The Maharaj from Manhattan

So what convinced Devi8217;s executive chef that the bhindi kadadee or patrani machchi that wowed Bruni will work in Delhi? 8216;8216;I think Indians are ready to go back to the refinement that once characterised home cooking,8217;8217; says Saran. 8216;8216;Nowadays, no one has the time or the energy for the food our parents8217; generation took for granted.8217;8217;

It8217;s a clever focus, negating the takeaways and tandoori factories abroad, and the speciality restaurants at home, all in one go. 8216;8216;But Indian food is not about Bukhara!8217;8217; Saran exclaims.

He should know. Saran received the formal training in his art8212;for all of 15 days8212;under Manjit Gill, chef of the path-breaking frontier cuisine kitchen. 8216;8216;I was not serious about it at that time,8217;8217; he laughs, in between bites of an arbi seekh kebab at Masala Art, the Indian restaurant at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. 8216;8216;I was just a schoolboy fooling around.8217;8217;

But Saran was even younger when he began watching his family maharaj Panditji, whose kin has served Saran8217;s for 60-odd years. 8216;8216;He was the best teacher I could have had,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;I kept a diary of all that he did in the kitchen. It came in handy when I was writing my book Indian Home Cooking, released this August.8217;8217;

The book pays copious tribute to Panditji and Saran8217;s own family. Father Vir was in government service and mum Sunita8217;s 8216;8216;an excellent cook and baker8217;8217;. But was there no opposition at all when the youngest son of the Kayasth family began showing a distinct taste for, ummm, women8217;s work?

Saran is silent for a moment. 8216;8216;While growing up, I was always aware I was different,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;But good food, I saw, melted away all conflicts. That is the magic of a well-cooked meal8212;that is why I do what I do.8217;8217;

It8217;s a philosophy that has taken Saran to Devi, to the contributing editorship at Food Arts8212;the premier American trade magazine, and teaching classes at New York University8217;s Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.

Part of the secret of Saran8217;s success is his skill for demystifying Indian cooking. 8216;8216;Indian chefs,8217;8217; he says, poking a hole into a perfect phulka to release a gush of steam, 8216;8216;like to exoticise Indian food, maybe to protect their jobs. My watchword is accessibility.8217;8217;

The same pragmatism that governs Saran8217;s cookery classes is evident in his no-frills book, and in his life. 8216;8216;My family follows the Radhasoami tradition, my siblings and I were brought up as strict vegetarians. But in the US, I realised that my partner Chuck was having to do without his meats simply because I wouldn8217;t cook it,8217;8217; remembers Saran. 8216;8216;So I began cooking meat, though I didn8217;t need to taste it; my andaz with ingredients is perfect.8217;8217;

The andaaz has stood Saran8212;and chef and business partner Hemant Mathur8212;in good stead. Devi8217;s USP is its single-minded devotion to taste. To hell with labels.

8216;8216;I8217;m not about fusion food,8217;8217; Saran hastens to clarify. 8216;8216;But I love surprising my clientele, a fair mix of Indians and non-Indians. For instance, I do lamb chops8212;burra kebabs, really8212;with karipatta and the masala dosa filling, and serve it with a pear chutney with kasoori methi. It8217;s probably Devi8217;s most sought-after dish.8217;8217;It8217;s this spirit of adventure that Saran promises to bring to Delhi next March.