Curry in Seoul

When K-pop group TVXQ told me animatedly during a press conference last month that they loved Indian food and were keen to visit India for more, I was curious about the Indian cuisine experience in Korea.

“Most Koreans see India as the land of Buddha, yoga, backpacking and ― curry!” a senior Korean media professional told me. No doubt, all Indian restaurants in Seoul have curry, naan, samosas ― north Indian dishes that are mascots of Indian cuisine the world over ― as their main items under the generic term “Indian cuisine.” For a country with 1.2 billion people and over 30 regional cuisines, is that a bit unfair?

As the Indian population in Korea has increased over the years ― from approximately 6,000 in 2009 to over 7,500 in 2012 ― so has the number of Indian restaurants. There’s at least one in every popular spot. Some like Dal, Chakra and Ganga have evolved into chains in the last decade. 

“When we started in 2000, the only other Indian restaurant was Ashoka in Itaewon,” says Shanthi Prince, CEO of Chakra, which has four branches in Seoul.

“The Indian expats living here couldn’t find ingredients and weren’t very open to Korean cuisine. Companies like Samsung had a tough time retaining their Indian employees back then.”

What started as a restaurant catering to Indians, saw several others troop in as well.

“Koreans trickled in very slowly. Their perception of Indian food was that it was oily and had a strong smell and taste,” Shanthi says.

Over time, several restaurants have modified some dishes to suit the Korean palate. Chains like Namaste started offering the short-grain Korean rice in Indian dishes; Otsal serves a variation of the ubiquitous naan with a smearing of honey and the traditional north Indian sweet gulab jamun with yogurt and fruit.

“Koreans like honey naan because its similar to hotteok,” says Chung Hee-sung, owner of the Dal chain. In India, the honey naan variation is practically unheard of, with most restaurants offering either the plain, butter or garlic versions while the gulab jamun is generally eaten piping hot and generously dunked in sugar syrup.

Lama, who hails from northeast India and started Otsal in Anam-dong and now takes care of the branch near Seoul National University, says it’s because Koreans are not big on desserts and sweets the way Indians are. Even the samosa, deep fried pastry with stuffing, and pakora, a fritter similar to the Korean twigim ― main items in Indian restaurants here ― are eaten as a snack with chutneys, usually at tea-time, on festive occasions, even finding poetic contexts during the monsoons in India.

With Koreans now forming a chunk of their clientele ― women dragging men on a date, experimental young people who may have traveled to India ― chains like Chakra have cut down on spices, making several dishes milder.

“Koreans don’t like the oily-spicy Indian pickles or the flavor of cardamom, carom seeds or coriander leaves, so we avoid those,” says Shanthi.

Incidentally, Shanthi and her husband, with whom she runs the chain, hail from the south of India ― Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They’ve recently introduced dishes from the west and south of India, too. Dosa ― a rice and lentil pancake ― finds favor over idli, a fermented rice-lentil cake, similar in some ways to the Korean tteok. “I think Koreans prefer tteok which has beans and other fillings,” she says.

Vindaloo, a fiery curry from the state of Goa, has also taken off, as has lassi, a yogurt-based drink prepared differently in the states of Punjab, Maharashtra and Gujarat, with the Korean milk company Maeil manufacturing their own versions complete with a poem by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore on the package.

While modification/adaptation is the way for many, drastically replacing ingredients is a no-no.

“Some Indian restaurants have started using gochujang, Korean chilli paste, to draw in crowds. I feel that changes the authenticity of a dish. And Koreans are sensitive; you can experiment with fusion but you can’t change the recipe,” says Shanthi.

Others like Dal claim complete authenticity, saying they retain chefs from India and don’t compromise on the seasoning or spice factor. “The Korean palate is largely limited to soy sauce, ginger, garlic, onion and salt. We want them to know India is a big country and they should experiment with Indian cuisine which has hundreds of spices and a plethora of flavors,” says Chung who is a Buddhist and has visited India several times.

So, with a near saturation of the popular mascots of Indian cuisine in Korea, what’s coming up next on the Indian menus in Korea? Dal and Chakra are experimenting with south Indian dishes. While Chakra holds regular promotional events, Dal is looking to open a full-fledged south Indian restaurant in the coming months.

By Shalini Singh (shalininess@gmail.com)

Shalini Singh is a journalist with the Hindustan Times in New Delhi. She is currently in Seoul on a Kwanhun Club-KPF media fellowship. ― Ed.