Indians returning to traditional foods, festivities: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

For instance, something as simple as chiwda (a mix of fried lentils, peanuts and flaked rice), which has always been a much-loved snack around Deepavali, gets a healthier upgrade from him to suit the current day, when health food rules the roost. Sanjeev’s recipe turns it into a multi-cereal chiwda, that uses fox nuts and puffed wheat grains. People have started to respect traditional foods more than before, he says, and his foodreflects this rowback to highlight traditional ingredients.

“For a few years in the past, millets, which were consumed by humans, became food for cattle alone. But now, people have started respecting traditional ingredients and recipes. They are dressing up in traditional clothing for the past few years, and making dishes that were traditionally consumed. People realise that whatever we had in the past makes more sense,” notes the 55-year-old chef in an interaction with DT Next, whose telly cooking show Khana Khazana was one of the longest running cooking shows in Asia, with nearly 650 episodes through two decades.

With Deepavali right around the corner, the award-winning chef recollects that most of his memories surrounding the festival right from his childhood days involved using leftover sweets after the festivities to create kulfis and other dishes. “There used to be a lot of mithai (sweet) boxes at home during the festival. So, there was not much of making desserts in the house. My dad used to help us make masala nuts using cashews, almonds and pistachios. Post the festival, we used leftover sweets to make a special kulfi. I have taken these memories of creating dishes out of leftover sweets even to the menu of my restaurant in Dubai,” recalls the chef. As the brand ambassador of Tata Sampann, through its campaign #LautAayiDiwali which is a nostalgic ode to the festival from the days gone by, the chef has crafted special recipes that bring back the traditions with a modern touch. From moong dal ribbon pakoda to apricot jam nankhatai (short bread biscuits), the recipes blend traditions and the contemporary. “Food plays a very important part in nostalgia. We remember even the taste and smell of a dish that we ate many years ago,” he stresses.

This Deepavali, the chef looks forward to spending time with his family in Pune. “During festivals, my wife loves to prepare traditional sweets. And if I’m at home, I make whatever I’m in the mood for — it could be something like a millets khichdi,” he rounds off.