FOR me, cooking is a great therapy. I find it very peaceful and yet, it distracts me from my daily chores and problems. I�m comfortable in my kitchen. It�s very basic and functional, extremely hygienic and neat. I know my way about. Though my cook, Seema Tandel, doesn�t like me entering it! She knows my tastes, and is very efficient, quick, I don�t need to direct her unless I am trying out something new. I have all the regular appliances in my kitchen, but they�re traditional. I have an oven, not a microwave, and a sigdi on which using coal and grass I smoke fish. It tastes awesome!

The days I am working from my studio at home, I don�t like to cook, nor have lunch. I shoot either pre-lunch or post-lunch. If it�s a full day shoot, then I eat, and depending on who I am shooting, the food either comes from out or is made at home. The stars love ghar ka khana. Rekha loved and expected my Grated Corn and poha dish! Madhuri was fond of eating vegetables made in white sauce with French bread. Everybody knows I can cook. But I�m impatient with cutting, chopping and peeling. Give me a sous chef and I can throw up a bloody good meal!

I learnt to cook early in life. I used to be a great foodie, too. But as time goes on, all life�s lusts become less! My Dad, who did his Masters in Sugar Technology in the US, was a wonderful baker. I can�t tell you the things he used to bake! They were like out of a patisserie. What lovely biscuits and cakes. And my uncle and aunt who brought me up, Dr. S. R. and Manik Joglekar, had very British tastes. We are Maharashtrian Saraswat Brahmins from the coast. And we have an exquisite cuisine of our own. But at home, the food was a mingling of cuisines.

My aunt was a master cook. Friends and family members used to starve before coming here! Her Diwali sweets had such delicacy of flavour. I remember the Karanjis fried in ghee used to be so crisp out and soft inside. I was exposed to world cuisines at home. My aunt would bake and roast. She used to say everybody must know how to cook something, especially their favourite dish. She would take me to the markets. I watched and learnt how to press a thumbnail into the corn to make it spurt and see if it was fresh. Or where to press the Pomfret for the red water!

With my aunt�s fading away and death, the family got upset because I hadn�t kept any of her recipes. Fortunately, she left behind one little book, and her servants! I made a conscious effort to learn her food. And when I entertained people from the advertising world, and photographers, I tried out her recipes. This Smoked Fish, Grated Corn in Asafoetida, Mutton Chops, Baby Masala Potatoes and Shepherd�s Pie with Kolhapuri Kheema are her specialities. This is the kind of food I like. I�ve never thought of making a menu in which the food matches. I�d rather cook the kind of food I like best.

Apart from my own cooking and Maharashtrian food, I love Mughlai cuisine. I�m also fond of French cooking, the classic style and not so much nouvelle, and I love all things Italian. Like the food and opera. You will hear opera music playing at home all the time. Not while I�m cooking, though, because the music is in one part of the world and the kitchen in another! I�m not a big fan of Oriental food. I�ve had an overdose of Chinese from young. I do like a few Japanese preparations, however. And I like Middle Eastern food. But I still say, there�s nothing staple and good like solid, stolid British soups, salads, bakes and roasts. I�m happiest doing, serving and eating them.

When I�m travelling abroad, I miss ghar ka khana, and that�s when I do most of my cooking. Not Potato Bhaji and Poha, but regular meals. I visit the markets where I go crazy with the produce. The masalas, like our black Maharashtrian masala, some achars, lasan ki chutney, and vegetable cooking oil, I take from home. And I make perfectly fine Indian meals. Pulaos, sabzis, my Smoked Fish, Biryani � which is always mutton, because chicken tastes like thermacol! I also do western food, my Pork Chops are very good and I do a excellent Coq au Vin. I cook all this creatively. I conduct small experiments in the kitchen. I don�t believe in tasting the food while cooking it, I go by the smell! Yes, if I�m making a dessert, like a pudding or chocolate cake, then I will certainly taste the sweetness.

My idea of a nice evening is having a small gathering of four or five people at home. I have cooked for 35, but prefer smaller numbers, that way I can sit back and enjoy myself. I hate going into the kitchen after guests arrive. I serve red wine with the food. I am not a connoisseur of wines, but it�s nice to be familiar with them. That way my tastebuds are pretty sharp. I can identify tastes, spices, and my tastebuds are very sensitive to textures. Now and then, I pick up a good vintage wine from abroad. And I love to cook with wine. I lace my sweets with it. Alcohol is such a boon to desserts. I can throw a bottle into any sweet I am making!

People who taught me much about food and cooking are my friends Seema Sawhney, who is Ismat Chugtai�s daughter, and Farhan Mujeeb. My God, what a fabulous cook she is. Like a khansama! In Cunnoor where I have a small little house, she is my neighbour. I go there three times a year for two to three weeks, and what cooking we do! I know the Cunnoor market better than I do Grant Road or Crawford Market in Bombay. When Seema is cooking, I go into the kitchen for a sneak preview of the dinner, and also to see if there is anything I can do. I can do that with people I�m familiar with. Another couple I�ve learnt about food from is Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi. Especially Hyderabadi food. Javed is fond of saying, �You keep Lucknowi food in the cupboard for three weeks, it becomes great Hyderabadi food!�