They say we eat with our eyes but wouldn’t it be fun to also know the face behind the delicious food we love? Let’s continue our series of Face Behind Food with our first Holiday Recipe Contest Winner, Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji who bowled us over with her creative take on a traditional Karanji. Meet the face behind Palak Karanji.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
With 19 + years of experience in the world of culinary, I believe that food is like oxygen to me. My Mantra: The only ingredient required for cooking is “Passion”. I believe that the food that I cook should not only touch the hearts but also the souls of the people relishing it. I am presently working as a Program Head – Culinary Arts – Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh at the ITM Institute of Hotel Management at Nerul, Navi Mumbai. I am indeed privileged to be a Chef as well as a mentor to the budding Chefs of tomorow.
Will always find in my refrigerator… As I am a complete Chocoholic and love eating Cheese. You will always find Chocolates and Cheese in my Refrigerator.
A kitchen pet peeve… Blunt Chef Knives
Apron or no apron… No Apron please
Cook with someone or like the kitchen to myself? Would love the kitchen to myself. I am pretty creative wouldn’t like any one disturbing me. The best of ideas of creative cooking that pop up in my brains is in my favourite place MY KITCHEN IS MY KINGDOM.
One dish I always wanted to learn… Sushi Art, I know how to prepare sushi, but Sushi Art is what I really wanna learn.
A kitchen creation I am proud of…. Murgh Methi Malai Kebabs, although I am a complete vegetarian.
My biggest kitchen blunder… When I was in the first year of Hotel Mgt. I had made Cream of Tomato Soup for my family, everyone was waiting for it on the dinner table and guess what? I added powdered sugar instead of salt. What a blunder it was!
My go to dish… Khubani Ka Meetha with Paan Shots
I want my last meal to be…
Dal Makhani and Laccha Paratha prepared by my Mom Mrs. Manjit Arora.
May she live long n healthy 100 years. She’s my motivation and the reason behind me being a Chef. Her cooking is simply exceptional. I would say, she is a fantastic and an ardent cook. I have seen her cooking various cuisines for us. She always tries to cook something out of the box. This not only motivated me but also has encouraged me to do something unusual with food and so I started experimenting with food.
Reetu’s winning recipe: Palak Karanji
You can connect with Chef Reetu at Indian Simmer reetuuday_kugaji, her website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.