‘I will not have samosas on my menu’: How this pioneering chef helped Sydney fall in love with Indian food

At Monday night’s launch of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2026, Kumar Mahadevan took out the Legend Award for his outstanding long-term contribution to Sydney hospitality. On Wednesday, he and his wife Suba sat down at Abhi’s Indian Restaurant, the couple’s first restaurant together, to reminisce on coming to Sydney in the 1980s, the restaurant’s launch and the evolving perception of Indian cooking in Australia.

David Matthews: It’s 1984, the Indian government has decided to bring a handful of Indian chefs to Australia to open a new restaurant, Mayur, in Martin Place, offering them permanent residency as part of the deal. How did you get to the point where in your 20s, you were willing to move to a country you knew nothing about?

Kumar Mahadevan: I was from Madras – now it’s called Chennai. I’d started my career at the age of 16 as an apprentice, went into the Taj Mahal Hotel, worked in the Middle East, then I saw an ad in the newspaper: “Wanted: chefs for London and Sydney”. The Indian government, Air India and Tea Board of India wanted to promote Indian food, so they opened two restaurants. I’d come home and was looking for something. I applied for it, and I got it.

DM: So you said Sydney, and the rest is history?

KM: I said London. This was 1984. I said: “Sydney? I don’t want to go there.” Except cricket, I didn’t know anything about it. But then they were adamant, and they told me that London would take some time – Sydney, you can go now. I said “I’ll wait.”

I didn’t understand the meaning of permanent residency. I was 20 – young, dumb. But they explained that the contract period was four years, and you can live there after your contract. “That sounds alright,” I said.

DM: Suba and you were married soon after. Had you ever worked in restaurants Suba?

KM: Two years after I arrived, we got married – an arranged marriage.

Suba Mahadevan: I was 21. I didn’t know what the restaurant industry was. I come from a very simple family – not a city girl, more of a town girl. That’s how I grew up, and I didn’t have much exposure to the dining scene at all before marriage.

Kumar didn’t expect to be in the industry either. He comes from a Brahmin family, which is a super high-class family. He was kind of forced to join a catering college because his father went bankrupt and they had no money, but he saw his interest was in cooking.

DM: Do you remember your first shift, Suba?

SM: Actually, the day I started is very memorable, because it was Valentine’s Day. Kumar said, all of a sudden, “It’s very busy tonight. I want you to come and help me.” I said, “I have no idea of how to serve, I’ve never even gone to a restaurant.” And he gave me a small tip: treat them like you would guests at home.

DM: After Mayur, you went to cook Italian food at Sorrentino, before the owner Doug Moxon helped open Abhi’s in 1990. What was Indian food like in Sydney at the time?

KM: Back then the Indian diaspora was very small. Now it’s huge. There weren’t many ingredients available. Now we have a fairly large amount of vegetables and spices available from India, or they’re even growing them. Because there was a lack of awareness of Indian cooking itself, in those days, the acceptance of Indian cooking was at a different level. It was very challenging.

SM: The only thing people knew about Indian food was butter chicken and samosas, but Kumar just broke that barrier. He had to be very bold to do that. He said, “I will not have samosas on my menu.” We brought some dishes from the south – chicken varutha, for example – and the word spread.

DM: When did things start to change?

KM: The first four years were very, very hard. Abhi’s is on Concord Road, there’s no walk-in traffic. I couldn’t afford a second chef. Our children would sleep in the restaurant. When Abhi was at daycare I used to go and pick him up and leave the regulars sitting here drinking port with the front door locked.

But in 1994 Mr Les Luxford from The Sydney Morning Herald wrote an article on us and boom: we were booked out for three to four months in advance. We almost quadrupled our business. It was a beautiful year, and the next year we got a hat, and again in ’96, ’97, so imagine – it’s 30 years now.

DM: In 2003 you opened Aki’s in Woolloomooloo, which was more ambitious, with proper wine glasses, more regionally specific cuisine. Did you find the perception changing then?

KM: It was always hard, the perception of Indian food. I’ll give you an example. Mr John Laws – I knew him from Mayur – he’d come to the wharf while he was involved in Otto, and he said to me, “Kumar, I must tell you, you’re expensive.” I said, the prawn dish you’re having, how much is it? Do you know how much Otto is charging? Double. Both of us are using the same supplier. Tell me, what is the rationale? ”

“Bastards,” he said. “They’re ripping off the public.” Even a person like him couldn’t understand. That was the market perception – that Indian food cannot be at that price point. Why?

Now we are in a more comfortable market where people are not intimidated. And people expect something new. They don’t want the stereotypical foods.

DM: Abhi’s was 35 years old this year, and your Legend Award is already up on the wall. What does it mean to you and the community to see your life’s work recognised?

KM: We’ve been bombarded with messages from everybody all over the world. It’s a huge pat on the back for the Indian chef to be recognised.

Oh my god, the chef from the first kitchen I entered in my life, the chef there said to me “I’m so proud of you Kumar. You’re still so passionate. Keep it up, you’ve got another 10 to 15 years – don’t give it up.” “No, chef,” I said.

That was very, very special. It was the biggest compliment.

The Good Food app is the home of the 2026 edition of The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, with more than 600 reviews including 115 Critics’ Picks. The app is free for premium subscribers of the SMH and also available as a standalone subscription. You can download the Good Food app here.