Holy Chef

“The first film I completed is on ‘langar’,the free lunch served to visitors at a gurdwara,” said Khanna,who plays a mentor anchoring the second season of Masterchef India. “The next is centered around Krishna and his devotees. The film gives a peek into the simple yet delicious fare at the ISKCON temples,” he said on his visit to Lucknow on Thursday.

For another film on iftaar,the meal with which Muslims break their Ramzan fast with,Khanna went for research to the Haas University of Egypt.

“I may have been in the US but the Indian connect was never lost on me,” says Khanna,who runs restaurants,writes books,teaches and hosts programmes,doing his best to make Indian cuisine the world’s favourite. “My Kakori kababs have been confirmed as the most authentic by the most die-hard of gourmets,” says Khanna,who wriggled the secret recipe out of the bawarchis in Lucknow’s neighbouring hamlet,but wouldn’t share it with anybody else. “Maybe it is the desi ghee smoke,maybe it is the way you pound the meat with the right balance of flesh and fat…” he smiles smugly.

Accompanying Khanna were three participants of the TV show,of whom Salma Shahzia from Bangalore is being rumored to have won the crown.

“No,it’s not true,though I wish it is,” insists Shahzia,putting up her best defence as her co-participants Joseph Rozario and Shipra Khanna nod in agreement.

Asked which dish they would give their signature to,Shahzia names ‘andey ka halwa’,Rozaria the desi pie that helped him reach the final stages and Khanna the mousse that shot her to fame.

Their signature eateries would serve Karnataka cuisine if Shahzia ever got to run her restaurant,fusion food if Khanna had it her way and a mix of Indian and Continental if owned by Rozario.

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