Get to know... Chintan Pandya

Chef Chintan talks about his love for cooking, his favorite dish to prepare, and his three food trends to watch out for

Chef, @chefchintan

• Currently I am:

  Back in New York after a successful Dhamaka India tour, courtesy Masters of Marriott Bonvoy and Culinary Culture.

• The day I realised I loved cooking:

  As a kid, I loved eating and eating out. By the time I was 15 or 16, I decided to be a chef, because it’s a profession in which I don’t have to pay to eat. People would pay me to eat.

• One dish every adult must know how to prepare:

  Masala chai. Not everyone can make a good version. It seems simple but it’s more difficult to make than a complex dish.

• An Indian ingredient I love:

  Methi. I love it in any form.

• Three people I’d invite to a dream dinner:

  My grandmother, the filmmaker Manmohan Desai and Sachin Tendulkar.

• Three food trends to watch out for:

  Ethnic regional cooking – it’s already getting big in New York. A serious focus on cooking with vegetables. And a huge market for grains, which the West has still not explored.

• What I wish Indian diners knew about the world:

  That it’s possible to respect the context of the cultural appropriation of the country they are eating in.

• A food I crave:

  Ice-cream.

• My favourite Sunday memory:

  Everyone sitting on the floor in the living room and eating, with the food placed in the centre along with the Sunday special, pulao.

• My own comfort food:

  Khichri.

• Three food books for those getting started:

  On Food and Cooking, by Harold Mcgee. Culinaria, a series of books divided by country (though not for India yet). And Indian Food: A Historical Companion by KT Acharya.

• If there were no consequences, I’d eat:

  A hot jalebi or motichoor laddoo.