Vikas Khanna, who is collaborating with National Geographic Channel for their new series titled India’s Megakitchen, says the Indian kitchen is yet to be explored extensively.
“The series will talk about the beauty of large kitchens of India,” Khanna said.
He will bring to the fore the contrast between traditional and high-tech kitchens, with a focus on scale, volume, technology and process.
Premiering on June 22, the series will be a five-part documentary. The kitchens featured will be those of Dharmasthala, Shirdi, Taj Sats, IRCTC and NGO Akshaya Patra.
Khanna’s overall aim is to make “more people try Indian food”, and he has been doing that via his New York restaurant Junoon.
“The most popular dish at my restaurant is Fish Malwan, I add my own twist to the dish. And another dish is Noorani Kebab — it’s a combination of chicken and lamb. There is also a Kerala-inspired duck dish,” added the Amritsar-born star chef, who has worked with some of the most influential chefs of the world such as Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay, Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Khanna served Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon earlier this month, and he treated her to ‘eggplant chaat’.
The 43 year old loves north-eastern food and believes that “nobody has explored their cuisine so much and not many have written about it either”.
“It’s beautiful and its our responsibility to bring it to the forefront,” he said.
His favourite ingredient is Star Anise. Confessing his love for the spice, he said: “I am biased towards its fragrance and I think it looks pretty too.”
