Kunal Kapur cooks it up

He’s been a part of three seasons of MasterChef India, and got along well enough with Gordon Ramsay as he stepped up to be a guest judge in MasterChef America. And as if his culinary skills were not enough, the Chandigarh boy is an eyeful too. What woman can resist that combination!

Ergo, it was a great afternoon for the members, and their guests, of Ladies Circle India LC 46 as celebrity chef Kunal Kapur breezed through town to conduct with them an interactive cookery workshop — Internationally Indian.

From Bhutte ke Shorba with Chilli Butter Popcorn to Mexican Queso Fundido, the chef whipped up a range of dishes. His emphasis was on adapting to the Indian palate and using local ingredients to make it click. So pork sausage was replaced by mushroom mince and peppers, green chillies made way for Poblano peppers and onions were caramelised with a pinch of salt to save time.

“I made Indian food my forte because I knew it would be a wonderful way to travel the world,” Kunal told the audience. What with the sharing of recipes and cooking tips, the ladies were more than happy.

Richa Sharma, the global brand ambassador of Ladies Circle, was one of the enthusiastic participants. “I’m not restricted to potato and radish, give me anything and I will make the best parathas out of it!” she said.

“We keep organising fund-raisers. And with the ladies in Calcutta loving food, what better than a cookery workshop?” said Smita Murarka, chairperson LC 46.

The workshop marked the appointment of Calcutta-girl-turned-millionaire-American-entrepreneur Chanda Zaveri as the brand ambassador of Ladies Circle. “I’ve always done everything I could for women and this is a great platform for me to put my voice across, not only to those women who have got everything but also to those who aren’t that fortunate. When I saw the lovely work the circlers at the Ladies Circle were doing, I immediately joined them,” said Zaveri.

The afternoon also saw the launch of the Save Our Daughters campaign, aimed at preventing female infanticide.

KK’s highs

On what is ‘Internationally Indian’: My belief is that one can whip up international food using ingredients normally found in a humble Indian home kitchen. My debut cookbook — A Chef in Every Home — was around this idea. As for Indian food, our cuisine is gaining huge popularity the world over and many international chefs are now experimenting with Indian food by using our ingredients and cooking the dishes the way we do!

On Calcutta: I have always loved the city because it’s so progressive and the people here really appreciate art. The love showered on me is surely going to make me come back here, soon!

And the food! I have absolutely fallen in love with the bhapa doi!

On Gordon Ramsay: Chef Ramsay invited me as a guest judge for the semi-final of MasterChef America Season 2. He’s one man who completely respects food and is very different off-screen — he’s fun, energetic and extremely talented.

On his journey from Chandigarh to MasterChef America: My inspiration was the Sunday meals specially prepared by all the men in our big joint family. Moreover, once I passed school, I decided to go the hotel management route partly because it allured me and also because I knew I could never be a banker, a profession most of the men in my family were in.

It was during my first job at Taj Mahal New Delhi that I realised it wasn’t a piece of cake, that it was a very demanding industry. It was tougher than the other conventional jobs. However, I gave it my everything. In the first five years I completely concentrated on learning everything I would need to one day become a head chef. It’s been 14 years and after having had won so many awards, I can only look back and be happy that I made the best decision of my life the day I decided to become a chef!