"We have dozens of meals everyday," says Ankit Gupta, who is the co-founder of 'Burma Burma' Restaurant and Tea Room, India’s only Pan India specialty Burmese restaurant.
With his family roots in Burma (present-day Myanmar), Ankit made sure to carry a bit of his lineage to India. When he co-founded 'Burma Burma' with his childhood friend and businessman Chirag Chhajer, the idea was to make Burmese immigrants in India feel closer to home, and to present an eclectic mix of traditional flavours with a modern touch. A decade later, they have successfully fulfilled the task.
"How then do you not gain weight?" one asks, curious about how the multiple meal plan works on one’s body. "You see the food? It is light, snackable and healthy," he says. It is indeed true. Burmese cuisine is one that promises taste with health. Steamed vegetables, rice, soups, and salads form an important part of Burmese cuisine.
This is why when the restaurant was launching a new menu, celebrating 10 successful years of operation, they brought in inspiration from various parts of Burma – from the hilly terrains of Kachin to the bustling streets of Yangon and the borderlands of Kokang. They also took note from the different eating and cooking practices be it the tribal cooking methods or the family heirloom and curated a menu of their own. From the Burmese highways, where food must be quick, easy and on-the-go, came the Highway Meal Parcel From Yangon (steamed rice and curry, accompanied with a salad and fresh herbs). Salads too, take centre stage with dishes like Siman Thoke from the Prom tribe in the Shan region, made with chickpea tofu shreds and raw papaya, and a Steamed Rice Tofu Salad from Yangon. A touch of sustainability comes from the monasteries of Bago, in the form of Kho Poong with Pebok Chet, a one-pot dish, among others.
Refreshing Burmese drinks have been incorporated to complete the meals - Mont Let Saung, by the traditional Burmese cooler from the town of Inle, with palm jaggery, coconut milk, and toasted coconut shavings while the Durian Float highlights Burma’s infamous durian fruit with a blend of durian banana milk, black grass jelly, and nata de coco and so on. Their desserts are a sweet ode to Burma too – the Burmese Milk Tea Cheesecake - infused with Burmese tea and topped with brown butter streusel, Burmese Tropical Fruit Pavlova with coconut Chantilly, tropical fruit salsa, mango gel, ginger coconut ice cream, and mango passion caviar, and more.
Steamed Rice Tofu Salad | Ashish Kumar
When planning his first Burmese restaurant, Ankit wanted it to be a true ode to his lineage and so, in 2011, he undertook his first visit to Burma to explore the idea of a speciality restaurant. His mother and her family who were brought up in Burma had a great influence on him. This inspired him to further understand the country and its culinary landscape. He travelled across Burma eating at the homes of friends and family, explored street food culture across different regions including Mandalay, Yangon and Sagaing, visited local markets to source ingredients, and connected with the locals. Armed with recipes and extensive research from his visit, he then returned to India, ready to bring the experience here. To test the customer feedback, he participated in several pop-ups in Mumbai and Goa presenting a wide selection of dishes over the next three years. It was then that the restaurant finally saw light and had a Burmese menu that was as authentic as possible.
‘The Ten-Year Trail’ dine-in menu will be served in the restaurants from August 12 to September 30. First opened in 2014, Burma Burma is currently present in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata with a pan-India expansion plan.
