Chef Pankaj Bhadouria On How Local Ingredients Are A Part Of Traditional Recipes And Technique

Pankaj Bhadouria, a renowned Masterchef, author, TV personality, and entrepreneur who rose to fame in 2010 after winning the first season of MasterChef India. Since then, she has hosted more than 12 shows on various TV channels. Someone who believes that a successful chef never stops learning. A go-getter, someone who values cooking as highly as an artist values his product rather than just as a task that needs to be completed has been recently appointed as the Brand Ambassador by the Department of Hospitality Management at MIT World Peace University, Pune. 

Pankaj strongly believes that the culinary curriculum in India needs and revamp and While India needs to be more on focus. In a quick chit-chat with HTSLurrp, she shares her comfort food and food experiments and more 

Kitchen was always a love! I have been cooking and baking since I was 11! Circumstances prevented me from pursuing a degree in hotel management but the love for cooking remained. As fate had it decreed, this love was to find formation, tad bit late in my life! I ended up finishing my Masters in English Literature and then went on to become a teacher in one of the most reputed schools in my city. And then 16 years later, I won India’s first MasterChef! But this journey of self-teaching (and learning from various other sources as well) came with a lot of interesting experiences as well!

Let me share some of them with you.

I remember when I got my first oven, a round electric one, I baked a cake, but I forgot to grease and line my tin, an 11 year old thought of making a chocolate cake. And so I poured melted chocolate at the base of the cake and then the batter! I burnt the chocolate! Of course, my dad declared it a fantastic cake and I still laugh over it today, but those were some of my greatest lessons learnt!

You have travelled well because of your profession, How do you see Indian food being perceived across the globe?

As the world becomes smaller, our plates have become larger! The world is opening up in experimenting with different cuisines from all across the globe. Indian food too is becoming immensely popular all over the world. But I have noticed a change in the past 10 year as far as the perception of Indian food abroad is concerned. It is no longer about butter chicken, vindaloo, balti chicken or the tikka masala, regional Indian food, modern Indian food, gourmet Indian food, creative Indian food; all these are becoming increasingly popular globally.

Thanks to some very creative chefs, some passionate chefs trying to present the ’real’ food of India and not just the so called Indian restaurant food, the world is impressed with what we have to offer. After all, Indian cuisine is not just one cuisine, it is a bouquet of cuisines waiting to be explored and savoured!

As a brand ambassador of  Department of Hospitality Management (DoHM) MIT-WPU how do you embrace the role and the challenges?

As I joined hands with MIT-WPU Department of Hospitality Management, my vision was to create an environment for the students where they could appreciate the reasons and vision with which the hospitality industry works. To guide them, to motivate them, to encourage them. Students who prepare themselves for the industry have a lot of questions, lots of apprehensions, so together we want to ensure that they are confident, well trained, deft at what they set out to do and ready to face any challenges that may come their way. We want to create opportunities for them not only in our country but also worldwide so that they get the exposure that helps them to rise and shine. I see myself as their guide, their mentor and a motivator.

During the course of this association with MIT-WPU – DoHM, what are your 3 biggest priorities?

My top 3 priorities during this association:

1.    Go Indian: Introduce the students to the variety of Indian cuisine and include more of Indian culinary techniques and cuisines in the curriculum.

2.    Go Global: At the same time, I also want to help them it getting a better understanding of the changing scenario in the world restaurant menus and introduce them to cuisines that are more global in nature and the trends.

3.    Get creative: Help the students in getting more creative on their plates. Introduce them to the various ways food is being plated, molecular gastronomy, monochromatic plates and so on.

What 5 tips will you give to make cooking a breeze in kitchen.

5 Simple tips:

1 . Plan: always plan what you want to cook and when you want to cook. Remember the time table we would follow in our schools? Similarly, make a time table for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner for all 7 days of the week. It makes life so much the easier!

2. Pre prep: always keep some basics in your refrigerator. Ginger garlic paste, tomato puree, boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, frozen green peas, paneer, brown onion paste, it helps throw a meal together in no time!

3. Prepare: All your cutting chopping to be done before you begin. Use a mini chopper, it makes life easier. Utilise the four gas stoves to their maximum by multitasking.  

4. Pack: Keep pre packed lunch boxes that can be easily carried to work the next day. Cold sandwiches, overnight oats, food that can be reheated in the microwave easily without losing out on the taste- like upma, poha, couscous salads, and salsas.

5. Get creative with leftovers: dals to be used to make parathas, rice to be reused in lemon rice or fried rice, cutlets with leftover subji, the possibilities are endless!

What is your take on the modern Indian cuisine?

Food like language, is not constant, it keeps evolving. Indian food today is also evolving itself, making itself more acceptable to the world palate. The modern Indian cuisine wave, some believe, is inspired by French nouvelle cuisine, which looks to produce delicate, light dishes with an added emphasis on presentation. Although, that was not always the definition of “modern” when it came to Indian cuisine. In the 1980’s, just presenting food in an elegant and refined manner to match the ambience of the restaurant was enough for it to be labelled modern. For more than two decades, that was the mainstay of the modern Indian restaurant. In the early 2000s, London and New York woke up to Indian menus that served individual-plated portions of food, resplendent of the French nouveau cuisine — the first step towards revamping curries and making them international. Their food philosophies were simple. Stick to the flavours but cut out the fat. 

But keeping in mind, that the Indian subcontinent has as many cuisines as it has languages, a truly Indian menu would look to pay homage to all of these diverse cuisines. This is the change that the modernist approach brought about — locally sourced ingredients presented in a fresh fashion deeply rooted in traditional recipes and techniques.

It is all about effortlessly incorporating modern values to age-old recipes, combining wholesome flavours with an international flair. 

Today, It’s simply all about elevating a familiar taste to new heights with sensible, symbiotic additions, simply put, max the flavour, cut the fat!

What’s your idea of comfort food at home?

For me, it is the simple dal chawal, rajma chawal, chole chawal, stuffed aloo, gobhi, paneer parathas, and a good mutton curry! That is all I want!

One quick and easy summer special recipe?

Summers is all about Mangoes! So here is one of my favourites:

Mangomisu

Preparation Time: 20 minutes, Cooking Time: 2 hours chill time 

Ingredients:

• 500g mascarpone cheese 
• 600 ml whipping cream 
• 2 cups Mango juice 
• 300g sponge finger biscuits (or cut a vanilla sponge cake into fingers)
• 3 mangoes, flesh sliced 1 cm thick

Method: 

•    Line the base of a 22 cm spring form cake pan with plastic wrap or baking paper.

•    Whisk the mascarpone until soft and fluffy. Whisk the whipping cream to stiff peak stage. 

•    Fold in the whipping cream into the mascarpone.

•    Dip half the sponge finger biscuits into mango juice and layer in the base of the cake pan.

•    Spread with one-third of the mascarpone mix and one third of the mango slices.

•    Repeat the process of biscuits dipped in mango juice, remaining mascarpone mix on top, then remaining mango slices on top.

•    Cover the cake and chill for 2 hours at least or until firm