Specialist North Indian Chef – Dhaba Style Cuisine in Blacktown

Mitran Da Dhaba Blacktown is a busy and established Dhaba-style restaurant offering authentic North Indian Desi cuisine and a genuine Dhaba dining experience. The restaurant provides a rustic village-style atmosphere and focuses on freshly prepared North Indian dishes and traditional Dhaba-style cooking. The restaurant operates a high-volume commercial kitchen supported by an established kitchen brigade of approximately 12–15 staff, comprising of Chefs, Cooks, kitchen assistants and food runners.

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Specialist North Indian Chef for a temporary appointment to provide specialist culinary expertise, develop new Dhaba-style menu offerings and undertake structured practical training and knowledge transfer with our existing kitchen team. The position has been created to address a specific short-term skills requirement in advanced North Indian and traditional Dhaba-style cuisine, particularly the development and preparation of authentic dishes and techniques associated with the northern regions of India.

A key requirement of the engagement is the specialist chef's demonstrated experience in developing menus suitable for Dhaba-style restaurants and introducing new and innovative North Indian dishes. The primary purpose of the role is to introduce specialist culinary knowledge to the existing kitchen brigade and provide practical training that will enable the Australian-based chefs and cooks to reproduce the new dishes, recipes, techniques and preparation methods following completion of the temporary engagement.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop, introduce and refine new and exciting North Indian and Dhaba-style dishes suitable for Mitran Da Dhaba's menu and customer base.
• Draw upon proven professional experience in developing menus for Dhaba-style restaurants to create authentic and commercially viable menu offerings.
• Provide advanced practical training and mentoring to the existing 12–15-member kitchen brigade in authentic North Indian Dhaba-style cooking.
• Demonstrate traditional North Indian cooking techniques, including specialist preparation of gravies, curries, marinades, spice blends, tandoor dishes and traditional breads.
• Introduce specialist knowledge of regional North Indian ingredients, spices, masalas and traditional cooking methods.
• Develop and demonstrate recipes that provide new flavour profiles and menu variety while maintaining the authentic character of Dhaba cuisine.
• Conduct hands-on cooking demonstrations and structured training sessions for chefs and cooks with different levels of experience.
• Establish and document standardised recipes, preparation methods, ingredient specifications, cooking processes and plating/presentation guidelines.
• Train the kitchen team in consistent preparation, portion control and presentation of newly developed dishes.
• Refine existing dishes where required to improve authenticity, consistency and quality.
• Work alongside the existing kitchen team to transfer specialist knowledge rather than simply performing routine kitchen duties.
• Lead practical menu trials, tastings and recipe refinement sessions with management and the kitchen brigade.
• Provide guidance to the kitchen team on efficient preparation methods suitable for a busy, high-volume Dhaba restaurant.
• Maintain high standards of food safety, hygiene and HACCP compliance.
• Assist with food costing, portion control, waste minimisation and efficient utilisation of ingredients.
• Provide professional culinary recommendations to management regarding future menu development and the continued application of the specialist knowledge introduced during the engagement.

This is a temporary specialist culinary engagement and is not a general Chef or Cook position. The successful applicant must possess specialist knowledge and practical experience in North Indian and Dhaba-style cuisine, together with a demonstrated history of developing menus and introducing new dishes for Dhaba-style restaurants.