Namak shamak and happiness

Rachna Khaira

Fusion of Indian food with international cuisine has made Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi a name to reckon with in the hotel and TV industry. The celebrity chef now arrives in Jalandhar to open his first authentic Indian cuisine restaurant BB Jaan at Hotel Cabbana Resorts & Spas at the outskirts of the city. The restaurant, Harpal’s first venture in Punjab is set to begin its operations from March this year.

“Celebrity chefs are looked upon as food connoisseurs for their expertise and experience. People see us on television and are eager and curious to taste our creations. The customers have high expectations and also believe that the food will match their expectations. This belief has led me to BB Jaan, a Hyderabadi specialty restaurant in the city,” says the Kitchen King.

Sokhi created a niche for himself by learning authentic Hyderabadi food under Ustad Habib Pasha. Begum Mumtaz Khan, an authority in Hyderabadi cuisine, further enhanced his knowledge.

From where did he derive the name for the restaurant? “In earlier days, a lady who used to control the kitchen in royal families was known as Bibijaan. During my training days with Begum Mumtaz Khan only I had decided that whenever I would open any Nawabi food venture, I would name it BB Jaan,” said the celebrity Chef with a dash of cheer on his face.

Hailing from Kharagpur in West Bengal, he grew up in an environment where children around him crammed tomes on engineering with the aim of entering the Indian Institute of Technology, Harpal was never keen on pursuing it. Then at the behest of his brother, he joined a hotel management course.

Also, the chef never forgets his first cooking for his family. “After finishing my hotel management course, my family who had never been to a hotel asked me to cook a ‘five star like’ meal for them.

“I began preparing ‘paneer butter masala’ and went on for about three hours. Unable to bear hunger pangs further, my family asked me the cause of delay. I told them that in big hotels, it takes this much time normally to cook a meal. After six hours of authentic traditional cooking, I presented before them the dish only to realize that I didn’t cook any chapattis with it. I still remember the bash I got from my mother which she gave while cooking chapattis and I ended up washing plethora of utensils in the kitchen for over two hours,” giggled the Turban Tadka fame chef. His quest for knowledge left him hungering for more and this led to his research on the link between Ayurveda and food.

“There was this interesting incident. I was working at a famous restaurant in Mumbai and the chef, Ustaad Habib Pasha, there was known worldwide for his authentic Hyderabadi cuisines. He used to put some secret herbs into his preparations which he never revealed to anyone. One day, I happened to meet a roadside Sadhu in Colaba area and saw him carrying the same herbs. I paid him money and asked him the names and purpose of each of the herb. While coming back, I surprised the Ustaad with my newly acquired. He was so overwhelmed with my quest of learning that he finally agreed to teach me the secrets of Nawabi food,” said Sokhi.

How well the celebrity chefs driven restaurants doing in India? “It is very important for each celebrity chef to understand how well is he connected to the target audience to which the restaurant caters,” said the Turbanator chef, who has recently opened another restaurant, Twist of Tadka at Bangalore recently.

He also informed that not just the menu, restaurant interior should also be engaging to the customer so that they can relate everything with the personality of the Celebrity Chef. At BB Jaan, he has created very serene interiors with a dash of light green colour. Also, the staff uniforms were given an Awadhi look. The huge ‘throne’ shaped chairs are all set to give a Live Life King Size feel to the guests.

With almost 25 years of experience in the kitchen under his belt, Sokhi started his career as a trainee cook at The Oberoi in Bhubaneswar. At 27, he became an executive chef. In 1993, he was a part of Khana Khazana. He launched his first solo show, Harpal ki Rasoi, on Nagpur’s local Siti Cable TV. It was a promising start but not the solid break he might have wished for. That came in the form of FOOD FOOD channel’s Turban Tadka, which made him a household name. He has also co-authored his first book, Royal Hyderabadi Cooking, with Sanjeev Kapoor. The book lifts the lid on the flavours and art of cooking a Hyderabadi meal fit for royalty.