‘Hoping that all G20 leaders’ spouses are excited to taste everything that chefs have put together’: Chef Anahita Dhondy

Here’s a glimpse (Source: Anahita Dhondy/Instagram Stories)

Concurring that not much is on the forefront about Parsi food, Anahita — who is the author of The Parsi Kitchen cookbook — emphasised, “I am going to be talking about how Parsi food is a little different as a regional Indian cuisine yet at the same time, it incorporates the tastes and flavours of the western part of India.”

Notably, every chef gets to showcase one course and one dish in the Live Cooking Area in a quick demonstration of 15-20 minutes. “Each chef is doing one course. I am in charge of the starter. I chose it. I shared a couple of ideas that I had with the entire team. We wanted to make sure that there was no overlap as there are different courses that are showcased. Just like mine is a first course or a starter, there are different courses that different chefs are doing,” mentioned Anahita.

Is she excited or nervous in the run-up to the D-day? “Honestly, I am very excited to be showcasing a little bit of my regional Indian cuisine which is Parsi food with promoting millets. So, just very happy that I will be able to showcase my food. Not to any people but extremely influential dignitaries” shared Anahita in an exclusive interaction with indianexpress.com.

The chef, who has showcased before at the United Nations and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on the global stage, also shared, “G20 in India is a multi-cultural experience. There is going to be so much diversity. Wherever I have been, it has been a much smaller group. This is much larger in scale. It is happening on my home turf of Delhi. I couldn’t have been happier.”

From appetisers, salads, and main courses to even desserts, millet will be at the centre stage with 2023 being celebrated as the International Year of Millets (IYM).

Anahita Dhondy will be prepping a Parsi starter (Source: Anahita Dhondy/Instagram Stories)

“Millets has been an ancient grain that has been part of our culture. I feel like we have lost touch with it and now because of the IYM, there is so much spoken about it. I am hoping that more Indians take to loving it and including it in their diets. It is extremely healthy and good for you, for the farmer, and the planet as well,” mentioned Anahita, who personally loves foxtail, ragi and pearl millet for their diverse uses.

Other celebrity chefs including Kunal Kapur, and Ajay Chopra will also cook live. Joining these chefs will be two culinary experts from the ITC group — Kusha Mathur and Nikita Mehra.

Here’s what the trio of Anahita, Ajay and Kunal prepared (Source: Anahita Dhondy/Instagram Stories)

“I am hoping that all the leaders’ spouses are quite excited to taste everything that all the chefs have put together. In hindsight, I just hope that Indian food reaches its zenith’s height. It is the best food in the world and sooner or later, people will know about it. We just have to keep working towards it and I know that Indian food will dominate the world food scene very soon,” expressed Anahita.

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