It’s the final day of Navratri, the Hindu competition celebrated with nice pomp and splendour over 9 nights. The fireworks outdoors my window oblige with drumrolls for what guarantees to be a night I’ll keep in mind for years to come back.
Within the subsequent few seconds, as Vikas Khanna — the web’s beloved chef — takes a number of seconds to unmute his mic and alter his digital camera, giving me a transparent view of him in his elegant New York Metropolis dwelling, I can’t assist however smile at this ‘pinch-me’ second.
Proper from the outset, Khanna is chipper; nobody (besides in all probability the overall supervisor at ‘Bungalow’, Sameer Bhatt) would guess he has pulled an all-nighter. Nicely into the wee hours of the morning, Khanna was trying to copy the intricate wings of a peacock’s feathers onto the floor of a bit of coconut barfi (Indian candy).
4 a long time of culinary expertise ensured he aced the duty. And now for replicating the identical onto a hundred-odd items! Recognized to push the envelope, Khanna does justice to this fame when he says, “I wished every feather to be precisely alike.”
Sharing how the plumage was meant to be harking back to the mandirs (temples) in Indian houses, Khanna was eager that each visitor at ‘Bungalow’ — his dream restaurant undertaking launched in New York in March this 12 months — return dwelling that day with a field of coconut barfi, spot the fragile mor pankh (peacock feather), and smile.
He’s positively brimming with pleasure to announce the barfis had the specified impact; as many Indian immigrants discovered themselves transported by the mini square-shaped time capsules from America to the epicentre of the festive insanity in India.
Revered on the culinary circuit, Vikas Khanna’s prowess transcends the kitchen.
The multi-hyphenate has authored over 37 books — along with his most up-to-date ‘Imaginary Rain’ (2023) being become a Shabana Azmi starrer — has directed three movies and two documentaries; been one of many judges at MasterChef India; and helmed a number of eating places together with New York’s iconic ‘Junoon’ — one of many first Indian eating places to obtain the coveted Michelin star.
However regardless of this compelling bio, Khanna’s major identifier is that of a proud Indian. And that is mirrored in all the things — from the tadka (spices heated in scorching oil) that makes its means into his curries to the flicker in his eyes when he speaks about life again in his beloved hometown, Amritsar.
For Vikas Khanna, all roads lead dwelling
Khanna’s culinary thoughts has quite a bit to occupy it. Recollections of serving the who’s who of the world — he has been the chef du jour a number of instances for the Obama household, whereas additionally working intently with meals mogul Gordon Ramsay — discover house proper subsequent to nostalgic recollections of binge periods involving rounds of tikkis (potato patties) from ‘Mathura ki Tikki’ in Amritsar.
“I distinctly keep in mind how this [tikki] was the favorite snack of my cousins who would go to us from Kolkata and Mumbai. Nothing was achieved to make the potatoes crisp. As an alternative, they had been fried to an amazing diploma after which pressed on a scorching tava (pan) laden with ghee. Within the late 70s, every tikki was round Rs 20 — which was some huge cash! However the crispiness of these potatoes could be very nostalgic for me. I nonetheless snack on them after I go to India,” shares Khanna.
You’d have an interest to know that this spot is likely one of the seven distinguished ones dotting the ‘meals map’ devised by Khanna’s mom to rejoice his homecoming. The locales are set in stone and nothing is up for debate.
In fact, her son’s international fame means the duo can now not feast on tikkis and chaat (avenue meals) in peace with out 500-odd folks thronging to get a glimpse of their favorite chef or (in the event that they’re fortunate) a selfie. And Khanna is ever-obliging, animatedly chatting up every vendor he visits. “In spite of everything, they had been my basis,” he smiles.
This completely segues his subsequent thought, “We frequently take issues with no consideration when now we have them.”
A learn between the strains tells me meals is just not the one factor on his thoughts. The ladies in Khanna’s life — his mom, grandmother, and sister — have been instrumental within the making of the person and chef he’s; their love types the bedrock of his childhood and youth.
“Many in my staff are first-generation Indian Individuals. When describing visits they made again dwelling throughout their summer time holidays, they confer with their grandmothers as ‘healers’ for the sheer magic their meals evoked.” Khanna attributes this to the simplicity of issues. “When you have a look at it, there was nothing hooked up to our grandmother’s meals apart from love; no expectation, no judgement. You had been let loose when having that meals.”
And immediately, the menu at Bungalow in East Village, New York, displays these sensibilities. Again and again, the culinary virtuoso has reiterated how his newest — and final — gastronomic endeavour is an ode to the road distributors of India and the crafts they’ve perfected over generations. “I hail from a small city, a small neighborhood the place avenue meals was the one means. In my rising up years, there was only one restaurant in Amritsar. However it was the meals of avenue distributors that made us go ‘wow’,” he shares.
Borrowing from the English phrase for bangla (single-story dwelling), coined throughout India’s colonial previous, Bungalow is an invitation to expertise historical past, tradition, and distinctive delicacies. With a menu that includes a repository of time-honoured recipes documented from throughout India’s 28 states in all its range and hues, the house invitations you to reimagine classics like by no means earlier than.
Bungalow: A ‘dwelling’ for Indian immigrants
Securing a reservation at this grand institution isn’t any straightforward feat, extra so as soon as the festive season in India units in (October to December). Chef Vikas Khanna’s behavior of going to lengths to recreate the Diwali magic is just not misplaced on foodies.
Proof of this lies in my dialog with him. Stumped whereas making an attempt to obtain parijaat flowers (a standard characteristic in Indian houses throughout Diwali), he was pleasantly stunned when a visitor, observing his frenzy, made him his very personal bunch of parijaat — from crochet! The flowers now occupy centre stage on the restaurant. Coupled with the candy smells of their actual counterparts that deck each nook, and the aromas of delicacies — together with the Banarasi puri (a North-Indian snack) and baingan bharta (a dish made with roasted eggplants) — they create a semblance of festive cheer.
Khanna has lived in America for over 25 years now. He’s clocked extra milestones than his youthful self ever dreamed doable. However in hindsight, he says it was a deep worth system he traded this for. “We’ve misplaced the consolation of being round dwelling. The Indians who come to Bungalow are those that have achieved a lot past their consolation zones, however are finally on the lookout for that emotional connection to one thing.” The storied restaurant, created in reminiscence of his sister, is supposed to fill that gaping gap within the lives of many immigrants.
“She [my sister] would all the time inform me that I had a sacred present [cooking]. By means of Bungalow, each Indian dwelling in America can know that they’ve somebody who’s theirs.” Many an evening when a teenager or silver-haired visitor breaks down after biting right into a mithai and being reminded of dwelling, Khanna joins them on the desk, shedding a silent tear of his personal.
As a result of he too, like them, is reminded of the piece of his coronary heart he has left again in India.
A world highlight on indigenous substances
Do you suppose sluggish sustainable cooking has a vivid future? I ask Khanna.
“Lata Mangeshkar hamesha Lata Mangeshkar rahengi (There’ll all the time be one thing particular about Lata Mangeshkar),” he replies, then falls silent, permitting the phrases to clarify themselves.
It’s a fast-paced world, you’ll agree. However Khanna is a agency believer in time-tested ideas. At Bungalow, the meals is just not meant to take a seat nonetheless and look fairly however is an interlocutor, urging its patrons to take satisfaction of their tradition. “Whereas mentoring children, I inform them ‘Select your future however select the final level after which hint your steps again’.” He encourages them within the course of elevating our native delicacies as an alternative of eager to popularise Western meals — whose roots they aren’t as aware of.
“I’ve all the time maintained that it’s wonderful to have profitable companies, however my solely query is what do you characterize,” he remarks.
Khanna’s culinary temper board is decked with the experiences he’s gained working throughout cities. The journey has been colored with wins and losses, each important to his roaring success. So, when friends comment on how his sandesh (a candy made with milk, sugar and flavouring) mirrors the unique Kolkata model, Khanna smiles. Whoever knew days spent writing letters to eating places in Kolkata, requesting an opportunity to work with them; and a number of practice journeys forwards and backwards would play such an integral position? “Due to my expertise throughout India, my meals displays the whole nation.”
Whether or not it’s the Amritsari chole (a North Indian speciality made with chickpeas) that’s peppered with Khanna’s childhood recollections, or the rooster Chitranee marinated in his love for North India, every dish is a celebration of flavour.
However, it wasn’t all highs.
Because the darkness of the years in between engulfs Khanna for a second, he shares how a ray of hope all the time shone via within the type of his sister’s phrases to him — “God is testing you a lot each single day. I hope when it’s time to distribute happiness, God places you within the entrance of the road.” He shares, “After I wasn’t getting good jobs, I assumed it was my unhealthy luck. Lots in my journey was damaged. That’s how there are such a lot of items. They’re all coming collectively now.”
Lately, considered one of his Instagram posts questioned aloud, “Who knew that this child with bunny tooth, unusual ft, zero confidence, zero grades in class and all the time the paranoid child within the slender streets of Amritsar [would head a] restaurant [that] might be honoured within the listing of fifty BEST RESTAURANTS IN AMERICA by The New York Occasions. Who knew?”
Nobody noticed it coming, however destiny undoubtedly did.
On a lighter observe, Khanna shrugs apart, revealing the house behind him, permitting me a minute to understand the beautiful style with which his lounge is completed, and likewise, as he shares, the spot for Bungalow’s very first tasting session. He follows this enjoyable truth with a hearty anecdote of how that day noticed a room filled with friends — the likes of Jay Shetty and Jimmy Rizvi — declaring pineapple for the win, completely floored by the common-or-garden pineapple curry.
Khanna, who doubted how this straightforward rendition would work the room was pleasantly stunned to see it turning into the protagonist of the meal. He then goes on to disclose the recipe, a commerce secret I can’t probably share, however can affirm is sensible.
What’s astounding is how the only substances discover a stage in Khanna’s gastronomic repertoire. Right here’s an instance. “I recreated aloo vadis (potato snacks) with purple potatoes. It was a really fascinating spin. The hero was the hing (asafoetida).” One wouldn’t ever think about the common-or-garden (and sometimes taken with no consideration) hing to get the limelight, however with Khanna, something is feasible. It’s wonderful how simplicity and finesse convene in every dish touched by his arms.
The extra I find out about chef Vikas Khanna, the extra fascinated I’m. As an illustration, he shares how, alongside along with his household, a 90s Bollywood launch shaped the crux of Bungalow’s USP. His grandmother’s enthusiasm to observe Hum Aapke Hai Kaun (1994) and a theatre crammed to capability taught Khanna to by no means underestimate the market. “We frequently assume the market is for kids, however one’s credibility lies in how they will entice grandparents. That could be a testomony to your craft. You need to penetrate the market together with your authenticity,” he says.
I need to preserve listening to chef Vikas Khanna. However it’s unfair to deprive the friends at Bungalow of the pleasure of his firm. No, he’s not planning to relaxation regardless of the all-nighter.
Even at 53, and on the pinnacle of success, Khanna spends 16 hours a day working (Learn: doing what he loves). “I don’t need the artist in me to die and be taken over by commerce. The day I take off my apron, folks ought to comprehend it’s been an extended journey to be right here.”
Edited by Pranita Bhat; Footage supply: Chef Vikas Khanna
