intro: One of the most celebrated faces of Indian cuisine, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor has hosted the longest running cooking show in Asia, airing in 120 countries and accumulating more than 500 million viewers thus bringing the art of Indian cooking to the forefront of the international palette. In Goa for the launch of his Yellow Chilli restaurant franchise, the wonderchef talks about his love for Goan cuisine and why we need to continue to promote Indian food across the world
Indian food, lauded for its curries, mouth-burning spices and complex flavour pairings, has slowly but surely found its way into the hearts and stomachs of people across the globe. What according to you has led to this popularity?
We have 1/6th of the world's population and lots of us migrate/travel to other countries. So when we go, we want to have our ghar ka khana without which our lives are incomplete. Let's say there is an Indian working in an office in Sweden and he carries a homemade meal for lunch. Obviously his colleagues curiosity will be piqued. If you are going to an Indian restaurant, you will invite your frineds. So because of the sheer size of our population, and the quality of hospitality that we have, our cusine gets an intrinsic push.
At my end, I am always promoting our cuisine in every way possible “ through televison, the digital medium and even social media. TV exists in almost 140 million homes in India, so that is obviously the best medium of mass reach, but what about outside the country. Here, Indian television channels might not have the same reach, so other mediums are required to popularise our cuisine “ webites, Youtube channels, etc. We even try and syndicate our material for this purpose. In fact, we have been providing Microsoft with audio, video and even text for years now.
Khana Khazana captured the imagination of housewives, budding gourmands and culinary enthusiasts across the country when it began airing on Zee TV back in the 1990s. It was the first cooking show of its kind on Indian television ever. What prompted you to create this show?
Ok, so by the time Khana Khazana started, I was already the best executive chef in the country.
When I got the offer for the show, I was already contributing almost five articles to different magazines. However, I could see that television would be a great medium of mass reach. Today, Khana Khazana has completed more than 2000 episodes and has been running non-stop for over two decades making it the longest running show of its kind on Indian television. It continues to draw loyal audiences even today.
These days there are a ridiculous number of television shows about food. From reality competitions like Masterchef and Top Chef to behind-the-scenes looks into food factories, from destination cuisines for the globetrotter (whether real or vicarious) or regular cook-at-home shows, there’s a TV show about food for every appetite. Your thoughts?
Yes, foodie shows have been surging in popularity in recent years but all of what you are saying is relative. I believe its still early days for cooking shows on Indian television because there's not much really happening on mainstream media, especially during prime time. So there is still a lot to be done in this area. That is why I started in 2011 that airs cooking and food shows hosted by Chefs Ajay Chopra, Vikas Khanna, Amrita Raichand, etc.
Your love for Goan cuisine is no big secret and you are found cooking and promoting it in food festivals and live shows in New Zealand and even remote Raigad. What is your attachment to Goan food?
Well, Goan food was one of the most unique cuisines that I was exposed to during my early days as a chef. Having spent most of my life in the North of India, I was used to a certain kind of preparation. Then suddenly, I came up against this fascinating cuisine that was very different from the rest of India. So I immersed myself in it and studied it and it is now very close to my heart.
Two days ago, I was doing a live show in Raigad in Chattisgarh. Now, this is a purely vegetarian region. Subconsciously, however, I ended up making a Goan recipe. I made a balchao, except instead of prawns, I used paneer. I then stuffed this into puris and served it with a shot of solkadi.
Opening up a Sanjeev Kapoor's Yellow chilli restaurant franchise in Goa. Can we say that this was more than purely a business decision?
Well, you can certainly say that. We recently opened up four restarants in the Middle East and they have been struggling to get me to visit. We opened in Patna some five years ago, and I've never been there either. But when they told me, 'Sir Goa jaana hai', I was like, 'Yea, sure. Okay. Let's go'.
Any food trends that you see driving the food industry in the near future.
There are two kinds of influences that are emerging. One is that more and more people are talking about health food. With that talk, consumption is also increasing. Earlier it was just talk, but with more and more people getting health conscious, the trend is moving beyond just consciousness. The other is food from different parts of India. If you notice, it is no longer uncommon to define a recipe depending on the style. In Goan food itself there is the Catholic style, the Hindu style, the Saraswat style. If you are in Kerala, there is the Syrian Christian style, the Nair style, etc. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, there is Chettinad cusine, the western Kongunadu cusine, etc. This regional cuisine is what I think will grow tremendously.
BOX
The popularity of Khana Khazana and the insatiable appetite of Indian audiences for cookery-related shows led to Sanjeev Kapoor launching his own 24-hour food channel called Food Food.
