A bao full of flavours

Down foodpath

My culinary journey started at a very young age. Both my parents were working, so whenever I was hungry, I would run to the kitchen and whip up something. When I moved to Delhi for high school, I lived alone and cooking by myself became a part of my daily routine. It made me realise that if I could create something from scratch, I could do it for a living.

That’s when I decided that I would pursue a hotel management course and life has been a delicious ride since then. I was with ‘The Oberoi’ where I learnt everything about spices, cutting meat and different types of fish. During my time with ‘The Leela Palace’, I learnt about the local South Indian food including the various spices used, preparing beef curry and even mastering the ‘parotta’.

I also worked in different hotels and restaurants around the world — San Francisco, Peru, Mexico and Latin America — and experimented with a variety of flavours to work with. Upon my return to India, I knew what the flavours of the West were and how I could incorporate them into the dishes here.

My wife works with the airlines, hence travelling is a major part of her work. We get to meet only once a month, but it’s great as we get to prepare our favourites for each other. She makes her traditional Darjeeling food, while I use my expertise and make her favourite dish as well. I love anything that is packed with flavours — it must be ‘chatpata’.

However, if I were given an opportunity to eat one dish all day, everyday, it has to be ‘rajma chawal’. As I grew up in the North, I’ve realised that the kidney beans available here don’t taste the same, but that doesn’t stop me from having what I love!
Even with my years of experience in the field, it’s not always easy to get the dish you’re trying to create right in the first try.

The recipe of ‘soya chaap’ that I’m sharing today went through a lot of trial and error before I was able to present it to the ‘MasterChef Australia’ judges during their recent visit here. When everyone questioned why I am making a vegetarian dish for meat lovers, the only reply I had was that ‘this tastes as good as the non-vegetarian food’.

 This dish can be used for your regular consumption as well with rice and ‘roti’. I’ve presented it in a bao format as it’s become everyone’s favourite these days.”
Chef Sanjeev RanjanExecutive Chef, Whitefield Marriott


Soya chaap
Recipe
Ingredients
*Soya chaap - 1 kg
*Ginger - 100 gm
*Garlic - 100 gm
*Lemon - 200 gm
*Hung curd - 800 gm
*Red chilli powder - 90 gm
*Mustard oil - 170 ml
*Garam masala powder - 90 gm
*Chaat masala - 100 gm
*Dal makhni - 800 ml
*Naan - 20 nos
*Onion - 200 gm
*Vinegar - 90 ml
*Green chilli - 90 gm
*Fresh coriander - 90 gm
*Fresh mint - 90 gm
*Mint chutney - 300 ml
*Cucumber - 300 gm
*Tomato - 300 gm
*Coriander seeds - 90 gm
*Butter - 200 gm
*Refined oil - 200 ml
*Salt - 30 gm

Method
*Cut the soya chunks into cubes and marinate with the hung curd and other ingredients like mustard oil, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, salt and lemon. Leave it overnight in the refrigerator.
*On the other side, take 100 ml milk, 400 gm maida, 2 gm yeast, 2 gm salt, 10 gm sugar, 1 egg (optional) and knead the dough. Leave it in room temperature for 30 minutes.
*Add cloves and desi ghee, saffron and smoke the soya cubes.
*Finally cook in tandoor and serve hot sprinkled with kebab masala.
*Arrange the soya chunks in the bread with cucumber salad and dips like a falafel.