Sanjeev Kapoor - Popular Indian Chef

Sanjeev Kapoor (born April 10, 1964) is a top rated Indian Chef and television personality. He is best known as the author of numerous Indian style cookbooks and the host of Khana Khazana, a popular cookery program shown on the Zee television network since 1993. The show completed over 650 episodes as of February, 2007.

Born in Ambala, India, Kapoor started out in the hospitality industry in 1984 with a diploma in Hotel Management from Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology Applied Nutrition, Pusa Road, New Delhi. He started his career in the ITDC under their kitchen management program where he graduated at the top of his class. After working in many hotels, he became the Executive Chef of the Centaur Hotel in Mumbai (Bombay). His television show won the Best Cookery Show Award given by the Indian Television Academy (ITA) in 2001. He was also the recipient of the Best Executive Chef of World Award by H FS and the Mercury Gold Award at Geneva, Switzerland by IFCA. Singapore Airlines recruited him as one of the members of its \"International Culinary Panel\", helping to create a meal called Shahi Thali in 2006.

His other accolades include the “Brand Leadership” award at the 5th Indira Awards for Marketing Excellence 2006, and the ‘Hall of the Fame Award’ under the aegis of The Star of the Industry Awards for excellent contribution to the field of hospitality. In 2006 he decided to remove his moustache. Richard Quest, celebrity CNN journalist, selected Sanjeev Kapoor as one of the top celebrity chefs in the world along with Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Wolfgang Puck and featured them in his programme “Quest” on the CNN International channel.

He was one of the chief speakers/presenters at the Worlds of Flavor, 2005 International Conference Festival organized by The Culinary Institute of America. As a restaurant consultant he has granted his franchise to a number of restaurants both in India and abroad. In 2006, he participated in a the dance show Jhalak Dikhla Ja, on Sony Entertainment Television.

Sanjeev Kapoor Recognitions

• Best Meal Concept and Innovation for Indian Airlines - Mercury Silver Award IFCA (International Flight Catering Association), Frankfurt, 1992.
• Best Executive Chef of India- Hotel & Food Services, 1995, 2005.
• Best Cookery Show - Indian Television Academy, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007.
• Best Cookery Show - Indian Telly Awards, 2005.
• Others: Lions’ Favourite T.V. Awards 1996, 2005, 2006, 2007; Rotary Club of Bombay Sea Coast - Chef of the Year Award -1995; Rotary Club of Bombay, Versova -Vocational Excellence Award 1996; Token of Appreciation, Bournvita Quiz Contest, 2000; SICA (South India Culinary Association) Golden Hat Award – 2004; Sony TV Jhalak Dikhlaja participant award series, 2006; Award of Honour, Food Craft Institute, Chandigarh.
• Hall of Fame award – IHMCT (Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology) - 2002, 2007.
• Award for Brand Leadership - 5th Indira Awards for Marketing Excellence, 2006.

Official Website of Sanjeev Kapoor 

Cooking Tips - Leftover Food

• If you are making pasta or rice, cook some extra and store in refrigerator for the next meal.
• Keep some boiled potatoes in fridge, to make quick sandwiches for breakfast.
• Use left over rice for next day meal, use your imagination and cook something new.
• Keep some extra dough in fridge to make chapatis for breakfast.
• Use leftover sukhi dal to make stuffed paratha.

Tips to remember while cooking - Cooking Tips

• To make 1 cup of dal, add atleast 2-3 cups of water, depending on the type of dal.
• Soak whole pulses overnight and other dals for one hour before cooking.
• Always add hot water to the gravy to enhance the taste.
• Add 1 Tbsp of hot oil to the dough for making Kachories or Kulchas.
• Always use heavy bottomed vessels to make desserts, in order to avoid burning.
• Make desserts with full cream milk, to get thick creamy texture.
• Whenever curd is to be added to the masala, it should be beaten well and add gradually.
• Chop some extra vegetables, for next day stir fry.
• Use the leftover dal water to make rasam or sambar.
• Never discard water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies, soups, rasam or kolumbu.
• Onions and masala are fried in the cooker body itself, raw vegetables are added to that with enough salt and water. Cook under pressure according to the cooking time of the vegetable. This method helps us minimise our cooking time, use of utensils and nutrients are also preserved.
• If poppy seeds are used in grinding, soak it in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes, if you are grinding it in a mixie.
• While boiling milk, always add a little water at the base of the vessel to avoid the milk from sticking at the bottom.
• Add a tsp. of hot oil to homemade pastes of garlic, ginger or green chili, along with salt to make it last longer and taste fresher.
• Store raisins in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for much longer. Pour very hot water over them if they had harden, after that drain them immediately, and spread on a paper towel to dry. You can also leave a spoon in the vessel in which the milk is being boiled at low heat so that it does not get burnt at the bottom
• Add a few drops of lemon a tsp of oil to rice before boiling to separate each grain.
• Never discard the water in which vegetables are cooked, use it in gravies or soups.
• Put tomatoes in a large bowl and cover with boiling water Leave it for about 5 minutes. Take out one by one, piercing them with a sharp knife, the skin will peel off easily.
• Immediately after boiling noodles put them in normal cold water to separate them each.
• If you forget to soak chana/Rajma overnight. Just soak the chana/Rajma in the boiling water for an hour before cooking.
• Curd in winter - Set in a ceramic container and place it on the voltage stabilizer of your refrigerator.
• Potatoes soaked in salt water for 20 minutes will bake more rapidly.
• Roasting is a dry heat method of cooking - it does not use water. The flavors roasting draws forth result from the process of browning. As the surface of the meat browns, and its juices and fats drip down and brown on the surface of the hot roasting pan, it adds to the flavour of the meat.

Cooking Tips - Gravies

• Always use ghee or vanaspathi with or instead of oil, which gives a good flavour to the gravy. If oil alone is used, it does not get separated easily from the ground mixture, as ghee separates from it.
• Fry the ground masala in reduced flame, so that it retains its colour and taste.
• Little plain sugar or caramelised sugar added to the gravy makes it tasty.
• When tomatoes are not in season, tomato ketchup or sauce can be successfully used in the gravies.
• To retain colour in the gravy always use ripe red tomatoes. Discard green portions if any.
• Good variety chillies and chilli powder also gives colour to the gravy. As far as pos sible try to use long variety red chillies. Dry it under sun for few days and powder coarsely at home. Always the coarse powder gives good taste in gravies and pickles.
• While using ginger and garlic paste in curries, always use garlic at 60% ratio and ginger at 40% as ginger is very strong and may make your dish sharp and pungent.

Cooking Tips - Frying

• Heat the oil thoroughly before adding seasonings or vegetables.
• Fry the seasonings until they change color, to get full flavour of seasonings.
• If masala sticks to the pan that shows quantity of fat included is not enough.
• Add some hot oil and 1/2 tsp of baking soda in batter while making pakodas.
• When coconut is used in grinding masala, do not fry for a longer time.
• If you are making patties or tikkis of potatoes, always make sure that the potatoes are boiled well in advance and cooled before you use them. It would be better if they can be refrigerated for a short time. This helps the starch in the potatoes to settle down and the tikkis will not be gooey.
• Smoke Mustard oil first before using for preparing vegetables etc.. by heating to a point till light white smoke emerges from it. This would remove the potency from the oil.
• Poori can be rolled and place between well-rinsed wet muslin cloth at least an hour ahead and can be Fried before serving.
• To make pooris more crispy add a little rice flour to the wheat flour while kneading.
• Pakodas will turn out crisper if a little corn flour is added to the gram flour (besan) while preparing the batter.
• Heat a non-stick pan and add a little more butter than usual. Now beat the egg and stir briskly (even while frying) with a fork. This way more air goes in your omelet, making it light and fluffy. Fry till done and serve hot.
• Sprinkle a little amount of salt in the frying pan before adding bacon to fry. That way it will not splatter all over.
• When browning meat in fat, choose a large, deep pan. This will enable you to fry quickly, without splashing the stove with fat and meat juices.

Cooking Tips - Cutting & Peeling

• Wash vegetables before peeling or cutting to preserve the water soluble vitamins.
• Peel vegetables as thinly as possible to preserve the minerals and vitamins.
• Soak potatoes and eggplant after cutting, to avoid discoloration.
• If you boil vegetables in water, do not throw the water, keep it to make gravies.
• To avoid browning of apples after cutting, apply a little lemon juice on the cut surface. The apples will stay and look fresh for a longer time.
• Keep coriander leaves in a muslin (cheese) cloth bag in the refrigerator. They will remain fresh for a longer time.
• Remove the stems of green chilies while storing them .This will help them to stay fresh for long.
• After peeling onions cut in half and soak in water for about 10 minutes before cutting to avoid crying.
• Soak almonds in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes .The skin will peel off easily.
• Chopping vegetables can be done in different ways using a sharp knife and a wooden chopping board. Cutting on a marble slab will blunt your knives.
• Remove the outer leaves and husks from the corn (bhutta). Holding the corn upright with the flat end firmly in a board, take a sharp knife and run it down between the kernels and the cob to strip them away.
• Wrap the fruits and vegetables in newspaper before refrigerating to keep them fresh for long.
• Chopping dry fruits - Freeze them first for one hour & then dip the knife into hot water before cutting them.

Cooking Tip - Indian Cooking Tips

• When you soak rice and urad dal for idlis and dosas, wash everything thoroughly before soaking. Later use the soaked water while grinding. If you wash rice and dal after soaking you will lose most of the vitamins.
• Excess salt in any dish can be brought down by adding diced potatoes, tomatoes or a teaspoon of sugar.
• When you are making vadas, if the batter is watery - you will have the problem of oil splattering when you fry it. Add a tablespoon of ghee to the batter and your problem will be solved.
• Don't salt meat before you cook it. Always salt meat halfway through cooking. (little less than what is required). Then taste the meat when it is done and then add salt as needed.
• To thicken any gravy or soup add corn flour to it. It is an excellent thickening agent. Remember to mix it in good water before adding to avoid lumps.
• While making any pasta add salt to the boiling water in which you are cooking it. That will be the only chance you get to salt it. Add salt after the water boils. If you add it before , it will take a longer time to boil.
• To avoid sticky rice, soak washed rice in water for at least ten minutes before cooking. A teaspoon of oil can be added to get separate grains of cooked rice.
• While make any deep fried dish, if the hot oil starts foaming and rises in the pan, add a small piece of tamarind to the oil. This will prevent foaming and spill over.
• If you want to have soft idlis, do not beat the batter before pouring idlis. The air bubble sin the batter helps you to get soft idlis. Beating the batter removes these air bubbles.
• Chill onion is refrigerator before cutting to avoid tears. One other way to avoid tears is to soak peeled onion is water before cutting.
• To get crisp, golden dosas add a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds to the urad dal and grind it.
• To make a healthy chicken dish remove the skin from the chicken. This will remove the major fat content on the chicken.
• Add a pinch of sugar while cooking any green leaf vegetables. This will help maintain the bright green color.
• For maintaining the bright color of any vegetable don't forget to put it in ice cold water as soon as you blanch them.
• To keep apples from turning brown, add little citrus juice like the juice of a lemon or orange and toss apples in it.
• A pinch of turmeric powder added to all kinds of dal when cooking hastens the cooking process.
• Remove the stems from chilies before storing them. This will keep them fresher for a long time.
• It is better to use round dishes in the microwave oven rather than square or rectangular dishes as round dishes spread heat faster.
• Oil applied to dal before it is cooked helps it to cook faster by softening the proteins.