Hemendra Singh

Director, Bhainsrorgarh Fort

Keeping the culinary traditions and secrets of his family’s legacy alive is Prince Hemendra Singh of Bhainsrorgarh, Rajasthan. Royal food is served on a silver platter wherever the ‘masterchef’ travels 

Interviewed by LYLE MICHAEL

A Princely Affair

When a pop-up is given a royal touch, both literally and figuratively, it is something special, certainly one to partake of and indulge in, for it is not just in the richness of the flavours but in the secrets and traditions of the cuisine before you, that has been passed down generations. With Kunwar Hemendra Singh, a pop-up is quite the princely affair.

The prince of Bhainsrorgarh – a heritage fort-hotel nestled amid the picturesque background of Kota in Rajasthan, with the serene Chambal river flowing besides – was down for a pop-up showcasing the cuisine of his royal ancestry at Trident Nariman Point, Mumbai. The perfect time to set him down for a tete a tete and get a a taste of the food that the maharajas of Mewar dined on.

Garbed in a cool lemon-yellow shirt with jeans and boots, handlebar moustache in prim shape, the tall and stately Hemendra begins with a clarification. “I am not a professional, certified chef.” A question we raised post the regal meal we imbibed, of recipes nurtured and passed down generations of Hemendra’s family. Food cooked under the supervision of the prince himself with the help of the culinary team at Trident. “That’s how these pop-ups function,” Hemendra explains.

“I am invited by a hotel to do a pop-up of my cuisine. I set up the menu for the festival, am given a team of young chefs to work with, we procure the ingredients and voila, the spread before you. I prefer doing a la carte menus and thalis as they are so attractive to present to a diner. And I love it when the hotel gives me a restaurant to carry out the same in.”

Here at the Rajasthani food festival, we filled our bellies with fare that consisted of Shikari Maas, Gosht Gulabi Pulao, Paneer Pasanda, a flavourful light green masala gosht, and without a doubt, dal baati, albeit sans the churma! We were also quite tickled to find the Bhutte ki Kees on the menu, reminiscent of our feasting spree in Indore.

“This food is my heritage, which I am serving to you. It is Marwad and Gudha Malani (within the Barmer district of Rajasthan) cuisine which is both traditional and sustainable cuisine,” states the custodian of Rajasthan’s culinary heritage. “The meat from our region is very different from other areas and maize is popular, too. Dishes like soyta – a khichdi – are a staple. So, we do a makki ka soyta or a bajre ka soyta. I make a mean rabodi curry and ker sangri.” The former, we learn, is buttermilk dumplings cooked in a yogurt-based gravy and the latter, as you would know, is the famed berry and beans dish of Rajasthan.

Surprisingly, though, it’s not his own cuisine that he enjoys cooking the most – perhaps due to the familiarity quotient – but coastal Indian! A good, aromatic Fish Moilee or a Chicken Chettinad. A Tambda Rassa, too – finger-licking stuff! Chingri Malai is another dish he is crafted at, for which he wants to explore a pop-up in Calcutta. Delhi, Poona and Bangalore covered – of course, Bombay, too – it looks like the East is next! What about pop-ups abroad, we enquire. “I would love to if the opportunity presents itself,” Hemendra says with a gentle smile. “95% of the guests at my hotel are foreigners!”

His hotel would be Bhainsrorgarh Fort, which he is working on restoring and refurbishing currently. This is also the royal residence, where Hemendra resides with his family. While both his sons, the young princes, Abhiveer and Yashodhar Singh are abroad, his pretty wife, Kunwarani Vrinda Singh is his partner in crime, though now she is more occupied with her profession as an interior designer.

“My wife and I married when she was only 18 and she always hated cooking,” Hemendra takes us back in time. “But I said to my in-laws when we were engaged itself that she needs to know how to cook and I taught her to. I told her you are going to be my wife and you must know. She has helped me out with my pop-ups and is very well-versed with cooking since.” As for the boys, the elder Abhi – formerly a manager at Eau Bar – works in Dubai now and the younger, Yash is studying culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu. Safe to say, hospitality runs in both the sons’ blood.

For Hemendra, the kitchen was his playground ever since he can remember walking. Vivid imagery of beautiful old ladies in his grandmother’s kitchen cooking in large vessels for the royal brood, it was an art and a craft. Hemendra recalls, “My days as a young boy, back from boarding school during the vacations were boring. So, I would go to the kitchens in the nights and observe the ladies cooking. My mother was a hands-on cook herself who would wash the meat and cook the food. One fine day, at the age of eight, I told one of the staff that I wanted to learn how to make tea. I was viewed with shock, but I did it and I made tea for the entire staff!”

Hemendra went on to make his first curry when he was 11. Innovative thinking was in his DNA, especially when it came to food and cooking – mixing green chillies in a gravy that only demanded red – blasphemy; and for a royal at that! 
His creativity flowed forth in his college days at Elphinstone in Bombay, from 1990 to 1993, where he majored in Political Science, all the while envisioning himself at IHM, Dadar! He would cook for the hostel boys and was very particular about what he ate. “I only want to eat and serve quality food, always, for which I have been branded a fussy eater,” Hemendra laughs.

It’s good to know what you want, and be curious about this ever-evolving world of gastronomy. Which Hemendra is! “Wherever we travel, as a family, it’s about the food of the place! We love going out and exploring new restaurants. I like Calcutta, London, New York, but not Indian food abroad, please!”

Another emphatic statement he makes to silence the debate is: “I like Bombay’s food over Delhi’s any day!” And he shuffles between Delhi and Bhainsrorgarh often!