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Chef Ajay Chopra on his biggest culinary inspirations, comfort food, daily diet and India’s underrated food treasures
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Chef Ajay Chopra shares his culinary inspirations, favourite comfort food and love for dim sums, while discussing umami and India’s underrated regional cuisine.
For Chef Ajay Chopra, food is as much about flavour and tradition as it is about technique. From his first memorable creation, murgh ki potli, to his love for dim sums and Indian regional cuisine, his food journey has been diverse. In an exclusive interview with HT Lifestyle, he opens up about his inspirations, comfort food, umami and the Indian dishes he believes deserve more attention. (Also read: Chef Kunal Kapur shares simple rice trick that can take your homemade fried rice from sticky to ‘wok-worthy’ )
Chef Ajay Chopra reflects on his culinary path
For Chef Ajay, cooking is a journey shaped by curiosity, mentorship and a deep appreciation for flavour. His passion began in college, when he participated in a chef’s competition and created one of his first modern dishes, murgh ki potli, chicken cooked in a potli and finished in the tandoor. “It was quite a creative dish for a college boy, but it is still one of the dishes I remember fondly,” he recalls.
His culinary journey was shaped by mentors including Inder Balani and Paresh, followed by chefs such as Vinay Jairaj, Elton Hurtis and Prashant Kulkarni at The Oberoi. He also counts Atul Kochhar, Vineet Bhatia and Sanjeev Kapoor among his influences. “When it comes to my biggest inspiration for cooking, I think it is all of these chefs who continue to cook day in and day out. Their dedication to the craft is what inspires me the most,” he says.
From college kitchens to comfort food
Despite his years in professional kitchens, chef Ajay’s comfort food remains simple: instant noodles. He also loves rajma chawal, although he jokes that making it himself would hardly qualify as comfort food. “If somebody could make it and give it to me, I would happily eat it,” he says.
His everyday diet, meanwhile, depends heavily on his schedule. It can start with coffee and a croissant or just coffee, followed by a quick sandwich before heading to the kitchen. Lunch could range from dal, chawal, sabzi aur aachar to an Asian meal, depending on whether he is eating with his team, a guest or at a business meeting. “One thing that is common for every chef is that you start early and finish late,” he says.
The seven-layered saat parat ki biryani is among the most complicated dishes he has made, with the challenge lying in getting every layer perfectly cooked. His favourite dish, however, is prawn har gow at Yauatcha. A fan of dim sums, he loves the delicate wrapper and flavourful prawn filling.
Why umami has always been part of Indian cuisine
Chef Ajay has explored umami in his book Discovering Umami in Indian Cuisine. He believes the savoury flavour has long been part of Indian cooking, even before it had a name. “Umami has actually been a part of Indian food for a very long time and is naturally present in many of the ingredients that we have been using in our kitchens for generations,” he says.
He points to tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and fermented foods as sources of glutamate, while meat and certain other ingredients contain inosinate. “You see this in so many Indian dishes, whether it is butter chicken, our fermented batters, or simply the way we cook with onions and tomatoes,” he says. “It is just that we never really called it ‘umami’. We understood it as ‘labab’ or simply as something delicious and full of flavour.”
Among spices, cardamom is his favourite, thanks to its versatility across curries, desserts and even ice cream. He particularly enjoys burnt orange and cardamom ice cream.
Healthier cooking and India’s regional flavours
Chef Ajay believes Indian cooking can be made healthier through small changes, particularly when it comes to salt. He discusses MSG as one possible way to retain flavour while reducing sodium, saying, “MSG has about two-thirds less sodium than regular table salt, while its umami flavour helps enhance the overall taste of a dish.”
He also believes India’s regional vegetarian cuisine deserves more attention. bharwa karela, Gujarati sukhdi, litti chokha and Odisha’s aloo beguda dum are among the dishes he highlights. “Every state in India has so many vegetarian dishes that deserve to be on the centre stage,” he says.
And if he had to eat one meal for the rest of his life? After some hesitation, chef Ajay settles on dim sums.
