Kunal Vijayakar, advertising and theatre man, writer and actor, painter and foodie, is a single guy who lives �properly and decently� in a real bachelor�s pad in Bombay. It has wooden floors; small carpets; a love seat by the window overlooking palm trees and the neighbouring building; a large comfortable sofa; cushions on the floor; paintings done by himself and Ayesha Broacha; black and white photographs of the Vijayakar family; a bar built into the wall with bottles of J&B, Smirnoff, Bristol Cream, Benedictine Liquor, Drambuie and Old Monk Rum; a fireplace over whose mantle stand candles and a couple of Crucifixes; silver objects d�art and another Crucifix on a pillar in the centre of the hall; a Sony turntable and a Wharfedale music system; and, a marble-topped Irani table with four chairs at which he takes his meals. He cooks when he�s expecting company, or when he wants to destress himself after a hard day. And he cooks Pathare Prabhu food, being a member of the community. Otherwise Indu Rane, his treasured housekeeper, looks after his daily meals. His great joys are painting, writing and cooking. �I wake up and wonder, what am I going to have for breakfast, then lunch and dinner,� Kunal says.

Here is the foodie in his own words:
I GOT interested in cooking at a young age. I grew up in a middle-class disciplined fashion. Eating out was a major treat. Weekends, the family would go to the club or a restaurant. And Butter Chicken was my all-time favourite dish. It was the first dish I tried to make at home. From the age of 8 to 23, I grew up with my grandparents in Chowpatty. My grandma was a maniac in the kitchen. And she was inspired by grandpa who travelled, collected recipes, bought cookery books, and came back home with culinary ideas which he unloaded on grandma. I ran through several recipes for Butter Chicken till I came upon one in a book grandma had by Balbir Singh. The dish turned out like the Butter Chicken made in the Taj�s restaurant Tanjore, non-spicy and East-West in its taste. That�s when I realised that the chicken must be tandoored first!

But I was experimenting with eggs and potatoes in my early teens. You can be most creative with them. Eggs can be made solid, liquid, creamy. And potatoes can be mashed, made into chips, or a bhaji. I was always trying to cook food I had eaten elsewhere and which I wanted to reproduce at home. I have good tastebuds. I was always trying to figure out ingredients in food. That�s how I learnt to cook. Rarely did I refer to cookery books unless the dish looked nice and sounded good! I believe I can cook anything. I don�t follow recipes to a T. I lagao my own thing! And no conventional measures, no spoons, I use my fingers. My food always turns out decent. The first time it might be slightly off. But the second time I get the taste right. I�m not a gourmet, that�s too fancy a title, I just love to eat! And because I love to eat, I learnt to cook!

I�ve tried my hand at pretty much everything. Mostly Mughlai, including naans and rotis. The gas tandoor is superb for this. I�ve tried Goan cuisine too, which is a bit painful. If you have the energy, it�s quite delicious! One time, I cooked a complete Parsi meal on Parsi New Year. There was Kid Gosht, Pulav Dal, Chicken Farcha. And I had a party in which 60 per cent of my guests, for some strange reason, were all Parsis. The true test of the food came when my friend Fali Unwala, whose mother had then recently passed away, came to me with tears in his eyes and said the food reminded him of her cooking! I was maha thrilled! I also like to do old English cooking. You know, Roast Chicken with Worcestershire sauce, some mashed potatoes, boiled green peas and fried onions. It�s a complete meal!

My cooking is now limited to once a month or so. When I have guests over. And when I want dishes on the menu that Indu cannot make. Like cutlets or chops. Otherwise I do breakfast now and then. Or a quick dinner of eggs, perhaps a baked dish. Cooking destresses me and helps me relax after a day of shooting. I enjoy going to the fish market at Citylight Cinema and selecting what I want to cook. My favourite cuisine is my own Pathare Prabhu food. It is a lot like Parsi food. They depend on their Dhansak masala, we on our Prabhu sambhar masala, which is available in Pathare Prabhu shops at Girgaum and Matunga. This is minimalist cooking. And it is a robust and delicious cuisine, lots of meat, prawn, fish. When I get stuck on a recipe, I call my mother or grandmother to help me out. Apart from Indian food, and Pathare Prabhu food, I like Thai. And my friend Cyrus Broacha and I are fond of all the small hardcore joints in Bombay where you get great food.

My drinking and smoking habits are pretty set too. I smoke about 40 Marlboro Lights a day! I think I�ll turn a new leaf after my birthday this year. And I am a whisky man. Not Indian whisky, but J&B, the 15-year matured one is my favourite. Outside, because Scotch is so expensive, I drink vodka. I�ve never been fond of single malts. But I like wines, I am fond of Zinfandel and the demi-secs. Also of port and sherry. Wine aficionados laugh at me! When I travel, I go looking for a good port. I also don�t mind some of these fruity Californian wines but I have not developed a taste for dry wines. If I go to a friend�s house where I am assured of a great meal, I visit the kitchen to find out what�s cooking first, I inspect what�s on the gas and what�s in the fridge. Then I decide whether I want to have a drink or not. Because when I drink, I know, the dinner goes for a toss. I might have a small one for naam ka vaste. And then I�ll hound my host to serve dinner fast because I am hungry!