How has the food scene in India changed since the time you came back?
I came back in 1984.When I first came, there was a very small minority of people who travelled, were well exposed, studied abroad and had an inherent taste for international cuisines. Now, there is a huge band of growing middle class that firstly have access to money, and secondly have exposure thanks to television and the internet. What’s happening is that the excitement to try something new and international is there but the culture isn’t. For example, they eagerly want to be associated with the brand of Italian food, but do not understand the cuisines or the palate. We love Pizza, but we change the identity of the brand by adding a Chicken Tikka over it. Which I don’t say is wrong. But first understand the authenticity. India is going through a very strange phase.It’s great that people are trying a lot.
Tell us about the books that you’ve written. Do you have a favorite?
Simple Cooking from Grandmas Kitchen was a book that got completely sold out. It has recipes by my grandmother, my friend’s mothers and grandmothers and all the recipes that I wanted to preserve. In that we have recipes from Bengal , Goa, Hyderabad, Delhi, Maharashtra, Kashmir, Gujarat and the Parsi community. Exploring the different regions of India is a treat in itself. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this book. Good Food, Good Livingis a collection of my columns which I did for the Independent 20 years ago. I’ve done a book for the Hyatt, called the Chef’s Table on all their recipes and theirchefs.That should be out next month. That has been on the backburner for 2 years, which is why I haven’t written a book in so long.
Did the book, Lean Cuisines Curries help you lose weight?
Yes, Lean Cuisine Curries was at a time when I first came to India and I was really thin. I put on weight just eating Indian food all the time. And since I was eating restaurant food, I couldn’t help but put on kilos after kilos. The book was my ode to home-style Indian food. It has purely regional Indian recipes with no oil at all but has the taste and the essence kept alive. Then I did a reprint of the book, it’s called Less Is More, which uses a little bit of oil for tadkas and all.
What’s your style of cooking?
Firstly, I don’t believe in fusion. Retaining authenticity is essential to any dish. I try and lighten the dish to preserve the integrity but maybe serve it a tad bit differently. For example, last night I had Kerala food and it was superbly delicious but heavy for the stomach. With the Appam, chicken in coconut gravy and Syrian beef fry, I would pour the gravy at the bottom of the dish and have a small cup of the fry to accompany the appam. I don’t want to change anything, we should balance the dishes in a way that we don’t subject our stomachs to any discomfort.
Tell us about your latest venture, the Farmer’s Markets.
I was actually in the process of doing an International Food Festival which we were bringing from London called Taste. And we were hosting it in Mumbai. It was a huge venture. In the process, my husband suggested why not try a farmer’s market like they have abroad. The whole idea was to understand exhibition and production. So we did the first Farmer’s market4 years ago in Pune with 15 stalls. 800 people came thanks to social media. It’s gone from strength to strength. We are now in 9 cities. We have different categories- Fruits and vegetables, tea, coffee, grains, cheese, Home bakers, Home pickles, my line of produce and some lifestyle products along with restaurants. We get a mix of various foods that people would enjoy- Asian, Indian, and Barbeque etc. We have wine and craft beer also but we couldn’t bring that to the Chennai market.
What does your line of products have?
It’s a range of signature conserves, sauces and dressings. Pune Farmers’ Market is what it’s called after the re-launch. We have created new recipes to add to the repertoire. The range offers jams that are made using traditional English recipes, the International sauces are as close to homemade as you can find and the dressings are completely oil free.