“All Punjabis are born chefs,” declares Sanjay Vij, executive chef of The Ambassador Hotel, a Taj hotel in Delhi. Vij, 46, grew up feasting on sumptuous meals as his father had a penchant for cooking — especially every Sunday when he drummed up special dishes.

Vij has come a long way from the days when he was a kitchen trainee at the Taj Mahal Hotel in 1982. He says that being the youngest chef in the Machan kitchens between 1990 and 1994 were the most memorable years of his life. He fondly remembers working at the Taj’s St James’s Court, London and being part of The Taj Chandigarh launch in 2004.

Now he’s in charge of The Ambassador’s lounge bar, InSomnia, the Chinese restaurant, Larry’s China and the hotel’s multi-cuisine restaurant, The Yellow Brick Road. Says Vij: “If you’re a passionate cook you never tire of experimenting.”

He shares the recipes of some of his signature dishes.

Scampi with garlic wafers and black bean emulsion

Ingredients
4 prawns •4 water chestnuts •10ml oil •10 garlic cloves, sliced •10ml white wine 2 lemon leaves • 2 sprigs of basil • Salt and pepper to taste • 4 satay sticks

Black Bean Emulsion
10gm black bean paste • 2 gm chilli powder • 1tsp honey •1tsp orange jam • 2tsp lemon juice ½tsp chilli oil (oil with chillies soaked ) • Salt to taste • A pinch of crushed black pepper 2tsp olive oil

Crusty Bread Salad
1 grilled French bread • 20gm assorted lettuce • 2 cherry tomatoes • 2 olives Parmesan shavings • 5ml balsamic vinegar

Method Black Bean Emulsion
Blend all the ingredients in a blender to form a thick emulsion.

Crusty Bread Salad
Mix the assorted lettuce, cherry tomato halves and olives and arrange over the grilled bread. Top the salad with Parmesan cheese shavings and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Shell and devein the prawns and retain their tails. Now make a marinade with white wine, lemon juice, salt, pepper, lemon leaves and basil and marinate the prawns in it for 2 to 3 minutes. Now skewer the prawns and two water chestnuts. Marinate the skewered prawns in the black bean emulsion. Grill the prawns and arrange them on the plate and serve with the crusty bread salad. Fry the garlic to get crispy wafers and sprinkle it over the skewered prawns along with some grated water chestnuts.

Braised lamb shanks over glazed onion risotto

Ingredients
3 lamb shanks • 1 onion, chopped • 20gm garlic, chopped • 10gm celery, choppedl 10gm leeks • 25gm carrots, chopped • 1tsp crushed black pepper • 2tbs L P sauce • 2tbs olive oil • 1tbs French mustard • 25ml brown sauce • Salt to taste • 20ml red wine •1tbs balsamic vinegar • 4 asparagus • 2 florets of broccoli • 1 cherry tomato

Risotto
3gm glazed onion 5gm garlic, chopped • 10ml red wine • 75gm risotto rice • 20ml vegetable stock • 2tbs cream • 2tbs demi-glaze Cheese to taste • 5gm salt and pepper 5gm butter • 5ml olive oil

Method Risotto

Boil the risotto rice in vegetable stock and cook till it is tender crisp. Pour some olive oil in a pan and sauté the garlic. When done, add the boiled risotto to the pan and cook with cream, glazed onions and mix the cheese. Add the demi-glaze (a rich brown sauce used by itself or as a base for other sauces), red wine, salt and butter to finish. Marinate the lamb shank with onion, garlic, leek, celery, carrot, black pepper, French mustard and LP sauce. Now braise the lamb shanks in the oven for an hour at 210°C covering it with silver foil. Remove the shanks along with the jus (juices from meat) which has oozed out. Add red wine to the shanks and allow it to form a glaze. Put oil in a pan and glaze the sliced onions along with balsamic vinegar. When done, ladle some risotto in the centre of a plate and arrange the lamb shanks on top of it. Sauté blanched asparagus, some carrots, broccoli and cherry tomato in butter and garlic. Arrange the sautéed vegetables on the side of the risotto. Pour some jus on top to finish.

Banana bread

Ingredients
1kg banana 1kg breakfast sugar (finely ground sugar) 660gm refined flour 800ml oil 10gm baking soda 10 eggs 20gm cinnamon powder 120gm walnut

Caramel sauce
250gm breakfast sugar 100gm butter 300ml cream

Fruit garnish
5 watermelon scoops 5 muskmelon scoops 5 papaya scoops 100gm blueberries 5 cherries 5 mint sprigs

Method
Blend the banana and sugar to form a thick paste. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl till foamy. Add refined flour, baking soda, cinnamon powder and walnut in the mixing bowl. Add the banana and sugar paste. Once done, add oil and mix everything. Bake the mixture in a baking tray at 150°C for 45 minutes. To make the caramel sauce, caramelise the breakfast sugar, add butter and cream. Cut a square slice of the banana bread pour some caramel sauce over it. Garnish the bread with scoops of fruits and top it up with a mint sprig.