Masterchef's cuisine now in town!

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At the age of 27, he became the top chef and made history by conducting the most popular cookery show 'Khana Khazana' on TV. Apart from being an author of best-selling cookbooks, he has an online portal, www.sanjeevkapoor.com, a complete cookery manual with more than 15,000 tried and tested recipes and a wealth of information on food. Presently, he also runs a TV Channel 'FoodFood'.

 All this, from a man who belonged to an era, when 'chef' as a profession was not popular. 
More than 30 years have passed but Sanjeev Kapoor's commitment to food is still the same. He has been constantly reinventing ideas and always believes there is no end to learning. He shares his recipe of success as he officially launched his Yellow Chilli brand in the city on Sunday.  
Food has evolved with its variety of recipes and styles of cooking. But Master chef Sanjeev has always chosen a less travelled path to achieve success. “I realised that TV was helping me reach millions of viewers worldwide. I wanted to bring the experience to the people  by serving high quality food at an affordable rate," he said.

Quiz him on the name of his restaurant 'Yellow Chilli', he says: “Food at Yellow Chilli is comforting but, it is not predictable. Which is why I thought of playing with 'red', which usually symbolises the chilli. It is also to say, there is a limit bit of madness in it.” 
Yellow Chilli is based on the belief that food from India is a priority. "People always want something different. Experiencing Indian food abroad is expensive," said Sanjeev who has opened 64 outlets under different brands in eight countries. 

He, however, says most of the food varieties will have a North-Indian touch, but the recipes are altered a bit to suit the local flavour. “We follow a standard menu at all our outlets. However, keeping in mind the local preference, we have included several dishes which have a pan-India touch. For example, though we may not make 'Karimeen Polichathu', we make a dish from Karimeen fish,” he said. 

"Food is life for me," he says and opines that a chef is always a maker and cooking is never a hobby. As a restaurateur, he is also working on a new project where he will be travelling to North Kerala to know what makes the biryani of the region different from North India in terms of ingredients and spices. 
The outlet situated in Nalanda Lane, Nanthancode was inaugurated by chef Sanjeev Kapoor with a live plating demo of fish molee wrapped in Idiappam. He also educated the audience present in the event about the colour code cutting boards. The restaurant will be managed by Gen Trends Hospitality Pvt Ltd, a hospitality chain based in UAE helmed by entrepreneurs N P Unnikrishnan and Neelesh Bhatnagar.