Guru is an Indian restaurant with dash of Denmark in central Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Water is not served for free unless one orders drinks! It is Denmark!
The gourmet eatery is run by a couple: a Danish woman and a Punjabi Indian. It serves cocktails, and has a lounge and wine bar. At the time of Monsoon2047’s visit to the restaurant, the chef and the staff of waiters working here were from Nepal the landlocked country in the Himalayas.
Guru the word is loaded with meanings, and so is the word ‘masala’. The two words from the Indian subcontinent has made their ways into the English language, and many others. On one of the walls of the restaurant ‘Guru’ there is a board that raises the question ‘what is masala’ and ‘who invented masala’ and it also answers those questions: ‘what is masala’!
MASALA: “I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTRIGUDED BY THE WORD ‘MASALA’ I FIRST HEARD THE WORD, WHEN A TANTALISING AROMA IN MY GRANDMA’S HOUSE PROMPTED ME TO ASK WHAT IT WAS. THE ANSWER ‘MASALA’ DIDN’T SATISFY MY CURIOSITY IT JUST INCREASED IT.
“EVER SINCE, I’VE ASKED MANY QUESTIONS TO WHICH I STILL HAVE NO ANSWERS, QUESTIONS LIKE, DID SOMEBODY INVENT THESE MASALAS? OR WERE THEY CHANCE DISCOVERIES. IF SOMEONE DID INVENT THEM, HOW DID THEY THINK UP ALL THOSE AMAZING COMBINATIONS. WHO TOLD THEM THAT THE DRIED BARK OF THE CINNAMON TREE COMBINES DELECTABLY WELL WITH THE SEED OF THE POPPY FLOWERS? THE MORE I ASKED ABOUT IT, THE MORE ANSWERS I DIDN’T GET.
“BUT MY SEARCH HAS NOT YET BEEN ENTIRELY IN VAIN. WHEREVER MY QUEST TOOK ME, ONE TRUTH WAS UNIVERSAL – WHATEVER BE THE MASALAS, WHEREVER BE THEY FROM, THEY ARE METICULOUSLY CRAFTED.
“TODAY I’M A WISER MAN. I DON’T ASK MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ENIGMATIC ‘MASALA’, AFTER EVERY GOURMENT EXPERIENCE, I JUST THANK THE GENIUSES WHO CAME UP WITH THE IDEAS AND ALSO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CAREFULLY HANDING DOWN THE CRAFT, AND ADDING CONTEMPORARY TWIST TO KEEP THE MYSTERY ALIVE”
Masala is an essential ‘ingredient of ingredients’ of many curries and dried dishes. One can continue to add one more spice to it, and create a unique ‘masala’!