Chef's Table: Prashant Dhanwariya

The easiest thing to cook is mushrooms because their subtle flavour goes well with any ingredient.

NT Features

What’s the good thing about being a chef?

For me being a chef is another name for creativity. It is very exciting to play around with different types of ingredients with regards to textures and flavours.

Why did you want to become a chef?

Because this profession is something that really motivates me to do something for people I have never seen or met before. It doesn’t matter whether you fail or pass, you just need to keep the spirit going.

Do you follow recipes or create your own dishes?

Yes, I do follow the recipes and sometimes I try to innovate some in a novel way, with the right flavour and combinations.

What are the easiest and the hardest ingredients to cook with?

The easiest thing to cook is mushrooms because they are one of the most flexible ingredients. Their subtle earthy flavours go very well with different ingredients. On the other hand, eggs can be the most difficult to work with in the beginning. Cooking an egg is all about protein coagulation so it needs the right temperature and proper cooking time.

What’s your favourite food and why do you like it?

Making a risotto really makes me really happy because it’s all about the right technique. It’s important to get that creamy consistency with butter and parmigiano reggiano.

If you could give our readers one piece of advice, what would that be?

One piece of advice which I really want to share with the people who are keen on cooking and interested in learning more about it is to focus on the basics and develop on that. One needs to know what goes into creating something new in cooking.

What are the healthiest things to eat?

There is a huge variety of healthy food in the market and the bulk of the population is now getting attracted to it to enhance their immunity. You can change your diet from junk food to fresh fruits and all kinds of vegetables. Breakfast is very important and should be full of healthy oatmeal or eggs prepared in different ways.

Do you get a chance to eat what you cook?

Yes, we do get to eat what we cook. But mostly we like to just taste it because after cooking so many dishes on a regular basis you don’t feel like having it as a whole meal. Most chefs eat very basic meals.

(Chef Prashant Dhanwariya is the head chef at Raahi Neo Kitchen & Bar and Eurotrip Cloud Kitchen.)