Last weekend, I had an exciting opportunity to go see Chef Shazia Khan cook up some delicacies for us, and hopefully pick up some nice recipes and cooking tips to share with you all.
For those who aren't aware, Shazia Khan is an Indian chef. She participated in MasterChef India (season 2),and was the Runner-Up in the competition.
I went primarily for the foodie bits, but I came away impressed by Shazia as a person as well.
The Yummy Food
First up, here are some details about the yummy food she cooked up for us. I am doing just pics and a brief summary for now as I didn't want to make this an overly long post. Watch this space for detailed recipes coming soon.
Grilled paneer with pineapple, and cherry tomato relishI thought the recipe for the cherry tomato relish was brilliantly easy, and I will definitely be giving this a try at home. It's perfect as a side for kebabs, and other similar fried dishes.
This was extremely tasty and delicious, and I will be sharing the recipe for this dish and all other dishes in another blog post.
Smoked Subz Kabab (veg) with LavashThese kababs were quite different from the norm. These were made with yam, raw banana, and chana dal.
Throughout the workshop, I was charmed at how she made all these fantastic dishes using very simple, down to earth ingredients that can be found in every Indian kitchen.
Frequently, I am frustrated with recipes that call for expensive equipment or ingredients. However, in her workshop, everything she made seemed simple, and doable by the average cook.
The subz kabab was served on a bed of lavash.
Lebanese Chicken SkewersI am a vegetarian so I didn't try these skewers but Snubnose did, and loved them so much, she went for multiple tastings of it.
DessertsAs you can imagine, I was most interested in the desserts she was preparing for us.
On the agenda was some almond crumble, choco lava cake, and some strawberry basil coulis.
I have always been intimidated by making desserts, and I was surprised to see how easy she made all this seem.
I was also heartened by her disappointment with the choco lava cake, which wasn't as gooey as expected. It's nice to know that even for a seasoned cook such as her, things do not always go according to plan.
Shazia Khan was kind enough to share the recipes for all her dishes with us. And I will be blogging about them in later posts.
Leave a note in the comments if there is any specific recipe you would like me to share.
Her Book
Shazia's book - What's on the menu? is out and is available in bookstores, and online.
She spoke a bit about her book, and the thought process that went behind it. Here's a short soundbite from her about her book.
Her book has pretty decent reviews online, and I think I am going to pick it up the next time I visit Om Bookstores.
You can also buy it from Amazon.
Her Philanthropic Activities
So far, all I knew about Shazia Khan was that she was an excellent cook, and a finalist on Master Chef. I didn't know about her ventures into the education space, and the philanthropic drive behind it. I was pleasantly surprised to hear her speak so eloquently on a topic obviously close to her heart.
I am definitely a huge fan of her now - not only as a Chef, but also as a person.
Once all the cooking was done, it was time for tasting, and then the restaurant at which this event was hosted ( Copper Chimney) invited all the attendees for a full buffet lunch.
You can imagine our state after that. It took a lot of waddling window-shopping throughout the entire mall, for us to start feeling light again.
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