American Chef Eitan Bernath is very well known for his love of global food and all things delicious—and this stands true especially when it comes to Indian cuisine. Fans of Chef Eitan Bernath have known for a while that eating a pure-vegetarian Indian thali has been one of his life goals, and it seems the American chef has now been able to taste the grand Indian thali, that too at an iconic Mumbai restaurant! In a recent video released by Chef Eitan Bernath, he can be seen indulging in an immense Indian vegetarian thali at Mumbai’s Samrat in Churchgate.
In the video, Chef Bernath can be seen digging into a fully decked vegetarian thali at Samrat while calling it his life goal. “I am not kidding when I say that,” he explains. “I have always dreamed of eating a traditional Indian thali in India and my dream has come true.” He goes on to explain that a thali is a large platter that contains many dishes on it, albeit in smaller portions unless you ask for more. He also compares it to a “personal little buffet” since a thali combines so many flavours and textures at one go.
Video Credit: YouTube/Eitan Bernath
The video also features other meals Chef Eitan Bernath relished while in Mumbai, including a large buffet breakfast spread he enjoyed at a hotel. He explains how the breakfast spread included plenty of Western classics like pastries, salad, yoghurt and cheese. But Chef Eitan Bernath only had eyes for his favourite section packed with Indian delicacies. He explains how he always wanted to try Indian breakfast classics like sambar, idli, medu vada, chutney, masala doa and pav bhaji—which he certainly did along with some chai.
The video shows how Chef Bernath got served a delicious plate decked with pav bhaji, masala dosa, medu vada and idli. “Everything was insanely delicious,” he says. “I probably ate enough for the entire day.” He explains how despite being full, he also ordered another breakfast classic, Puri Sabji. His next adventure in Mumbai took him to a little spice shop where he shopped his heart out for spices that he will be taking back home to Mumbai with himself. The spices he bought include Kashmiri red chilli powder, mustard seeds, turmeric powder, cardamoms and garam masala.
Continuing on his food adventure, Chef Eitan Bernath then took an Indian cooking class at mumbai’s Four Seasons hotel. Here, he tried his hand at cooking vegetable biryani, starting off with some ghee and spices, a medley of vegetables, saffron water and basmati rice. The chefs at the hotel showed Chef Bernath how to then layer and seal a biryani in an earthen pot and cook it to perfection. He also learned how to cook laccha paratha, coriander-mint chutney, and tasted everything he had cooked too.
This was followed by a unique experience at Masque, one of Mumbai’s most iconic modern Indian restaurants. “Tonight I tasted a life-changing 10-course Indian vegetarian menu,” Chef Bernath explains in the video. Some of the dishes he tasted include a take on pani puri, roasted sweet potato cooked in a banana leaf with a paratha, and ginger sorbet with pomelo for dessert. But if you thought food is all that Chef Bernath experienced in Mumbai, you’d be wrong.
Given that he is a proud Jew, Chef Bernath took this opportunity to visit the synagogues of Mumbai and learn more about the Indian Jewish community. He not only learned that Jews have been in India since ancient times but also about the three Jewish communities in India. Now in Goa for another leg of his India tour, Chef Bernath is bound to share more incredible stories of getting to know Indian food better.