working in a smaller city like Kochi.

OK: Have you always been a chef?

SS: I started working in food processing. Food processing has a bit of chef work in it. I like to work to serve people; let people make choices and then provide them with what they want. Before that, when I was a child, my family had a restaurant in Bombay. So I could see and learn the basic food processing and serving systems. I learned all that from my brother. He worked in one of India’s major hotel chains, so I watched him and learned. Now, I am able to appear in food processing seminars in India. My job in India was a bit different to what I do now, though when my company sent me to Japan, I got into more chef work.

The inside of Masala

OK: Is there a secret or special technique to making a really good curry?

SS: Every company and every chef likes to make good curries with different recipes. Sometimes we have time to think about new techniques or new curries, but working in Japan we don’t get so much time to think about new techniques or new curry recipes and so we can think only about the job at hand.

OK: Do you make the curries at the restaurant to suit the tastes of Japanese customers?

SS: In our company, we can prepare Japanese-style curry. Many ordinary Japanese people think Indian curry is too spicy, so we make sure we can put the spice levels at the discretion of the customer. Maybe there are some people who think that eating spicy curries are bad for your health. So, if you like spicy curries or hot curries, you can order either.

OK: So then do you find more Japanese people tend to eat mild curry more than hot curry?

SS: Mostly young people like hot curries, while most of the older people like their curry mild.

OK: When it comes to how hot a curry is, what is your personal preference?

SS: I like very hot curry. Some customers can take a 50 bai hot curry, so if they do order that and I cannot taste it to judge the spiciness, I cannot satisfy our customers.

OK: Is your opinion that the hotter a curry is, the more delicious it is?

SS: That depends on what the customer likes, it all depends on individual tastes. Mild curries are popular worldwide. Every country has its own style. In India most people prefer them very spicy.

OK: Do you make curries for yourself at home? Are they different to what you make for the restaurant?

SS: Homemade curry and restaurant style is a bit different. In restaurant we have to standardise our menu to a taste that will appeal to as many people as possible, while at home it’s a personal experience.

OK: What do you think of Japanese style curry?

Men of Masala: Surera Sunderlal (L) and Singh Karan (R)

SS: When I came to Japan, I tried their curry. First, I thought to myself, how can you make curry like this? (Laughs) Then I just thought much depends on what people are used to. I like Japanese curry, but I like Indian curry better.

OK: If you could eat the curry from heaven, what taste do you think it would have?

SS: In my own thinking, that’s not really possible, as all people are a part of God, and as God gives brains for good thinking, the intelligent people can make and prepare the curry for the world. So, it is like God has made the curry.

OK: What would you say to people who have yet to try a real Indian curry?

SS: First I want to thank Japanese people for liking our curry. Second, some Japanese people think Indian curry is spicy and they cannot possibly like it, so I’d like to tell them that our Indian curry can be made so it is not so different to Japanese-style; you can test our cooking and then think about trying Indian curry. Any people can have curry in their diet and be healthy and not have it impact on their health.