Sanjeev Kapoor is one of the world’s most successful chefs, best known for his cookery show Khana Khazana, which has been running for 18 years, and for being a judge in season three of Master Chef India. He also launched a 24-hour TV food channel, FoodFood.
In April, Sanjeev will open fine dining Indian restaurant, Signature, in The St Regis Abu Dhabi.
Why did you become a chef?
I was academic, so everyone expected me to go down that route. But I wanted to forge my own path. My brother enjoyed cooking but nobody in my family or neighbourhood was a chef, so it was different. I like cooking because it’s creative.
How would you summarise your style?
Deliciously different, home-style food.
What inspires you?
I get inspired by everything around me – people, places, cookbooks, being at a friend’s house. I might get ideas from a street vendor in Malaysia or a high end restaurant in Spain. I recently met a musician, so now I’m thinking about how to match meals with music.
Do you find designing or tweaking recipes a fun challenge or a tiresome chore?
I have teams of chefs who design recipes for me. I see the final ones and relate my feedback to the chefs. I like giving them my personal touch. I enjoy tweaking recipes – it’s fun.
What’s your favourite Indian dish?
I like my mum’s cooking. If I had to pick a dish, I’d choose Punjabi kadi, a traditional vegetarian dish from Punjab in the north of India where I’m from. It’s not spicy; it’s made with gram flour, yoghurt and fried dumplings.
Tell us about the class you’re taking part in during Gourmet Abu Dhabi.
I’ll be one of seven chefs leading a cookery class called Culinary Creation Stage One, which is designed for people who have an interest in cooking but are not professionals. I haven’t decided on the menu yet but I’d like to incorporate local ingredients, so I might use dates instead of coconut for example, or chickpeas instead of gram flour.
Will you have time to experience some of Gourmet Abu Dhabi events as a guest?
Yes. I’m looking forward to meeting the other chefs, catching up with ones I know and experiencing their meals. I particularly want to sample Khulood Atiq’s dishes, because when I’m travelling I like to try regional dishes.
What’s your next culinary ambition?
I want to focus on Indian sweets, because Indian desserts are flagging. The skills required to create them are diminishing and the younger generation aren’t aware of traditional options. I’m also intrigued by using science to create food. Take the dessert rasgulla, a traditional sweet made with cheese poached in syrup. Indians love this. Typically milk is heated then lemon juice is added to curdle it into whey. But you could use lactic acid to create a softer cheese.
What trends in Indian cuisine do you anticipate for 2014 and ahead?
Dishes from Punjab, Goa and Kerala are well known but I see diners going beyond these regions, sampling dishes from less predictable areas – especially the south and west coast. Indian food is also slowly getting healthier as well, as chefs are using less oil and salt.
