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Chef Harangad Singh is no new name in the culinary circuit. In his formative years at Taj Vivanta Bengaluru and Varq at the Taj Mahal Delhi and Tresind- Dubai while working under perhaps some of the finest chef's helped groom his style and concept of the cuisine. Above all, he believes in honest-to-goodness taste. Chef who turned entrepreneur during lockdown has already launched two outlets of Parat one Asian delivery brand called Me-awww. Having carved a niche for himself, Harangad way to present Indian food in an innovative way while also focussing on the quality and freshness with the use of local ingredients makes Parat much desirbale amongst it’s loyal customners.
Awarded as the Best Chef of the Year at the Indian Restaurant Awards, Recently, Parat has won 10th Indian Restaurant Awards 2021 for Emerging Dark Kitchen of the Year.
What did you have in mind when you opened Parat?
We opened Parat during pandemic when everything was shut and our major motive of creating this brand was to create a fine dine food experience at home at your comfort. Also, we wanted to support hospitality staff who were handicapped because of pandemic.
You have almost given street side kebabs a new facelift. Tell us something about it?
We present Royal and street food with uniquely styled menu. Each dish in our menu is created to perfection with contrasting texture, colour and a burst of flavours. Mushroom Galauti, Muradabadi Subz Seekh, Peshawari mutton seekh and Kalmi Kebabs are tender, juicy, delicious and we specifically serve it with Roomali roti under the kebabs . We started this extra touch of keeping roomali under the kebabs with a thought that any dripping from the kebabs will be soaked by roomali and after having kebabs you can eat the roomali which will be packed with flavours of kebab . About facelift the street kebabs is to ensure we create the flavours which people expect in their kebabs rather than confusing the flavours with complex dishes .
What it takes to sustain competition? What's the USP dishes of Parat that speaks about the brand?
Parat is your ticket to a revolutionary Indian food experience without boundaries. It is an evolved Indian cuisine food delivery brand that showcases rich, fragrant and jam-packed flavours in layers of regional cuisine and we deliver in the premium safe packaging so that our guests can enjoy the fine dine food experience at comfort of their home with loved ones. Our guests can enjoy the shades of regional cuisine with specially curated Parat’s menu: it is Indian without being clichéd and rich without being heavy. We do nothing to sustain competition as after covid we only perform with our best and we believe everything which is coming in the market should sustain as everyone is on survival mode. We always wish luck to the brands who are doing well and who are about to begin.
Talking of our USP dishes in kebabs it’s the Kalmi kebab , Muradabadi Subz seekh , Mushroom Galauti and apart from that the Mutton Tawa bhuna Chaap, and Sikandri Raan are real hot sellers.
What trick and brainstorming goes when it comes to designing a new flavour or a menu?
The only trick which helps us is that we work on local palate and create dishes rather than serving our ego on the plate . To do Parat we unlearned everything and relearned basics to touch our diners heart.
You can be called a Lockdown entrepreneur. Tell how easy or difficult the journey was?
I will not say journey was easy or difficult but it journey was very interesting. Many things were not available during lockdown like we started our kitchen with a fan and we did not have kitchen hood suction. We used to fight because of suffocation after 3 orders but then we got used to it. So Parat’s kitchen is 150 sq.feet and I had never worked in such a small kitchen in my entire career and this place took out the best of kitchen management from us. This kitchen gave us confidence that we can perform anywhere and under any condition with best of our abilities . In crux Parat made us more confident as chefs.
How much you think recognition/ awards matter for you?
We 'Chefs at Parat' are working hard every day and night to fulfil our customer needs during the most trying times of our life. It feels great when the great and big personalities in the industry appreciates our brand. It definitely motivates us in amazing ways to work hard. Also, the recognition is all because of our Parat family who continuously love and support us. We experiment so many things and they always understand our product, our flavours and the experience we want to create for them. The biggest award we feel we get is our customers trust on brand and sustainability.
What is that one thing you keep in mind while targeting customers?
If you look at the menu, we have designed our menu keeping in mind that we are catering to all the age groups and everyone.
What has been your earliest memory of food?
My favourite restaurant is Zuma and when I create menus I want to think and brainstorm with a thought how will chefs at Zuma think while creating menus.
