The restaurant owner Prateek Reen runs one of the most popular Indian restaurants in Munich. We spoke to her about the differences between New Delhi and Munich, her restaurant ‘Madam Chutney’ and favourite Indian dishes.
Prateek Reen landed in Munich in 2016 – without friends, without a job, but with a lot of homesickness. To feel closer to her Indian homeland, she started cooking at home with her mum via video. A year later, she opened her first restaurant in Munich. ‘Madam Chutney’ now has two locations in the city centre, one at Viktualienmarkt and one at Sendlinger Tor. The documentary series ‘Alles außer Kartoffeln’ from Bayerischer Rundfunk made Prateek Reen famous throughout Germany. We meet the restaurant owner for an interview, talk to her about quiet Munich, noisy New Delhi and how her homesickness turned into a successful business idea.
How was your arrival in Munich?
It was 2016, my husband was already working here for almost two years. I moved to Munich just six days after our marriage and arrived on a cold and rainy December day. My first impression of Germany was: it's so silent here! When you land at Delhi airport, its like a rave party – so many people, so many noises. Compared to that, Munich is like a small village. Everything was new, I had never lived in a foreign country other than India. In New Delhi I worked in a marketing company, but here I had no job, no friends, I didn’t know the language. So for the first time – I was home alone, while my husband was working. And the weather was bad. It was really sad.
And how did you come up with the idea of opening a restaurant?
I was really passionate to do something of my own, but didn't know what because I didn't know the German culture either. I love feeding people. My husband and me connect over food – we love good restaurants and are both good cooks. And at the end of the day, as an Indian, you want Indian food. I tried a couple of places in Munich, but I was really disappointed. That's when I started cooking: I had a lot of video calls with my mum and my aunt, they showed me all the recipes. We invited our friends and work colleagues, our house became a place that people looked forward to have dinner at. And I loved cooking for them. In 2017, I opened a little restaurant in Alte Heide, it was the only restaurant serving Indian street food at the time. The first few months it was completely a one-woman-show: I cooked, did the dishes, took the orders.
I love feeding people. And at the end of the day, as an Indian, you want Indian food.
Is there an Indian dish that you particularly missed?
Chole Bhature! It's a deep-fried bread made from maida. We usually have it on Sundays in India. That is something I really missed in Germany and so I added it to the menu at Madam Chutney. I wanted to show the people, that Indian food is not only curry. It's even more! And it can be an experience. When you go out to eat with friends in Germany, you think of French or Italian restaurants, but rarely of Indian ones. I wanted to change that! And I did: Now we have couples who come here for their date night and that makes me really happy.
Many people dream of having their own café or restaurant. Were there any difficulties that you experienced when opening Madam Chutney?
The first thing was the bureaucracy – things like that are not that easy in Germany. Then came the lockdown, shortly after we opened our large restaurant at Viktualienmarkt. And it was also not that easy to find good chefs: All my chefs come from India. I fly there at least once a year to see my family and then combine this with job interviews. And in India, the kitchen is very male-dominated, so its new for them to listen to a girl. Since I opened the first restaurant in 2017, I haven't received a single application from a female chef. And that's a shame, I would love to employ a woman!
I wanted to show the people, that Indian food is not only curry. It's even more! And it can be an experience.
Where do your guests come from – are they mainly locals?
We have people here from all over the world, but of course also many locals. Once I was on a plane from New York to Munich with my husband and we got talking to the American couple next to us. They had a list of restaurants for their visit in Munich and Madam Chutney was on it. That was a big thing for me! I told them ‘I am Madam Chutney’.
What a coincidence! What was the craziest thing you experienced during your time as a restaurateur?
In the beginning, our menu cards were not laminated, only paper and every week some of them went missing. I didn't think anything of it at first, until I received congratulations from India about my new restaurant, which was actually not mine! Someone had opened the same concept with the same name. It was common for restaurant owners and cooks to come and sample the cuisine. The fact that quite a few restaurants have taken over my menu has happened to me more than once – sometimes even with the same spelling mistakes. If we were missing an ‘R’, it was the same there. Really funny, yet also a wonderful compliment for Madam Chutney. I do also feel very happy and blessed to have played a part in changing the Indian gastronomy scene in Munich and further!
We also have many customers from India – and we get the feedback that our butter chicken tastes very authentic.
Is there a dish at Madam Chutney that is ordered particularly often?
Our dishes are for sharing, so I always encourage our guests to order more than one dish, but the Butter Chicken is still the most popular. We also have many customers from India or those who have often travelled to India – and we get the feedback that our butter chicken tastes very authentic. Many of them are saying that Madam Chutney feels like coming back home. The recipe we have was inspired by a famous restaurant in Old Delhi which claims to have invented the original dish in 1947.
Do you have your own favourite dish in the restaurant?
It's a very simple dish, a chickpea curry, but it always makes me a little nostalgic because I used to love eating it back in the days, when I lived in India. I really enjoy the simplicity of this dish. It also comes with lots of little garnishes like homemade pickles, some onions and a fried green chilli.
India is more vibrant in a way – I definitely miss that. The big televisions with music videos, the dancing, everything is so colourful.
What can only be eaten at your restaurant and nowhere else in Munich?
My kitchen is like a lab for me, I always try to create new things from ingredients I know – like the paan ice cream. In India you eat paan leaves as a mouth freshener after food. I was very curious how to use this, first I thought I'll make a milkshake out of it and then I added a lot of ice cream, candied fennel and honey-rose-jam. As far as I know, we are the only restaurant that has this dessert on the menu.
Apart from the food – what other things do you miss about India?
India is more vibrant in a way – I definitely miss that. The big televisions with music videos, the dancing, everything is so colourful. And of course I miss my family and my friends. It takes a while to become friends with Germans but once you are, the friendship is very true. The Germans also need a little while before they invite you to their home – you have to meet a few times, until they trust you. It's very different in India: you meet someone on the street and immediately invite them to your house! But right now, both places feel like home. When I'm in Munich, I miss India and when I'm in India, I want to go back to Munich. I am blessed to have two places that I can call home.
What do you like about Munich today?
I like Knödel and Spätzle. My husband cooks it sometimes for me. And I also like the white sausage with mustard and Brezel. Apart from that, Munich is of course really safe, clean, it's nice and culturally rich. I love the Christmas markets, all the German festivities, but I just wish that there would be a little bit more background music playing in the Christmas markets like in India.
