CHENNAI : It might look like a bundle of visiting cards, but the cookbook One Pot One Shot (OPOS) is a mini revolution in itself. Authored by Rama Krishnan, author and CEO of Pizza Republic, the book has more than 70 recipes — each just a page long. It is the world’s simplest cookbook, claims Krishnan.
“Dishes like Gutti Vankaya Kura (stuffed eggplant), an Andhra delicacy, is killer the traditional way. But it becomes a no brainer with OPOS,” guaranteed. It’s true. The process mentioned in the book suggests it can be made under five minutes as opposed to the conventional 30. Similarly, dishes that people often spend hours in the kitchen perspiring over — chicken masala, mango pachadi, baigan bharta— have been eased out to an effort equivalent to making two-minute Maggi!
Anyone can enter the cooking arena without feeling like a misfit. Even kids. That seems to be the driving line behind OPOS. “Now children can cook without the supervision of elders,” he says. Unbelievable? “Check out OPOS cooking videos. You can find kids cooking entire meals,” he says.
A majority of the people, especially teenagers, restrain from cooking because of the uncertainty of it, according to Krishnan. Most cookbooks involve steps like ‘Identify the point when the oil separates from the dish and then add the ingredients’ or ‘wait till the onion turns golden brown’. “A first-timer will not be able to identify it. Hence, he becomes apprehensive about the method and whether he is following the instructions in the cookbook correctly,” he explains. To tackle this confusion, Krishnan made sure that OPOS has no steps whatsoever. Each recipe simply includes the ingredients to be added, in the first paragraph, and the medium of cooking in the second — namely pressure cooking, blending or mixing. “All you have to do is put everything inside and cook for a few minutes,” says Krishnan, who has been working on one-page cookbooks for over 15 years. “The results will never change. It is a fixed set of ingredients that you put inside for a fixed amount of time,” he elaborates.
Each dish takes only five to six minutes and strictly using a single vessel. That apart, the method mentioned in the book involves moderate cooking, which helps retain most of the nutrients. And taste? Each recipe has been validated by a dozen others. “I posted each recipe on the United by Food Facebook group (where members discuss food and recipes). Members across the globe experimented and validated the recipe,” he says, offering us a palate-approved guarantee.
But unlike other recipe books, there are no hard and fast rules with the choice of ingredients. “We work with themes and not recipes. When you take paneer butter masala, the base is going to be the same – onion, tomato and spices. You can put chicken instead of paneer and make it chicken masala. The book explains the process, you can choose your ingredients,” he says.
Contact the Facebook group United by Food for a copy of the book.