November 26th, 2022 – SanTan Sun News
One of the first things that let’s diners know Feringhee’s is not your typical Indian food restaurant, is what they won’t hear.
The waiter isn’t going to ask you how spicy you want your meal.
“We want you to taste it as is,” said head chef Karan Mittel. “But if you want to make it spicier, we can do that.”
The other sign is if you go looking for curry or vindaloo, which are staples at most Indian restaurants, you won’t find them on the current menu.
“India is a very diverse country, from the north to the south, to the east, to the west, it’s completely different ingredients, using different language, religion and everything,” Mittel said.
“And this is our simple small step in paying homage to that beautiful diversity just in a beautiful manner.”
Feringhee, which translates to “foreigner” in Hindi, brings other Indian dishes to Chandler Village Center at Frye Road and the Loop 101 Price Road Freeway.
“Our chefs are here to talk about it,” said owner Madhavi Reddy. “I mean, they really know what they’re doing. And they’re really bringing the best from India to here. And in a very, not only delicious, but how we present it is completely different.”
Reddy’s goal in opening Feringhee earlier this year was to bring a fine dining experience to Indian food, something she said has been lacking.
“You know Indian restaurants are more of something where it is a very standard menu of what they do, and which even I personally ran some of those restaurants,” Reddy said.
“I thought there is something missing in what we are doing. So we wanted to say more things about Indian community, like you know what’s the best we could do.”
Food and Wine Magazine named Mittel the rising star chef of the year in 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.
“The whole point of this restaurant, or this whole cuisine that we’re bringing in, is to get those home recipes, get those authentic, those traditional curries, or the kinds of dishes that are still cooked at home, bringing that old age tradition just in a new light,” Mittel said.
The restaurant takes its time in preparing the food.
“We have a couple of classics as well we call [Old Delhi] Butter Chicken, which is I think is the most complicated dish ever,” he said. “Because the chicken is marinated for three days, it’s cooked fresh in tandoor, which is a charcoal oven that we have.
“Even the sauce is made with fresh tomatoes and it takes eight hours of cooking to get it right. The consistency, the taste, the texture of the chicken, and the sauce needs to be married in the perfect manner.”
Reddy said they have been embraced by the local Indian community, eager to taste native meals they can’t find at other Indian restaurants.
And non-Indians have enjoyed the chance to experience new dishes from India.
“Definitely [there has been a] very positive response from all the reviews and response,” Reddy said.
“It’s a pure joy for us to treat and take care of our guests. We love to talk to them, we want to make sure that they’re happy.”