Tales from the kitchen

Talking about his cooking style,he says,”My dream is to modernise Indian food. ” He feels that Indian food tastes good but lacks vision. “It’s always a curry in a bowl. We need to stop hiding our food under the curry,” says 36-year-old Desai,adding that there should be a reason for everything to exist on the plate.

He says that food is an experience that should activate all five senses but Indian food only satisfies just two or three. “When it comes to food in a country as diverse as ours,there is always something different and new to try out every 100 km your travel,” says Desai.

Recalling his participation on MasterChef Australia,he says,”My wife Mitra is my biggest critic and it was she who encouraged me to participate in the show.” Known to give his dishes an Indian twist,Desai’s modak-dumplings with soy-caramel earned him high praise from the judges on the show. “What I did on the show was to take my Indian flavours and make them modern. I convert the Indian flavours into modern Indian fine dining experience,” he explains,adding that his most memorable moment at the show will be the four days he spent in the kitchen with his idol Heston Blumenthal.

Presently based in Australia,Desai,who hails from Kolhapur district attributes his cooking talent to his mom and says that his favourite dish is mutton biryani. After finishing his degree in engineering from MIT,Pune,Desai shifted to the US. Currently,he is working full time at the Australian Public Service.

Remembering the days when he got inclined towards cooking,he says,”My mom tells me that she remembers me fiddling around in her kitchen when I was six years old to make noodles or juice for myself.” His love for food and cooking,he says,has only grown since then. He adds,“The best way to keep your kids off junk food is to allow them to experiment in the kitchen,” says Desai,who is busy these days working on his cookbook on modern Indian food,which is slated to release early next year.