The Big Daddy Chef Cook Book
The Big Daddy Chef Cook Book
By Chef Ajay Chopra. Rs 599/-
Progressive Printing Press
Everyone knows Ajay Chopra as Daddy Chef, so what better name for his first cookbook than that!
Chef Ajay Chopra says love is the main ingredient in any recipe. Cooking for the family is paramount. And cooking food in celebration of an occasion, the ultimate joy. He is very respectful of tradition. Of life itself. He says, “Who we are, what we do. We have to be personally involved in the pleasure we want to offer people, in making them happy, through our cooking.”
So what he does is give his fans and followers a cookbook full of recipes of food we eat at restaurants. In other words, he makes it simple to cook restaurant-style food at home. Brilliant.
Here is a no-fuss recipe book. Not any one cuisine, pattern or method, but a vast array of food across many cuisines. Turning the pages is full of surprises. So, let’s say if you open the Soups and Appetisers section, you will have Palak Shorba on one page and the next will offer you Manchow Soup. Chicken Burger will be preceded by Tawa Paneer Sandwich and Melting Cheese and Potato Cutlets.
All a happy hotchpotch. But no complaints because the recipes are of those dishes we love to go to restaurants to eat and there are images of each of them. Let’s name a few that caught our eye… Paneer Crispy Chilli, Baida Roti, Chicken Lollipop, Methi Mattar Malai, Kashmiri Rogan Josh.
However, studying the book thoroughly we also found one that we have never seen on a restaurant menu but are so thrilled to find here. Gud Cheeni Paratha is something we ate in our childhood and will absolutely love to make in our own kitchen.
So here are recipes that we found interesting and will certainly try cooking one by one; Egg Curry, Chicken Tariwala, Chicken Ghee Roast, Desi Chicken Roast, Kosha Mangsho, Kathal Biryani, Pindi Chole and Dhaba Style Aloo Pyaaz Paratha, as well as Keema Paratha.
The Big Daddy Chef Cook Book is divided under the following headings; Soups And Appetisers, Main Course, Parathas of India and Desserts and has about 70 recipes. It has a foreword by Chef Atul Kocchar, who is a good friend of the author.
About the author:
Chef Ajay Chopra is best known as one of the most original MasterChef India judges. He travels wherever food and cooking takes him with gusto that is unmatched and uses his expertise as a menu and restaurant consultant with Zion Hospitality. If you ask him, progressive Indian cuisine is his beat and he’s been quite the pioneer in the same.
