United Flavours of Kolkata

Angus Denoon carries a taste in his heart and a smile on his face

He carries in his van the flavours of Kolkata’s streets!
The Sip of Life today brings you a trained haute cuisine chef, Angus Denoon who is now better known as London’s Jhal Muri Man, carrying in his van, which was set up in a market for filming a movie on street food in Kolkata. The van became so famous that his Jhal Muri began to travel on tubes and buses all over London.
It’s an interesting story of a British chef who has made Kolkata’s popular street food a hit in London. He sells Jhal Muri all over the country and has been to Ireland and France too. For the past few years he has been living in a van so is always on the move & was even shortlisted for the street food awards recently. Don’t miss as he talks to The Sip of Life Moderator, Amit Roy.

SOL: Tell us about your journey from Angus Denoon, a trained haute cuisine chef to London’s Jhal Muri Man?

ANGUS: I made a film on the street food of kolkata ( www.streetfoodkolkata.com) and watching the way the food is prepared there changed the way I cook to make food as fresh and delicious as they do there on the streets and with very basic facilities is a true art, beautiful to watch and for me very inspiring. The film took a long time to make and to help finance it I started to sell jhal muri at festivals, events and street corners. It also taught me how it is to be a street food hawker. I like the simplicity of having your kitchen and restaurant on a trolly- you can go where you please, you seen the customers faces and you feel the sun on your skin.

SOL: How do you manage carrying flavours of Kolkata streets in your van?

ANGUS: You can carry the flavours of the Kolklatan streets in a carrier bag- which I did before I had the van. You just need, mustard oil, bombay onion, yellow lime, chaat masala, ginger, coriander leaf, tamarind sauce.

SOL: What are the specialties on your platter for the people of London?

ANGUS: Jhal muri is the main thing I do- sometimes I do phulchas, sometimes lassi and chai too. Also ghugni chaat, or my version of it, when the weather gets cold. But mainly I do jhal muri because it has much magic and if you find the magic you do not have to go elsewhere.

SOL: How did you make people understand and savour the taste of jhal muri?

ANGUS: I tell the people about it and I give them a taste and once they taste, something happens. They stand up straighter, look younger and open themselves to the pleasure.

I call my enterprise – the every body.

SOL: How did you feel when you had the first chance to taste jhal muri? When was that?

ANGUS: When I started to film in 2004 I know absolutely nothing about the food on the streets, so I watched a lot and tried to figure out what was going on. There was a jhal muri wallah who would sit for hours mixing muri to order just near to Park Street. The bottom half of his body never moved, but the top half never stopped- like a beautiful dance he mixed, chopped, squeezed, roasted and toasted. And then from all this movement comes a bag of jhal muri and when you eat and the spell is complete, to a softer safer place it takes you.

SOL: You were shortlisted for the street food awards of The Guardian newspaper. How did you get so popular in just a few years?

ANGUS: Actually it was not for the Guardian newspaper, but for a competition set up by a journalist Richard Johnson. Street food in the UK now is the buzz word in the media and a big trend. I have been making jhal muri for seven years now which is a lot longer that the trend and no doubt I shall be still doing it when the trend has moved on to the next latest thing. Unfortunately I got sick at the awards so did not get judged.

SOL: What is the pricing of a thonga of your jhalmuri?

ANGUS: The price if a thonga depends on where I am, how much they have and how much money they have. With the muri anything is possible. It is though just a snack, so it is important to reflect the price accordingly.

SOL: Do you also get bulk orders for the same?

ANGUS: It is not possible to make the jhal muri in bulk and expect it to taste the same. Once you mix for more than 3 or 4 it becomes a different beast. Sure you can take short cuts and mix up large tins at one time but a little of the magic is lost when you do each one to order and they can see it all unfold in front of their eyes.

SOL: From where do you get your supplies as it’s something very Indian?

ANGUS: I get my muri from a Bengali importer- its desi style and how I like it. The sevaiya and chana dal I get from Indian sweet shops that make it. For lime, mustard oil, bombay onions I go to Indian grocery stores. In the UK we are lucky to have a large Indian population and they have fantastic shops, which are cheap too. It is always a pleasure to go shopping in Tooting, Southall, Harrow, CRoyden or the other Indian areas. I make my own masala mixed and tamarind chutni.

SOL: Where all do you travel selling jhal muri in London?

ANGUS: I go everywhere with the muri- all over the country, Ireland and France too. For the past few years I have been living in a van so I am always on the move. So you could have found me on a beach in Cornwall or a street corner in London.