Rishi Desai was a semi-finalist and one of the most popular contestants on MasterChef Australia Season 5 that created votaries of Indian television viewers. He now brings his own show Stay Home Chef in which he creates Indian food with an international touch. The 37-year-old speaks to t2 from his Canberra home about demystifying Indian cuisine.

What have you been up to since MasterChef Australia 5?

I was busy planning the book Stay Home Chef with Discovery. It came out last year. The thought behind Stay Home Chef is that when we have people over for lunch, we start to think about what to cook, what recipes to put forward. What I have tried to do is give people opportunities to look at lots of recipes from different parts of the world using simple ingredients. 

In what way would your show be different from other shows which also target stay-at-home viewers?

Usually, a show is themed around Indian food or Italian food. I have covered lots of different regions. One episode is on how to modernise Indian food as I have done in my book. There is a theme for every episode. I have also introduced flavours similar to Indian food from around the world, like Mexican or Spanish. This brings in a bit of similarity of flavours that you like yet the dishes are different. 

Can you recommend a couple of such dishes?

One dish I have cooked on the show is the Spanish rice-based dish paella — lot of spices, seafood and rice. It is similar to biryani. Mexican food also uses cinnamon, coriander, cumin and chilli, much like us. I have also prepared enchilada, a Spanish-Mexican mix. 

Who is a stay-at-home chef? 

Anyone who loves to cook and likes to experiment and likes to show off to friends and family by having them come over and enjoy the food. Traditionally in India, women are in the kitchen. But I believe if you enjoy food you should be in the kitchen, whether you are a man or a woman. 

Italian chef David Rocco, who was in Calcutta recently, advocates cooking to be made mandatory in school. Do you agree?

I completely agree. Cooking should come to kids when they are young enough to absorb all the information. I have an eight-year-old son (Sharang). I make sure he knows and understands flavours. He is in the kitchen with me. In Australia, they have cooking classes. Unless we tell them about fresh food, we are going to have a generation which grows up eating McDonald’s and Burger King. I started in the kitchen at five. My mother took me to the market and let me clean the vegetables.

Are you still working with the Australian Public Service? 

That is my eight-to-five job during the week. In fact, on the weekends, I am busy doing cookbooks, cooking demonstration, cooking shows...

What would your advice be for people who want to get into such competitions?

Cook from the heart and cook for yourself. Doing research helps understand the basics of an ingredient, be it a sauce or a meat. There are six cuisines which are the most common in the world — French, Italian, Southeast Asian, Spanish and Indian. Once you learn them, adapting to a particular cuisine is not difficult. Someone knowing the basics of Southeast Asian cuisine can slightly alter the ingredients to make his Malaysian dish different from a Thai or an Indonesian one. For example, the main ingredients in Southeast Asian cuisine are chilli, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, vinegar and galangal. If you are making a Thai dish, use lemongrass more and if it is Indonesian, use less of that and put some peanuts, perhaps. Chilli, garlic and galangal would be common. So you switch ingredients back and forth to get where you want to get. That’s the kind of research I did before I took part in the contest. 

Are you planning to open a restaurant?

I am. I don’t know where it will be, Australia or India. My niche is modern Indian cuisine. As of now, I hold cooking events for which people book seats and come. Last year, I held a truffle festival in Canberra. It’s a delicious mushroom used in French cuisine. 

You have cooked Kolhapur Goat with Cauliflower Puree on Stay Home Chef. What’s so special about goat from Kolhapur?

Oh, you must have Kolhapur mutton. The most special thing is the chilli powder we use in Kolhapur. It is a mix of two kinds of local chillies — one for colour and the other for flavour. People think it is very spicy, but it’s balanced. My mom owns a spice shop in Kolhapur. 

Are you in touch with any of your fellow MasterChef contestants?

Christina (Batista) and Emma (Dean, the winner). We talk on the phone and message each other. 

 

Sudeshna Banerjee
(Stay Home Chef airs on TLC Thursdays at 9.30pm)