THE HINDU 6 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5,2OI2

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Ithough Aditya consulted cook books to know more about Indian

cooking, he owes a lot to what he believe that travelling is the best form of education. Going into people's

life and would mean less medical expenses," When asked about junl< food Aditya
doesn't trash

junk food is tough. Sometimeg, junk learnt from his travels. "I flrmly food is- among the tastiest. If you pre'

it completely. "Defining

homes and tasting their cooking has given me a general idea of a region's culture. Indian cuisine is so vast, it is as varied as the number of homes and families there are."

'Few know that before Chakh Le

happened Aditya knew only how to

pare a pizza using fresh salami and mozzarella it is healthj'. But the same pizza if mass-produced, would contain ajinomoto, processed cheese, salami or chicken, which is unhealthy. So it depends." Over the years, Adity4 who describes himself as "a cerebral person" has picked up food trivia along with recipes. When asked speciflcally on Karnataka, he says that Karwar is a sea food paradise and that the freshest fish can be found in Kundapur. "Did you know that yellow-coloured tender coconut can be found only at Kuppepadavu, which is a little distance away from Mangalore?" The tender coconut is "three times sweeter than a regular
sweet coconut", he adds. In Kuppepadavu !oo, Aditya has had "the best ghee dosa ever, which is prepared on a thick tawa and served with

cook Porbuguese cuisine. "The flrst time I cooked mainstream Indian food
is when the show happened," he confesses.

IIe prefers kaacha rasta recipes from villages over more fancy ones. "I focus first on fundamental techniques and

Iater on complicated recipes." His book Chakh Le India has a variety of

sumptuous recipes, such as Amritsari Paneer Bhurji, Kosha Mangsho, Goan Prawn ald Mango Ambotih Malabari Prawn curry and Moru Sambhar. Vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike would find the book useful. Balance and tradition

coffee."

Aditya says that baldnce defines tra-

ditional Indian cuisine. 'What we can pick up from traditional saMk Ayurvedic cooking is that there is always an emphasis onbalance; the hot and cold, sour and sweet, bitter and bland are all

in proportion."
Fresh vegetables and meats enhance

the quality offood, Aditya points out yet again. 'Vegetables fresh out of a

farm are sold as close as a one-and-ahalf hour drive from Bangalore. They are incredible to taste. The vegetables of water interrupted by starch molecome in varying sizes. They don't look cules. Starch expands when it reacts good but Nature didn't decree that with water, fllls up the pockets of air, every tomato and capsicum should be and you get dough." ofthe exact shape, size and colour." Aditya sdys fhat foodies must read Aditya says that it would be ideal if Harold Mcgee's On Food and Cooking. vegetables were grown Iike they used "It is perhaps the sin$e most compreto. hensive work onfood science ever." "The problem is that pesticides and Aditya is primarily Bangaloreantibiotics had to be used to feed the based, but when people ask him where ever-growing population. There was he is from, he admits, he "really doesn't no otherwayout. What is happening as know what to say." I am a Kashmiri pandit, born in Delhi, and raised in a result is that we are becoming chronically ill. We are ingesting chemicals, Kashmir. Myfamilyhad to leave Kashand our children are being fed food mir because of the insurgency." Ever high in sodium, cholesterol and sugar." since, he has lived in Bombay for lt He agrees that organic farming is the years and Goa for four years. way forward, though "the challenge is Aditya concludes by saying that his to make it affordable." Nevertheless, experiences in life have taught him he urges people to be more willing to that "for anyone to take you seriously, spend on good quality produce. "It you have to work hard to prove would be the best investment of your yourself."

Aditya's love for baking came from his grandmother. "My nali was a prolific baker. Like most of our grandmothers, she would always be coming out of the kitchen with some delicious preparation. She enjoyed feeding people, which has lived on in me." Cooking is often associated with creativity, but it is more a science, Aditya contends. "I ain totally into food science. 90 per cent of all foods comprise water. Food gets its form from how the moleclrles, of water are re-arranged and disturbed by other molecules. For example, pasta is a continuous phase