Masterchef Pankaj Bhadouria Back With her Fourth Book

FORMER TEACHER and India’s first Masterchef, Pankaj Bhadouria launched her fourth book, The Secret's in the Spice Mix, at Piali: The curry bistro in Connaught Place, recently. Bhadouria spoke to BW Hotelier about her new launch during the event. “This book celebrates the very essence of Indian cooking, it is about the masalas, which is so very integral to Indians,” she said.

“I love reading and writing because there is so much excitement around it. So much of research is done from compiling recipes, testing them out to the final editing; there is a lot of excitement that keep happening around,” she added. Bhadouria is also to planning another book within the next three months.

“Preserving the Indianness in food is very essential. Commercial Indian food is not real Indian food”, she said about keeping the authenticity in Indian cuisine.

When asked about her favourite dish, Bhadouria laughed and said, “Khichdi will always be my favourite”. With the help of her husband, Charu Samarth, Bhadouria has started a culinary school in Lucknow.

The mother of two, manages to balance her professional and personal life. “We are a very close knit family. All the time we are together, we are actually together. We play together, eat together, watch television together,” she told us.

Bhadouria spoke a little about the importance of technology in culinary field, “like any other profession that is seeing changes, this is also experiencing one with new technology, ideas and concepts. Like we have introduced molecular gastronomy in kitchens.”

Bhadouria had a message for budding chefs. “I would like to encourage all the young starters. This is a beautiful field which has great growth prospect. Initially it’s a tough life but yes I believe struggles are the part of every profession and one should be passionate enough to pursue,” she told us.