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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
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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.
