Craftsman of recipes by Sanjeev Kapoor

He's flying to the US on President Obama's request tomorrow," whispered a member of Indian celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor's entourage, moments before he arrived at Options, his restaurant in the Dubai Convention Centre.

A visibly tired Kapoor walked up the stairs to the lounge area a few minutes later and I couldn't resist asking him about what I'd been told.

"I'm not sure whether I'm coming or going," Kapoor replied, running a hand over his eyes and smiling lightly.

He was in Dubai to cook at a private event for Emirates NBD customers.

I waited for him to continue but soon realised I was not getting any further information on the topic. So I turned to his latest UAE venture — the soon-to-open Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor at the Melia Hotel.

"Signature is a different concept from my other restaurants," he said. "It's a premium brand. Not that Options isn't one, but this is a higher premium brand. It's a place with an Indian soul, yet we are bringing something new in terms of interaction. I'm sure as soon as we open, people will say: ‘Wow! Indian food can be seen like this, yet not lose its essence or flavours.'"

Something special for the UAE

Kapoor believes it's essential to give something newer and better to the UAE diners as they are very discerning, and because the UAE could easily become "the food capital of the world".

"There are so many options that are available in the UAE, it's phenomenal," he declares. "You can taste such diverse food in such a small area — right from the east to the west to nouvelle to very bold and traditional — it is eclectic, very different. If you want to taste the world, you come here. I believe the UAE government should coin a term such as ‘the gourmet capital of the world' or something and own that. I think they can easily do it. It has a phenomenal positioning and all good chefs want to be here. You name the chef, he or she is here — and those who aren't want to be."

British chef Marco Pierre White has just launched his restaurant, Titanic, at the same hotel, but Kapoor doesn't see him as a threat at all.

"I'm happy Marco Pierre White is also there. I think it's a good combination. I believe you always compete just with yourself. You get up in the morning and just want to do better than what you did the previous day," he said.

Kapoor came into the limelight in the early 1990s, when he presented a cooking show on one of India's then new, privately owned TV channels. Today his CV lists him as the executive chef at Mumbai's premium Centaur Hotel, in the Indian Tourism Development Corporation kitchens and with Singapore Airlines, as having authored several cookbooks and as the most celebrated face of Indian cuisine, with appearances on international TV shows, such as the popular Rachel Ray Show. He has his own TV channel, FoodFood also.

"See, in terms of television, when I started my show some 20 years ago, did I know I'd be doing TV for so long? Maybe not, but along the way I understood that this is something where I can do a lot. And I thought that India needs a 24/7 food channel. Then again, why just India? Why not global? Today, after 15 months, I feel we've done well, and it's also beamed in the UAE through e-vision," Kapoor said.

The more difficult bet

However, even after so many years, he finds cooking on television slightly more difficult than in a restaurant kitchen.

"Actually, cooking is the same, whether in a restaurant or at home, or wherever. And when you've trained to be a professional chef, it's not difficult. What makes all the difference is who you are cooking for. When you are cooking in a restaurant or a hotel, you'd normally prepare something that may be difficult, different and something that is visually appealing — something people would pay a lot for.

"While cooking on TV, you need to focus on the show — such as the show I started with — to teach people how to cook. So I had to use my training in hotels and restaurants to create things that were different, yet very simple. So, in that sense, cooking at hotels and restaurants is easier. Cooking on TV was also difficult because I had to rethink all my earlier learning and create things for people not just to learn, but also to ensure that they did not fail in what they created. It wasn't easy, I can tell you."

Kapoor agrees the food that he makes is mostly traditional Indian and very little fusion.

"Being an Indian, I focus on Indian cuisine," he said. "I believe that's the best food on Earth. Not that I'm not trained to cook other food. But I believe that the Indian cuisine is so unique, one lifetime is not enough to go beyond it. I won't say get stuck, but you get so involved with Indian food that you keep at it all the time. And the uniqueness is in the blends we have, the ingredients we use, the ancient techniques and styles we have that are so different. For instance, the blend we use in a single curry can be made with 15 or 20 different spices and herbs, and it needs a lot of boldness to do something like this," he said.

The challenge of Indian cuisine

"Most cuisines would use one or two ingredients or flavours in isolation," Kapoor continued. "We use contrasting flavours in one dish, which is so much fun. You can create so many permutations and combinations while keeping the soul of the food intact. Our food is so old, in the sense that there is so much to learn from it. So you don't need to spend too much time doing ‘fusion' with other cuisine."

But recently Kapoor was seen on an international TV show, Fusion Journeys.

"This was a story done by a TV channel where they took six people from different walks of life to see how they could be creative by using some unique techniques in their chosen fields. I chose Copenhagen because Nordic cuisine is getting so much attention, and Noma restaurant has been voted the best restaurant in the world for the past three years. I thought it was a very good idea to work with chef Rene [Redzepi] and understand his philosophy, how he treats his ingredients, what his style is; then I came back and using those influences, using that experience, I created something that we have in our restaurants."

But when it comes to favourites, Kapoor says he doesn't have one. "My favourite cuisine has to be home-style food and not just Indian. So if I'm in Italy and am in the southern region, and I have the chance to eat home-style food in someone's house — that becomes my favourite that day. You cannot live just being a chef who loves to create, because you won't be happy with just one thing as your favourite. Because it's so boring. When you can have so many flavours, why would you want just one favourite?

"As for a favourite chef, anyone who can please me with simple yet different food, which brings a smile on my face and where I can say, ‘Oh my God, why didn't I think of that?'"

Matter of taste

Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor is slated to open in the first week of June at the Melia Hotel in Bur Dubai, just off Port Rashid Road. For more information, log on to www.melia-dubai.com

Want to taste Kapoor's creations right now? Head to Options at Dubai Convention Centre or Khazana at Al Nasr Leisureland, Dubai.

First steps into the kitchen

"Cooking is something which all kids get exposed to at home, even though they may not be interested, because when you are a child, you eat a lot more at home and so cooking happens a lot. My case was no different. My mum is a very good cook but my dad used to love cooking too. Also, my mother is a vegetarian — so whatever non-vegetarian food we had was cooked by dad. Being from Peshawar, he was extremely fond of good food. So he cooked and experimented a lot. As kids, both my brother and I were really fortunate to be exposed to that. Plus, it encouraged us to see dad in the kitchen and not worry about it, as those days were the ‘oh my God, what's wrong? A man's in the kitchen' days.

"So when it came to choosing a career, I was clear that I wanted to do something different — something that no one in my family or neighbourhood had done. Also I felt I had to do something which was creative. I was left with the choice of being an architect or doing this. I chose to be an architect of food."

Dream diner

"If I had to choose a celebrity whom I'd like to cook for, if only he were alive, it would be Mahatma Gandhi. Because he was such a simple person, how do you please him? That would be a challenge."

Kathal ki biryani

Apply oil to a knife (and hands) and cut jackfruit into slices because jackfruit sap can cause itching. Peel and cut into one-and-a-half-inch cubes. Wash and drain. Parboil soaked rice in six cups of water, adding two green cardamoms, two black cardamoms, cloves and one stick of cinnamon. Drain, refresh in cold water and drain again.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai (wok) and deep-fry jackfruit cubes. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside.

In the same oil deep-fry half the onions until golden brown and crisp. Drain and set aside.

In another pan heat the ghee, add shahi jeera, the remaining cardamoms and cinnamon. Add remaining onions and sauté. Add ginger and garlic pastes and continue to sauté until they turn translucent.

Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, tomatoes and sauté for two-three minutes. Add fried jackfruit cubes and stir. Add yoghurt, salt and coriander leaves.

Dissolve saffron in lukewarm milk and keep aside.

Take a large oven dish and sprad half the jackfruit mixture. Then spread half the rice. Sprinkle saffron milk, garam masala powder, a few mint leaves and a few drops of kewra water.

Arrange the rest of the jackfruit mixture and cover with the remaining rice. Garnish with fried onions, mint leaves and remaining kewra water. Cover with aluminium foil and cook in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Serve hot with a raita of your choice.

Kesari Indrayani

Blanch the pistachios in boiling water. Drain, refresh, peel and slice.

Bring milk to a boil in a deep non-stick pan. Reduce the heat and simmer until the milk reduces to half its original volume. Add sugar and saffron and cook until sugar dissolves.

Squeeze the rasgullas to remove excess syrup and put them in a bowl. Pour the thickened milk mixture over and set aside to cool. Then keep it in the refrigerator to chill.

Take the rasgulla mixture out of the refrigerator and put them in individual bowls. Sprinkle pomegranate pearls, pistachios and almonds and serve chilled.

Note: Rasgullas are an Indian sweet made from cow-milk cheese are available at all Indian sweet shops in the UAE.