Jiggs Kalra, Czar of Indian cuisine, passes away

Jaspal Inder Singh Kalra or Jiggs Kalra, one of the ace chefs in India, passed away. Introduced Indian dishes globally, Kalra was widely described as 'czar of Indian cuisine'.

In the past, Karla has cooked for personalities like Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Bill Clinton and was the first Asian to be inducted in International Food and Beverage Gourmet Hall of Fame.

Karla, who shot to fame post his cookery shows on Doordarshan in the 1980s, was primarily associated with Punjabi cuisine. He has penned 11 books on Indian cuisine and one of his books 'Prashad' is considered as the Bible for Indian chefs and part of the syllabus in many hospitality management institutions.

His son Zorawar Kalra is taking his tradition forward with the Massive Restaurants chain.

Though no official confirmation on his death has come from his family, many people took to Twitter to share condolences.

Senior Journalist Vir Sanghvi tweeted: "Goodbye old friend. The great Jiggs Kalra who did so much to rediscover the lost secrets of Indian food and who gave chefs their rightful place in the sun goes off to that great kitchen in the sky to ensure that the gods eat his wonderful food. There will never be another Jiggs."

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta remembers Kalra for introducing Mehta to Indian food. "RIP Jiggs Kalra. Thank you for introducing me to Indian food and it's the treasure of recipes. All your books adorn my bookshelf and the masala and oil on each page is a testimony to how your recipes have shaped my passion for cooking," Mehta tweeted.