'I love pani puris'
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty shares her food secrets with Roshmila Bhattacharya. Read on.
What do you start the day with?
Hmm.. porridge, Manuka honey, 60 ml aloe vera and a cup of green tea. As a child I hated porridge because I was forced to eat it every day, we had no cornflakes then. Now I relish it. Earlier, I had to have milk every day, now I have it diluted with a lot of water.

And what do you end the day with?
Green tea.
What would be a perfect meal?
For starters, miso soup and lettuce salad with a honey dressing. The main course would be grilled chicken, sea bass with asparagus and brown rice. For dessert, molten chocolate cake from Indigo.
On a date what would you like to be wooed with?
Chocolate covered strawberries and caviar.
Which is your most favourite eating place in the world?
The Chinese restaurant, Hakkasan, in London. In Mumbai it’s the teppan grill at the J W Marriott, Wasabi at the Taj Hotel, Royal China and Oh Calcutta. I just love Bengali food.
When you eat out what do you inevitably order?
Fusion food, which is tasty and healthy.. Continental with a touch of spice or interesting Asian food. I love Japanese and Chinese cuisine. Also, noodles with chicken curry.
Royal China serves sumptuous steamed grouper with soya and ginger while Wasabi has great rock shrimp and a whitefish karbaschi.
Oh Calcutta is a must for its steamed hilsa and crab, bhapa chingri, kosha mangsho and mutton biryani. I also relish salads with different fruits like mashed papaya, pomegranate seeds and apple with a honey dressing. And yes, seaweed.
What has been your most memorable experiment with food?
I mix tomato sauce with cream and milk and add this to cooked pasta sprinkled with spinach and cut sausages. It’s yummy!
A culinary disaster?
It would be the roast chicken in the Big Brother show. Apparently, it wasn’t cooked, I couldn’t figure out how the oven worked. That was my only culinary disaster.
Any food you can’t do without?
Lettuce.. it’s tasty, healthy and has a high water content that fills you up.
Any kind of food you absolutely abhor?
I don’t abhor it but I don’t eat beef.
Okay, what’s the yuckiest thing you have ever tasted?
Anchovies.
What is your favourite drink?
Green tea.
When you have a touch of the blues what is your comfort food?
Del Ray chocolates.
If you weren’t a movie star what would you binge on?
I don’t eat carefully to look good but to stay healthy so I don’t feel the need to binge but may be French fries.
Without looking tell us what is in your dabba?
Brown rice, daal, vegetables, chicken or fish.
Whose dabba wou1d you like to steal?
Salman’s (Khan), he gets sumptous stuff from home.. and Suniel Shetty who’s into health food.
In summer what do you cool down with?
Tender coconut water with the malai.
What do you munch on when it rains or when there’s a nip in the air?
Thin crust pizzas, spicy chicken wings or kanda bhajiyas.
When was the last time you snacked on the roadside?
I love pani puris. Once when I was in my office, I ordered for dahi batata puris.. you get great pani puri and dahi batata puri at Super Sweets in Lokhandwala.
What are the three things one always finds in your refrigerator?
Exotic fruits, papayas, milk, juice and peanut butter. Sorry, that makes it four.
When you go shopping what do you usually end up buying?
Asparagus, lettuce and sweet corn.. I love salads.
One fruit you eat every day?
Papaya. I also like chikoos and during the mango season, I eat a mango every day.
Your miracle diet would be..
I’m genetically blessed and work out a lot, so I don’t need to knock off unnecessary kilos. But honey first thing in the morning is great. So is green tea.
What’s your specialty?
Chicken curry. I cook it at least once a week.