Karen Anand is always cooking up a storm. The gourmet, writer, entrepreneur, consultant and restaurateur is furiously exchanging one hat for another, and writing a series of 12 cookbooks, working on with a new television programme, acting as a consultant for a chain that’s about to open, experimenting with new recipes ? and much more. “It’s a bit of madness. It can be exhausting,” she says.

Which one takes the most time and tops the list? That’s tough to say. But Anand who is always quick to spot new trends in eating, says that preferences have changed in middle-class India. That’s why her books will attempt to explain international cuisine ? everything from Moroccan to Italian ? to Indian audiences. What’s more, she’s focusing on how to make the food and where to get easily available ingredients. “The idea is to make it simple and accessible,” she says.

The giant corporations too, are looking for ways to cater to these changing tastes. And, Anand is one of the first people to be called in when companies are planning new ventures in food. She is, for instance, working on a range of coffee and chocolate products for a new caf? chain called Brio, which is being launched by Shoppers’ Stop. And, she’s developing recipes for Britannia and Pepsico. “It might be a new range of drinks for Pepsi,” she says.

At another level, she has put together a menu for a new upmarket restaurant in Mumbai called Fine Dine. “I am designing a signature menu for them,” says Anand who is also currently cooking up a line of organic products for a Dutch company. “These big projects will hopefully establish us as a one-stop shop for recipe innovation and production,” she says.

Anand was born in Mumbai but moved to London when she was only six. “My parents decided to emigrate mainly for our education,” she says. So, she first studied international relations and French at Sussex University and then spent one year at the Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris. She speaks fluent French and has a working knowledge of Russian and Hindi. She also has a diploma in French language and literature from the Sorbonne.

It was her time in the French Capital that became the turning point in her life because that’s where she first began working in a restaurant and was bitten by the food bug. She trained briefly at Lucas Carton, the renowned three-star Michelin restaurant run by Alain Sanderens. That, she says, is where she began to understand what the word quality meant in the world of gourmet cuisine. “There was no looking back after that. I literally forced my way into any kitchen that allowed me,” she says.

So, whether it was at Bangkok, Bali or Sydney, she has swiftly moved into the kitchen and trained with local chefs. “It adds to your difference when you watch and work with chefs from different parts of the world,” she says. Bringing back the expertise, she started a Gourmet Academy in 2003. This is a unique cookery school where she demonstrates a variety of international cuisines and flies in prominent chefs and wine-makers to share their knowledge and experiences.

With her husband, Yadu Sankalia as a business partner, the duo has been moving in leaps and bounds. “He’s been a great support in all my endeavours. He does most of the technical part of job while I concentrate on the presentation,” says Anand who has set up a professional kitchen at her home. Under the Karen Anand brand, the couple has produced a range of whole fruit preserves and marmalades, salad dressings and speciality sauces in small select batches.

This has grown into a full-fledged business, which now operates out of a small factory in Pune. And now she is expanding and drawing up plans to add new upmarket products to her range. These will include all sorts of gourmet items like olive oil and different kinds of sauces like pasta sauce with olive and mushroom. “It will be rare sauces that are not really available here,” she says. In addition, she’s also looking at doing specialised packaging for food items. In fact, she is expanding so quickly and on such a big scale, that the current factory will be turned into an R&D department.

Anand also ran the popular The Salad Bar, a day-time restaurant at the famous Mumbai nightspot, the Piano Bar. “Back then it was the first of its kind in the city,” she says. Another venture also included Mumbai’s first European-style cheese shop and delicatessen, The Grand Cheese Bazaar.

The good thing about Anand is her versatility. When she isn’t in the kitchen, she’s tapping away at her PC and working on lots of books. There are, for instance, books like the Penguin Food Lover’s Guide to India and Nepal, which she co-authored and which is a selective restaurant guide. Also, she wrote the introduction to the International Periplus book, The Food of India. Her second book, Lean Cuisine Curries, published by Harper Collins was an instant hit among new converts to health-consciousness. Her third book, based on her TV food show, was released in 2003. She has also brought out a CD-ROM, Creative Cooking for the City Couple. Then, there’s Simple Cooking for Smart Men, and Cook Na Kaho.

What does she do to relax when she can find time? Well, she is also the devoted wife to her husband and concerned mother to her two sons, Param, 18 and Sasha, 16. “I maintain my sanity by spending time with my family and my two lovely dogs,” she says with a smile. And when it all gets too much, she turns of her cellphone and heads off to a holiday destination like Mauritius or Goa. And, it’s a safe bet that, even when she’s taking a break, she’s trying out the local cuisine.

Photograph by Jagan Negi