America
I want more people to try Indian food: Vikas Khanna
New Delhi, June 16
Vikas Khanna, who has
joined hands with National Geographic Channel for their new series
titled “India’s Megakitchenâ€, says the Indian kitchen is yet to be
explored extensively.
“The series will talk about the beauty of large kitchens of India,†Khanna told IANS.
He
will bring to the fore the contrast between the tradition and high-tech
kitchens, with a focus on scale, volume, technology and process.
Premiering
on June 22, the series will be a five-part documentary, which will
strive to show to the world what an absolute work of art Indian kitchens
are and also the reasons and philosophies behind their existence.
The
show also promises to take viewers on journeys that will give them a
first-hand account of the emotion, stress and fun of the people behind
it all - the pressure, precision and purpose of feeding the many
thousands of people on a daily basis. The kitchens featured will be of
Dharmasthala, Shirdi, Taj Sats, IRCTC and NGO Akshaya Patra.
Khanna's overall aim is to make "more people try Indian food", and he has been doing that via his New York restaurant Junoon.
"The
most popular dish at my restaurant is Fish Malwan. I add my own twist
to the dish, and another dish is Noorani Kebab. It's a combination of
chicken and lamb. There is also a Kerala-inspired duck dish," added the
Amritsar-born star chef, who has worked with some of the most
influential chefs of the world such as Gordon Ramsay, Bobby Flay,
Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Khanna had a guest in Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon earlier this month, and he treated her to 'eggplant chaat'.
The
43-year-old loves north-eastern food and believes that "nobody has
explored their cuisine so much and not many have written about it
either".
"It's beautiful and its our responsibility to bring it to the forefront," he said.
His favourite ingredient which he consciously or unconsciously tends to use the most while cooking is Star Anise.
Confessing his love for the particular spice, he said: "I am biased towards its fragrance and I think it looks pretty too."