Cookin’up a STORM

This Amritsari has come a long way from spending hours in his grandma’s kitchen where he learnt the magic of great food

Celebrity Chef, Vikas Khanna might have just one unrequited goal left now, as the Punjabi boy seems to have reached the height of the culinary pyramid, so to speak. With seven cook books, four documentary films, title of top chef at premier hotel franchises such as the Leela group and even the credit of being the judge at the second season of MasterChef India to his name, the chef literally has his plate full.

All that Khanna has left to the imagination now is probably preparing chole bhature just like his grandma did! “There should be no walls, no secrets in the kitchen. If my biji ( grandmom) had not shared the beautiful recipies with me, I would not be here,” smiles Khanna, one of the three Michelin- starred chefs of Indian origin in New York.

Forty year old Khanna has recently returned from the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, where he had the honour of serving dinner for the President of USA, Barack Obama, at a prestigious cocktail ceremony. Khanna had spent some time with the Dalai Lama earlier this year and was so enchanted by the Buddhist meal philosophy that he imbibed it in his recipes. He even went on to serve a special Himalayan cuisine ( a signature dish called the Tree of Life) to the American President. “It was a variation of the gobi ka pakora, fried in a batter of rice- flour and served with roasted tomato sauce garnished with spices, pomegranate seeds and mint leaves,” reveals a buoyant Khanna.

The master chef carries his cumulative culinary glory with surprising ease. Khanna says much of the credit for his success goes to a childhood disability. “I was born with misaligned feet, and this gave me a huge complex. I felt there was no place for me in the classroom or on the playground and therefore spent endless hours with my grandmother in the kitchen,” shares the restaurateur, whose only childhood ambition was to open a dhaba in Amritsar. He adds, “I grew up dreaming of serving the best home- cooked tamatarpaneer and chole bhature.”

An entrepreneur in his own right, at the young age of 17, Vikas had already set up Lawrence Gardens, his own catering service for kitty parties in the city. “My biji and mom knit and sold 600 sweaters to give me the capital I needed. I’d serve my clients a cold drink, two snacks and a sweet for Rs 20. In those days, getting four bookings in a month would make me ecstatic,” he adds.

A chance yet exquisite buffet meal at the Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi motivated him to learn the culinary arts in detail and take it up as a