Deccan Herald
Pics by Dayanand Kukkaje for Daijiworld News Network - Mangalore
 
Mangalore, Nov 2: “Refined oils do not have any flavour and hence does not add to the taste of any dish. Unless oil adds to the texture of food, it is totally unnecessary in cooking,” said renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor.

Launching his latest cookery book ‘No oil cooking’ here on Wednesday, he opined that when there were no refrigerators, India being a tropical country had to pickle the food stuff for a day, just to give it more shelf life and oily food subsequently became a tradition.

“Times have changed, but not the tradition. Neither do we need to use so much oil and salt in the food, nor do we have to over-cook it. The old pots and pans stick if oil is not used. But this is the era of non-stick cook ware, which gives you the same taste without oil,” Mr Kapoor said.  
 

Replying to a querry on why the same food prepared by two different persons taste differently, he said that the amount of heat applied and the amount of water used to soak are influencing factors along with the skill and energy of the cook.

He advised to use fresh yeast for fermentation.

To another querry, he said that belief in God is the only recipe that would improve immunity and guard from diseases, and advised to use more natural food than processed food.

On his dance

“Dancing was something I had not done before. I like learning what I don’t know. Probably next year I’ll take to flying,” Mr Kappor said regarding his recent venture on the dance floor in the Sony TV show ‘Jhalak Dikhlaja’.

On being an author

“It is the readers who made me an author when I didn’t want to be one. I was happy with my cookery show when I knew people like to cook what they want and when they want it. That’s how I satarted authoring recipe books”, he said.

Publisher Harsha Bhatkal who was present on the occasion opined that Mr Kapoor has made food an exiting and interesting part of Indians’ lives. ‘No oil cooking’ is a special book for its topicality, he added.

Translations

The book, which was first launched in Mumbai a month ago, has two seperate editions for vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes and will soon be translated into Kannada, Marathi and Hindi, Mr Bhatkal said.

He drew coupons to decide the winners of the lucky draw for the ‘Depot’ customers.

Mr Kapoor also distributed prizes to those customers who made the highest purchase after Deepavali and Id in Pantaloons in Mangalore.