Chef On/Chef Off video series: What Adda’s chef-owner Manjunath Mural eats

SINGAPORE – A unique masala poached egg curry is the dish closest to Manjunath Mural’s heart.

The 51-year-old Indian chef-owner of modern Indian restaurant Adda in Beach Road cooks it at home on a weekly basis, as it brings back fond memories of his late mother, who used to make it for the family and house guests.

In addition to a base of tomatoes and onions, it features a medley of ingredients including coconut, ginger, garlic, mustard seeds, turmeric powder and tamarind paste.

Together with his Filipino wife Hazel, 44, and their eight-year-old son Aaryan, they usually savour the curry with white rice. 

He says: “I’ve recreated it to about 90 per cent of the original dish. The memories of love and affection from my mother make up the last 10 per cent.” 

This dish features in the last episode of Chef On/Chef Off, a three-part video series by The Straits Times that features the food chefs make in their restaurants, as well as what they eat outside of work, on their days off.

The series kicked off on Sept 22 with Peruvian chef Daniel Chavez and his Mexican wife and fellow chef Tamara of Canchita Peruvian Cuisine and Spanish restaurant Tinto, followed by pastry chef Louisa Lim of the three-Michelin-starred Odette restaurant on Sept 29. 

At Adda, Mural offers his contemporary spin on Indian cuisine with dishes such as charred laksa salmon ($32); prata quesadillas ($22) stuffed with chicken, onions, peppers and mozzarella; and tacos with pulled kadhai banana flower ($20) or pulled kadhai lamb ($22). 

His star dish is Mural’s butter chicken pot pie ($30), in which chicken kebab is cooked in a butter chicken sauce made with fenugreek leaves and honey, instead of sugar, for more depth of flavour. 

The ingredients are transferred into a pot, sealed with puff pastry and baked for another 15 minutes.  

Other popular dishes include the trio of pani puri ($16), served on an ornamental street food cart, and A.F.C. (Adda Fried Chicken, $22), plated on a mini truck. 

With more than 20 years in the industry, the veteran chef is often fondly remembered for being instrumental in the now-defunct The Song of India restaurant receiving its Michelin star in 2016. 

It held its star till 2019, and closed in 2020. 

For staff meals, different chefs at Adda cook food from their own home towns such as Tamil Nadu and Nepal. These typically include rohu fish (a type of carp) masala curry, briyani and curd rice made with yogurt and spices. 

After work, Mural winds down with a simple supper such as lentil rice. 

He adds: “My restaurant is my second home. If I feel distracted or uneasy about something, I become comfortable when I enter the kitchen. I love that comfort in the kitchen.” 

Info: Adda is at 01-201 Diners Building, 7500E Beach Road; open: noon to 3pm, 6 to 10.30pm daily. For more information, go to

thespiceadda.com