How a chef spices up his menu

Celebrity Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor showed off his culinary skills to eager visitors at the recent Gulf News Ideal Home Exhibition.

Best known for his television show Khana Khazana, Kapoor is also an author of eight best-selling cookbooks, a restaurant consultant and franchise owner.

After his Ideal Home demonstration, Kapoor sat down with Gulf News to give an insight on how he creates his savoury dishes.

"Any interaction with my viewers is very important to me; you get to know what the people want to see. I have been doing my show non-stop for 12 years and the only way I can continue to do that is by listening and incorporate what they want from me," he said.

His restaurant, Sanjeev Kapoor's Khazana at Al Nasr Leisureland in Dubai, is popular among Indian cuisine lovers and has won several local restaurant awards.

"I make sure to come by every now and then to fine tune details and bring in new menu ideas. I think it's a fairly simple process," he said.

"When I think of a menu I start by taking into account who the user is. I start working and experimenting with different ingredients to see what kind of excitement I can bring to this dish with these different tastes. The different ingredients can be used in different combinations."

The 40-year-old chef says it is all in the science of cooking and knowing what the various ingredients can do to the taste of a dish.

"If you understand this concept then it is easy to come up with a dish in your mind and think that it should work, then after that you can add some other spices to give it some personality."

But for the non-cook, Kapoor says keep it simple and if cooking from a cookbook, stick to that recipe 100 per cent until you start to get comfortable with the dish.

"Cooking should never have an element of difficulty, the cook should be able to look at a recipe and think he can do that. Only then will he become comfortable and enjoy the art of cooking."

Although a great chef himself, Kapoor still insists that women make much better cooks then men because they cook from the heart.

"Women cook with positive energy, men are very mechanical cooks. Men who are in the field of cooking tend to be professionals who are trained to be that way. They can create a dish that is powerful in presentation but when a woman cooks, the meal tastes divine."

Whether it's hosting a TV show or entertaining an audience at a live cooking demonstration, what interests Kapoor most is being different: introducing different ideas, ideas and themes.

Ultimately, this top chef aims to inspire his viewers and fans with his flare for cooking and a lot of entertainment.