Food is in my DNA

OUTFIT: TOP SHOP; JEWELLERY: ISHARYA; STYLED BY: AASHTHA SHARMA; ASSISTED BY: REANN MORADIAN; PHOTO: SUBI SAMUEL HAIR: AMIT THAKUR; MAKEUP: AJAY VISHWASRAO

I come from a family of foodies and food is in my DNA, especially with my father running a chain of restaurants serving Mughlai cuisine in Delhi [Saleem’s]. From the time I was young, I knew food would be an important part of my life, no matter which profession I chose. Even though I became an actor, people have told me several times that they crave the food cooked in my home.

For a brief period, I worked in the kitchen of our restaurant. It was an exciting experience. When an order was placed, there was a kind of enthusiasm to cook the best food. I found it magical. There was a certain joy—an indescribable feeling—in serving people, especially when they came up to you and complimented you on the dishes.

Once, at a party that I hosted, I had got caterers and arranged for Chinese and some other kinds of cuisine to be served. My friends, who had left another party to have dinner at my place, were disappointed. “We came to your house for your biryani,” they said. That’s when I realised that when people come to my house, they expect kebabs, curries and biryani.

Since we are the Qureshis—the butcher community in India—meat, for us, is very important. My father always said that if the mutton is cooked right, your biryani will always taste good. He never believed in overpowering the dish with too many spices so that the taste of the mutton is masked. I won’t give you my family’s secret recipe, but I love the way that we make it. I especially love the biryani that my mother makes. If our mother is around, we will selfishly want her to cook for us, even if the best chef in the world is there. My mother is a Kashmiri, so we have a lot of Kashmiri influence in the food cooked at home, like the use of various varieties of spinach, haak [collard greens], nadru [lotus stems] and the Kashmiri rajma. Every time a relative visited from Kashmir, they brought us these ingredients. Often, the maternal aunts would send us dabbas of cooked food. It was a lot of fun.

In India, if you have a big family, food plays a big role during the occasions you get together. Growing up, we used to often visit our maternal grandparents in Kashmir during summer vacations and paternal grandparents in Delhi during weekends. The popular junk food of Delhi like chaat-papdi and chole kulche formed an integral part of our childhood years.

Being an actor, fitness and health are very important to me. And being a foodie, I love tasty food. I have come to realise that it doesn’t have to be either fitness or food; it can be a marriage of the two. Good, healthy food need not be bland. With the right ingredients and a good understanding of nutritious food, one can plan a healthy diet. I have tried out healthier versions of shami kebab and pizza with a vegetable base. Since I have a sweet tooth, I have devised interesting ways to eat sweets. For example, I’ve learnt that an oven-baked apple with a garnishing of cinnamon tastes like an apple pie without the calories. When I go on international trips, I make sure I call up friends who have visited the city and ask them what their top five restaurants there are. Then, when I get a break, I plan my shopping expeditions around those restaurants. I already have the genes of a restaurateur, whether I get into the restaurant business or not.

AS TOLD TO PRIYANKA BHADANI