While many Indians would cite vadai as one of their favourite tea-time snacks, it seems the similarly shaped bagel is gaining some popularity among them too.
Especially since a Singaporean, Mr Hemant Mathy M S, is serving it up in Indian-inspired flavours such as butter chicken at The Bagel Bunch, located at The Metropolis in Buona Vista.
A hankering to create something unique and with an Asian touch was what prompted the 28-year-old to start up a bagel shop that sells bagels with various Asian-inspired fillings.
Originating from Poland, bagels came along for the ride when European Jews began emigrating to the United States in the early 20th century. Today, it is eaten all across the US, and is especially popular in New York City as a breakfast option on-the-go.
The versatile dough goes well with several kinds of toppings, most notably salmon, cream cheese and smashed avocado.
Bagels have become trendy and popular among Singaporeans too, said Mr Hemant, a communications graduate from Nanyang Technological University. He started The Bagel Bunch as a home-based business in 2021 right after finishing school.
“I always wanted to start a business and felt that bagels would be a good start to it,” he told tabla!
He pointed out, however, that bagels are a fairly time-consuming endeavour.
“Baking a bagel is totally different from other breads. Each country has their own recipe and it has to maintain the crispy exterior and soft interior texture. It takes about 24 to 48 hours to make the bagels.
“You mix the dry and wet ingredients, let the dough rest and start shaping it. After fermentation, you boil the bagel and bake it.
“One of my favourite bagel flavours from my shop is the Butter Chicken Bonanza ($12.90). It has the balance of sweet butter chicken and spiced chicken, and also the raita which is a must-have in our Indian cuisine.”
While one might expect the bagel to look reddish like a typical butter chicken dish, customers may be surprised to find that it looks more yellow than red. Nevertheless, after taking a bite, the strong flavours of the butter chicken and the spices are present, and well encapsulated in the bagel. The raita simply accentuates the flavour.
Aside from the Butter Chicken Bonanza, The Bagel Bunch serves other flavour combinations such as Korean Fried Chicken, ‘B.W.A.K’, which comprises a chunky slab of spicy chicken thigh, hashbrown, cheese, onion jam and pickles, and Lox of Love, made with smoked salmon, plum furikake, pickled red onions and tomatoes slathered in scallion cream cheese.
Mr Hemant said he’s always had a love for cooking and baking, but never had any formal training to become a baker.
The culinary business, however, runs in his blood, as his father used to be a chef. Part-time work as a barista over the years also gave Mr Hemant a glimpse into the F&B industry.
“I relied only on YouTube videos, so it wasn’t easy at the start,” he said of his initial home-based bakery business.
“Washing down the kitchen after baking, resetting the kitchen with my parents lamenting in the background about my cleanliness and getting the logistics done, really burnt me out.”
Opening an actual stall earlier this month has made things easier, he said.
“Over here at Bagel Bunch, all bagels are made from scratch and customers can smell the freshness of our bagels with the eggs frying at the side and bagels baking in the oven.”
