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Story behind Swadish, an authentic Indian that bases dishes around Scottish produce in Glasgow’s Merchant City
National World - LocalTV
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16/04/2025
Swadish is a participant in Taste the Place, encouraging Glaswegians and visitors to learn more about cuisine and culture.
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00:00
I'm Chef Ajakumar. I'm the owner of Swadish by Ajakumar. We're based in
00:05
Glasgow's Merchant City. It's a modern Indian dining. I like to combine local
00:10
Scottish produce with my roots, growing up in India with Indian spicing and so
00:14
yeah, Swadish is about experimenting different concepts and we take
00:21
pride in combining the local fish, lamb, beef with the traditional Indian
00:27
spicing. Well, I'm born a foodie and growing up in India, learning from my dad
00:33
and then teachers and ending up in culinary college, I was always intrigued
00:38
by, you know, the variety of food around us. I think I didn't plan coming to Scotland
00:43
but it just happened. I was traveling. I went to Singapore, I went to Malaysia, Thailand
00:48
for a while and then Dubai for a while and then got an opportunity to come to
00:52
Scotland to work as a chef and which I didn't miss because it was a great
00:57
opportunity in my understanding and now having a restaurant in Glasgow it was
01:01
again by chance. My first restaurant was in Edinburgh. It was more like a wedding
01:06
venue but Swadish is a different concept and I always wanted to do something
01:12
different. Scotland has so many good things to offer especially the seafood and
01:17
meats. It has lovely curry houses and I just didn't want to be one of them. I just
01:22
wanted to have my twist. Scotland's got the best of the best and I worked in
01:26
different kitchens. I've worked with Italians, I worked in Spanish restaurants,
01:30
British pubs and restaurants, Indian kitchens, Pakistani, Spanish dishes and I
01:34
think Scala has won the best larder. Even the fish, the chicken, the lamb, you name it
01:39
even the veggies that we grow here. They're not very many but I think what we
01:42
grow here is the best of the best and it pairs really well with the different
01:48
cuisines and us as an Indian restaurant. The seafood especially we
01:52
predominantly focussed on the seafood. Fish from up north where the Scottish water
01:56
meets the North Atlantic water. It just gives such a delicate sweet flavour to
02:01
seafood. It's best of the best. Linguistines, lobster, monkfish, halibut, I think
02:08
they're top-notch. Fish, lamb, you know, we get it from Isle of Mull and the
02:14
Baddunshar so grass-fed lamb, we can't beat it. Scots lamb is one of the best type of
02:20
lamb in my opinion. Likewise the beef, the gotch beef, you can't beat it for its, you
02:25
know, white marbling and grassiness and the sweet, earthy flavour. We go foraging
02:30
when it's possible with our suppliers. I take my girls, my daughters and they're
02:35
tiny, five and seven, so we go together as a family. All these places offer such a
02:40
unique produce. Most of the restaurants in Glasgow, the good restaurants, the
02:45
top-quality restaurants are slightly expensive and that's only and only because
02:49
they source the top-quality produce, going after the best produce and
02:53
showcasing the Scottish produce on our menus but still combining with our roots
02:58
which is Indian.
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