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NAC: As a consultant to the Cafe at Rubin Museum of Art, you are creating the menu for their Nine Rivers Gala in New York. Where did you draw your inspiration from?
Khanna: At the Rubin Museum we’re doing an event that was inspired by my visit to a monastery. I’m using those elements of prayers of a monastery. Goji berries, saffron, sandalwood. When you go to monasteries, they have the smell of sandalwood which never really leaves my mind. They use rosewater to worship the Gods with. I’m grilling the vegetables with sandalwood and rosewater. We’ve got this sandalwood flake-so expensive –there is no room for mistakes. We’re using marigold flowers and roses and making them edible. We’re using lotus petals and lotus roots because lotus is a very important part of Buddhism.
For the gala, I’m taking the national dish of Bhutan- Ema datshi, an interesting dish made very spicy of chiles and cheese, and creating a version that is not too spicy for the American palate. We consider ourselves South Asian. A few countries have never been on the forefront-Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bagladesh. It’s always India and China-two countries that dominate the food scene. So I’m trying to get little hints from these cuisines forward.
On the 28th of October, I leave America and I’ll be traveling the Himalayas for six weeks to do a book called Nine Rivers Cookbook. The Himalayas give birth to nine rivers which feed millions and millions of people. So as it flows, the cultures change, the cuisines change. I’ll be following the river steps. I have to do it. It’s my inner voice.
NAC:What are your plans for Diwali?
Khanna: I’m lecturing at a few libraries in New Jersey and New York and hosting an event for Google. When you come to a foreign country, you are actually representing a nation. Everything you do is an absolute representation of your parents, your family, your city, your country.
NAC: How do you celebrate Diwali?
Khanna: Diwali is the day when we worship the goddess of wealth; nobody should be hungry at home. The house is filled with your favorite foods on Diwali. For years it was just with my grandmother, she’d put the whole family together. It’s all about food, and more food. My grandmother, whenever I would see her, beautiful woman, when we wake up in the morning on Diwali, everybody disperses in the house. During dinner time, we all sit together. Look at the power of food.
NAC: What did she serve for Diwali?
Khanna: At Diwali, we have this sweet rice; it’s a very famous rice. She also made truffles with coconut. From October 24-29, I’ll serve the menu she used to cook-all vegetarian here at Purnima. The tasting menu will include basic appetizers, poori breads-puff breads with chick peas, because when we used to wake up, that was our breakfast. We’ll have little miniatures of these puffed breads. She would cook something up with spinach and fry it. That would be our 3pm snack. For lunch, we’ll have two rices. I’m obsessed with rice from the Himalayas, so I’m using red rices and maroon rices. I’ll incorporate those rices and cook the way she cooked, simply. There are a few famous desserts like Indian Beetle leaves, which nobody cooks with, but I’ll convert it into an ice cream. I’ll contemporize it, with an accent of America.
NAC: What is your typical day like?
Khanna: My day started at 6:30am and it will end with an 11:15pm workout at Gold’s Gym. This has been an exceptional week because of my caterings. I work with Robbins Wolfe Eventeurs. Every time they have an Indian accented event, I manage that. I’ve also been setting up my own photography studio. My goal is to get the whole world learning the simplicity of the cooking. 200 recipes I’ll be shooting myself, of basic Indian foods. Then I’ll move on to inviting chefs from around the world, celebrities. Just for my website. Even if a little girl who grows up in Indonesia, she sees it and says, “I love this cooking stuff, I want to try Indian foods.”
NAC: How long have you been cooking?
Khanna: I’ve been cooking for 25 years in professional kitchens. Twelve more years, I’ll quit everything. 2020. 20/20 is one of the very important things happening in South Asia. In 2020, a lot of companies are creating a mission to remove curable blindness from South Asia. I’ll support them through 2020, but in 2020, I’ll be really involved, raising funds. I’m going to Tokyo on November 14 for the Asia Society to talk about educational programs. I’m only cooking twelve more years, and then I’ll just run my foundation concentrating on education, libraries and world hunger.
Insisting on whipping something up for NAC to savor while writing this article, we joined Vikas in the kitchen. He explained how the naan dough must be thin enough to stick on the wall of the tandoor clay oven and as it bubbled, it formed into an edible work of art. A lamb chop simply marinated in ginger, yogurt and lemon rind, was placed on a skewer and into the center of the 900 degree tandoor clay oven. Moments later, it was so tender, it melted in our mouths. As he bid us farewell, he insisted he would sit down for a meal next time. We look forward to it.
Vikas Khanna 's Favorite Restaurants & Grocery Stores
| Favorite
Restaurant |
Tao Las Vegas
Venetian Hotel
3355 Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702.388.8338
www.taolasvegas.com
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| Grocery
Store |
Han Ah Reum
25 W. 32nd Street #1
New York, NY
212.695.3283
www.hmart.com |
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