KOLKATA native Pankaj Tandon was trading in synthetic rubber for his family's business when his career took a sudden turn in 2001.

His friend, the founder of PDK Shenaz Hotels group in Kolkota, asked him to join the company in setting up and running Ivory Kitchen, a huge 25,000 sq ft food and beverage complex in the city.

Tandon, 36, recalls with a laugh: 'I asked him, 'Why me?', because I didn't have any food experience. He said my only qualification was that I loved to eat.'

His career switch has since led him to Singapore, where he has set up the company's first overseas branches as managing director.

Indian coastal restaurant Ivory - The Indian Kitchen and its adjacent ShiSha lounge bar opened in Clarke Quay last year. Northern Indian restaurant Go India opened in VivoCity this year.

The friendly and chatty Tandon, who is married to a preschool teacher, is based here full-time and aims to open another two restaurants by 2010.

How would you rate the standard of Indian food in Singapore?

It's good, but I think Indian food as a whole could be healthier. It needs to break away from all the thick and heavy sauces so that the true taste of ingredients comes through.

On our restaurants' part, we're trying to incorporate rural cuisine into our menu because rural food is simpler and retains its nutritional value.

What dish are you most famous for?

Lamb chop bhuna masala. It's a Hyderabadi dish but we do it a little differently.

Usually the lamb chops are cooked in a tandoor, but we slow-cook it with a brown onion paste, garlic and ginger, and finish it with cream. Slow-cooking is a more difficult method but the meat comes out more tender and tasty.

Besides your own restaurants, which other Indian restaurant here do you really enjoy?

Tandoor restaurant in Holiday Inn Park View hotel. I've been to all of the top Indian restaurants in Singapore but this one is truest to the Indian palate. Its chefs are pretty versatile and authentic.

Singaporeans always order butter chicken when they're in an Indian restaurant. What else should they try?

Matki dum murgh, another Hyderabadi slow-cooked chicken dish that's similar to butter chicken. But instead of tomatoes and onions, it's made with cashew nuts and onions, so it's richer and tastier.

What's one Indian food you love but can't find in Singapore?

Chicken kathi roll, a very popular street snack in Kolkata. It is sauteed diced chicken, onions, capsicum, green chilli with lime juice all rolled up in a prata and sealed on both ends.

It's dynamite when you eat it and it's so cheap. It's huge like a baguette but costs less than $1.

Is there anything unusual in your fridge?

I have two or three kinds of cheeses, and green and black olives as I've started to cook - mostly Italian stuff - every Monday for my wife. I also have a lot of Indian sweets from our restaurants. Our chefs give them to me to try all the time.

What's your favourite food?

My grandma's kheer, a traditional sweet rice pudding with thickened milk. It's a dessert that I can eat anytime, anywhere.

What's your favourite non-Indian cuisine?

I've always liked Italian. But since moving to Singapore, I've discovered that I love Cantonese too. In India, Chinese food is a modified version called Indian Chinese, where everything is red, added with chillies and soy sauce.

But real Chinese food is amazing. I love eating at the Lei Garden, Crystal Jade and Imperial Treasure restaurants. My favourite dishes are dim sum, stir-fried vegetables with garlic and mango pudding.

What's your favourite junk food?

The McSpicy from McDonald's and New York-style cheesecake. I love McSpicy because, to me, it's rare that something non-Indian is so spicy. And I can eat a New York cheesecake every day. I love thick, creamy things.

What would your last meal be?

New York cheesecake and chicken kathi roll (sauteed chicken and vegetables wrapped in prata). Since it's the last meal, give me some real nonsense to eat. You can't go wrong with such food.'

From now until Oct 31, Citibank credit card members who order the lamb chop bhuna masala at Go India get a free signature bread basket and 15 per cent off the bill.