Simple food which makes one happy, is the best dish served
Every good story starts with a great beginning. In case of Michelin Star Chef Vikas Khanna, his culinary saga begins from the time he was a boy living in an extended family. “My first memory of food is of a meal with the whole family sitting together. I remember that my grandmother would say a silent prayer of gratitude for the food that we were about to eat. I was intrigued by these small rituals which brought food and family together. To me they were intertwined—both elevated our beings. I was intrigued by how one square meal not only nourished our bodies, but our souls, too. It was this wholesome aspect of food that attracted me and I decided to be a chef. Even as a boy, I knew I wanted to make food to make people happy. I understood the power of food in a very different dimension as I grew up rolling breads and doing seva at the Golden Temple,” says the Chef who was born and bred in the holy city of Amritsar.
Khanna’s notion of food—to a great extent—is spiritual. And it is not about the meal on the plate. It is about the company you eat with. How wholesome, tasty and simple food makes one content. It is as much tied to the city Khanna grew up in, as it is to its social culture. “Of course, yes! Amritsar did leave a footprint on my food journey. There is so much to learn from the city of my birth (Amritsar). I was first introduced to the food and hospitality world in there. I always think that life’s first inspiration, and the first cooking lesson, are like its first love. It serves as a foundation for the rest of the life.”
Like several other chefs who really, really, love doing what they do, Khanna’s other inspiration includes—not strangely enough—music. “I am a die-hard fan of Lata-ji. I was recently speaking to her. I told her that my biography starts with a mention of my first childhood memory in which I would wake to Lata-ji’s bhajans and aromas wafting in from my Biji’s kitchen. Music and food have a lot in common. Both bring us closer to who we are. Both make us happy.”
And for a lucky few, food also gives us a direction in their lives, like it did for Khanna.
His first cooking assignment as a hospitality student was—besides making dough for rotis—a hand-churned mango ice-cream during summer. “I can still make a killer mango ice cream. The preparation is always fun, getting the pulp from ripe mangoes, crushing ice and mixing it with salt and then adding cream and sugar to mangoes. I took my assignment very seriously.”
From being a hospitality student in Amritsar to being one of the most-sought after chefs abroad, Khanna believes that the journey was straight-lined.
“I had worked with Chef Gordon Ramsay in 2005 for Kitchen Nightmares for an episode on Dillons. During the show we started Purnima, my first restaurant. I am very proud of Purnima even today as I met some of the crucial team players of Junoon during that time. When the show aired, Rajesh Bhardwaj saw me cook on television and he expressed a desire to meet me. We met and discussed about junoon (passion) for Indian food. After five years, Junoon—the restaurant—was formed. It took immense amount of training and planning, I cherish every moment of this journey.”
Junoon is Khanna’s Michelin Star awarded Indian restaurant at New York City. Saying that Junoon has so far won rave reviews would be an understatement. As one of its reviews states, “More avant garde restaurants shove you into something new; Junoon attempts a gentler nudge. The desired effect is a simple one: to have its diners, who may not otherwise give the cuisine a second glance, see what Indian food really tastes like when made with quality ingredients and careful technique.”
And even the New York Times review gushes that Junoon is more than about the food—as dinning should be. And none of the reviews gloss over the fact that Khanna’s biggest driving force is to showcase true-blue, home cooked, tasty, wholesome Indian food.
“You see, opening a restaurant, I was born for it. This is the only thing I had dreamt of. I would dream, breathe, work everything for it. My life is simple and straight-lined as I have grown step-by-step without making a jump. I used to work as a dish washer-cumkitchen helper at a small restaurant in Upper West Side, NYC. Then, Salaam Bombay, Tandoor Palace and Purnima—three very distinct Indian restaurants in NYC—happened one after the other. Every training I received in New York City was important, they were all like classes. And then Junoon became the test for all those lessons.”
Despite a tight schedule of telly appearances, authoring books, and an expanding restaurant empire, Khanna tries to stay within the kitchen as much as he can because it is where the magic happens. “I would say cooking sets me free. It connects me to the higher self, it’s my expression of art. I still cook as much as I can and whenever I can.” And we ask the chef who has been putting Indian food on the global cuisine map, as what he thinks to be good food? “Good company. It does not matter where you eat or what you eat. Most important is who you are with and every meal is a feast. Having said that good vinegars and lots of spices are super important in any kitchen.” And after achieving so much more what next? “I am all over Coastal India. And soon you would know why. Super excited!” He leaves us intrigued and—hungry for more!