Ranveer Brar “I Like The Lucknowi Cuisine The Most”
Ranveer Brar is one chef who has hosted several shows including Breakfast Xpress, Snack Attack, Homemade, The Great Indian Rasoi,Health Bhi Taste Bhi, Ranveer’s Cafe, Food Tripping and Thank God It’s Fryday. He was also one of the judges of Season 4 of Master Chef India based on the British competitive cooking game show, Master Chef, alongside fellow chefs Sanjeev Kapoor and Vikas Khanna. SANDEEP HATTANGADI speaks to the young and enterprising chef about his life and times in the gourmet world.
Please tell us about your culinary journey in detail.
For me, food has always represented an institution where learning never ceases. After my first tryst with cooking at the Langar, I’ve never quite looked back. I had my first culinary tutelage under Munir Ustad, a skilled Kebab vendor in Lucknow. I then completed my formal education from IHM Lucknow, and began my career with the Taj Group of hotels. I then went on to open several restaurants pan India and abroad. I am still continuing that legacy! In the visual space there have been several shows on a variety of channels, more recent ones being a Food-truck based reality show on Living Foodz and the ongoing third season of Raja Rasoi on Epic. A close to heart project is a Twitter-exclusive video series called Ranveer on the road, whose second season in Seychelles concluded recently. Its maiden season was shot in Australia and the third one is set to air this fall in Turkey.
What prompted you to choose a career as a Chef?
It was at the age of fifteen when I decided that food was my true calling and I had to pursue it professionally. Up until then I had been going through the different stages of acquaintance with food and its appreciation, from enjoying different cuisines at my neighbours’ homes, to exploring the street foods of Lucknow or conversations with the local grocer. But one day, when I was 15 and had cooked Rajma for the first time for my mom and it earned plaudits from my father, it quite sealed the deal for me!
What are your favourite cuisines and which part of the world’s delicacies are you more partial towards?
My heart will always have that extra leaning towards Lucknowi cuisine. On a global scale, I find Italian cuisine comforting, both in terms of similarity of taste to our cuisine as also the value and warmth of mother’s cooking.
What, according to you, are the qualities one must have to become a good chef?
Adhere to 3 Ps – Patience, Perseverance and Perfection. To achieve this, one needs to get the basics right. Once the foundation is in place, with a passion to match, there is no limit to what one can create.
What is your opinion on the increasing growth of food-based TV shows and channels lately?
Food has been and will always be an integral part of our lives. The popularity and reach of the cooking shows only goes to prove that. Reality shows are a great platform for the discovery and growth of potential and deserving talent. I definitely feel the culinary arena stands to benefit a lot with the talent that emerges from this platform.
Name some people who inspire you!
I find inspiration in almost every chef I meet as each has his/her own experience and interesting food stories to add. On a broader scale, I have always looked up to Chefs like Heston Blumenthal and Charlie Trotter.
What are your future plans?
Lots going on! Just back from the opening of Alila Bishangarh where I have designed the menu for its restaurants. Prior to that I was in Brampton, Canada for the opening of Mayura. The second Mayura is in the works in downtown Toronto. There is going to be a westward transition towards Sunnyvale, California sometime soon. Also, working on 2 more destinations for the Flyp at MTV chain of restaurants – that’s in Mumbai and Hyderabad. I am also looking forward to my second book, expected to be out later this year.
LUCKNOWI BIRYANI
INGREDIENTS
Mutton, Fried Onions, Green Chillies, Arwa Rice, Curd, Ginger Garlic paste, Turmeric Powder, Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Salt, Ghee, Bay Leaf, Cloves, Black Pepper, Cardamon, Cinnamon, Yellow Chili Powder, Mace, Cardamon, Black Pepper and Salt Powder (Potli Masala), Kewda Water, Kesar, Milk, Pudina, Saffron Water, Dough
INGREDIENTS FOR RAITA
Curd, Grated Garlic, Salt, Yellow Chilli Powder, Coal, Cloves, Ghee
METHOD:
Marinate the mutton by adding green chilli and fried onions, ginger garlic paste, curd, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt.Now in a lagan take ghee, add bay leaf in it, followed by cloves, black pepper, cardamom and cinnamon. Add the marinated meat to it. Then, add yellow chilli powder. Then, add the potli masala. When the meat is cooked up to 80%, add a bit of water. Then add the kewda water.
In a separate vessel, soak the Arwa rice. In the meat mixture, add some saffron. Take milk and add the meat yakhni in it in a separate bowl. In boiling water, add bay leaf and cinnamon. Now take out the whole masalas from the mutton and cover it with a lid before adding some of the soaked rice and spread it over the meat. Now add the prepared yakhni. Then add the mint leaves and some more fried onions. Then add the remaining rice. Now add the remaining yakhni. Now add some saffron water, green chilli, fried onions and pudina. Seal the pot with a cover and wheat dough and add burning coal on the lid. After some time take off the lid. Garnish with fried onions and pudina. After sometime remove the lid and serve with the raita.
METHOD FOR RAITA
Take curd in a bowl and add grated garlic in it, then add salt and yellow chilli powder. Mix well. In a small bowl, take burning coal add 4 cloves and ghee and put it inside the bowl and cover with lid.
HALEEM
INGREDIENTS INGREDIENTS
Chopped Onions, Ghee, Ginger Garlic Paste, Turmeric Powder, Red Chilli Powder, Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Water, Moong and Masoor Dal, Urad Dal, Chana Dal, Broken What Wheat, Barley, Mutton (small pieces known as nukhti), Salt, Garam Masala, Cinnamon Powder, Black Cardamom Powder, Lemon
METHOD
In a pot take ghee and chopped onions. Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and water. Mix it well. Add some more water and then add the dals – Moong and Masoor, then add Urad Dal and Chana Dal let it boil. Now add the mutton pieces in the pot. Then add soaked wheat, soaked barley and salt. Let it cook for half an hour. Mix well. Now add some garam masala, cinnamon powder, black cardamom powder and mix well. Serve with onion and lemon.