Cooking for India - Pankaj Bhadouria

Pankaj Bhadouria was teaching English to senior school students in a Lucknow school for 16 years when she came across an ad for a cooking competition. She applied for it and cleared first three rounds of audition. To clear the final round and be a part of the competition she had to go to Mumbai. She applied for a leave from her school to be able to take part in the contest.She was denied leave for the same.
“I was told that it was only craze for glam world and publicity rather than love for cooking that was the motivation for my participation,” she recalled. “I was asked to either quit the job or quit the show, I decided to quit the job,” Pankaj explained. And she went on to win the show and become one of the most popular chefs and cookbook writers.
Pankaj explained Awadhi cuisine that she specializes in is also full of stories and anecdotes that sets it apart from the other cuisine. “Each dish has a history and a story to go with it. That’s what makes the cuisine so unique,” she elaborated.
Regaling the audience with her journey on a chilly night, Pankaj had the right recipes to have everyone hooked to her session. From a variety of non-vegetarian recipes in Kayasth cuisine to amazing vegetarian options in Muslim Awadhi cuisine, Pankaj said that food can be one of the most amazing ways to break stereotypes.
“A simple thing such as a sari clad chef is hard to believe for many. I tell them majority of women cook like this in India and cook far better than many men adorning chef’s uniforms,” she explained. She also elaborated that she is on a mission to present Indian cuisine as a healthy and fat free option to appeal to younger generation. “We need to break the myth that our food is all about oil and spices. Recently, I prepared popular dishes of Lucknow known as 'nimona' and 'tokri chaat' but presented 'nimona' as a mousse. This was a revelation for many,” she revealed.
Pankaj also elaborated that she wants to inform the world about the diversity and variety of spices the country has to offer. "Many people broadly term our cuisine as 'spicy'. I want to explain it to the world that this term spicy in itself has so much flavour to offer as each state of India has its own spices adding a different taste," she asserted.