Chef Manoj comes with more than two decades of culinary experience. He completed his culinary training at Le Meridian Chennai in 2000 & then moved to Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi. This launched him into a rich culinary adventure filled with exciting experiences at Orchid Hotel Mumbai, Carnival Cruise Liners, and as the Group Executive Chef of multicuisine restaurants in Nairobi, Kenya & standalone specialty restaurant across Bengaluru.
With a Graduate in Culinary Arts from the Institute of Hotel Management Chennai, Manoj is skilled in menu conceptualizing and taking care of culinary operations. He loves innovating with local, sustainable ingredients and is always looking for opportunities to showcase his creative expertise inside and outside the kitchen.
Manoj has had the privilege to serve the former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and cater to the President and Prime Minister of Kenya at official launches and inaugurations.
Determined to work in a challenging and intellectually motivating environment, he joined RCB Bar & Café as Executive Chef in February 2020. Here, he takes care of overall day to day culinary operations. He enjoys serving up Pan-Asian and continental delicacies while experimenting with regional specialties.
Recipe | Baked Crab
Ingredients:
Crab meat (shredded) – 60 gm
Onion (finely chopped) – 25 gm
Garlic (finely chopped) – 15 gm
Celery (finely chopped) – 15 gm
Thyme – 1 gm
White sauce – 35 gm
Fresh cream – 50 ml
Parmesan cheese – 15 gm
Salt – to taste
Pepper – to taste
Crab shells – 3
Olive oil – 15 ml
Procedure:
Stuffing –
- In a pan, heat oil and sweat chopped garlic, onion and celery.
- Add shredded crab meat and sauté for a minute or two.
- Add white sauce and fresh cream and continue cooking on a low flame for 2 minutes.
- Season with thyme, salt and pepper. Finish with grated Parmesan cheese.
Baked Crab –
Clean and blanch the crab shells, spoon the stuffing into the shells, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top, and grill in the salamander until cheese melts and turns golden brown.
Recipe | Vietnamese Summer Rolls
Ingredients:
Rice Paper – 2 no.
Rice Noodles – 10 gm
Carrot (Julienne) – 10 gm
Cucumber (Julienne) – 10 gm
Chinese Cabbage (Shredded) – 10 gm
Peanut (toasted & crushed) – 10 gm
Mint leaves – 5 gm
Procedure:
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice noodles for 3 to 5 minutes and drain.
- Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip the wrappers into the warm water for 1-2 seconds to soften.
- Lay a wrapper flat. In a row across the centre, place rice noodles, carrot, Chinese cabbage and cucumber, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side.
- Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper. Cut into 2 pieces.
- Serve rolled spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce & peanut sauce.
Recipe | Meen and Kappa Fritti
Fish Stuffing
Ingredients:
Coconut oil – 10 ml
Seer fish – 100 gm
Shallots (Finely chopped) – 10 gm
Ginger (Julienne) – 5 gm
Garlic (Finely chopped) – 5 gm
Kashmiri Chilli powder (mixed with water) – 20 gm
Coriander powder – ½ tbsp
Fennel powder – ¼ tbsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tbsp
Fenugreek seeds – few
Black pepper powder – ¼ teaspoon
Curry leaves – few
Salt – To taste
Procedure:
- In a pan, heat coconut oil and sauté curry leaves, shallots, ginger, garlic, and fenugreek seeds for 2-3 minutes.
- Add fennel powder, pepper powder and red chilli paste
- Add the cleaned seer fish, season with salt and cook until done.
- Once done, take out the fish and shred the meat.
Meen and Kappa Fritti
Ingredients:
Tapioca – 5 kg
Seer Fish (cooked & shredded) – 1 kg
Shallot (chopped) – 100 gm
Curry leaves – 10 gm
Ginger (chopped) – 25 gm
Garlic – 30 gm
Grated Coconut – 200 gm
Coconut oil – 100 ml
Chilli flakes – 30 gm
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Salt – to taste
Breadcrumbs – As required
Procedure:
- Clean and peel the tapioca, boil in water with salt and turmeric. Mash the cooked Tapioca.
- Add shredded seer fish, shallots, curry leaves, garlic, ginger, grated coconut, coconut oil, chilli flakes, mix well and make patties.
- Coat in breadcrumbs and deep fry.
