After hosting shows on India’s pickles, curries and thalis, celebrity Chef Kunal Kapur will dive into India’s royal culinary heritage with TVF’s new series, The Royal Palate, in association with Behrouz Biryani.
“I’ve done shows on the humble traditions of India, but this one gave me an opportunity to go all out and discover India’s royal food, which was missing in my portfolio,” says Chef Kapur. He reveals how even today several Indian royal families follow culinary traditions passed down from generations. “Getting to know the origins of such fantastic traditions, with associated anecdotes and stories is absolutely riveting. As someone who constantly researches on Indian food and culture, The Royal Palate has been a journey of discovery.”
Each of the seven episodes focus on one dish, their associated royalty and the local community. “It’s not the entire cuisine of a particular royal family, just an in-depth analysis of one or two dishes. We wanted to understand the origin of the dish, learn about when, why and how it became a part of their family, and what is its present avatar.”
Chef Kapur began research for the show almost four months in advance. It meant hours and hours in various libraries. Also, food historians were brought onboard to provide better insight. “I got to know about food stories the royal families haven’t talked about. One such experience was in Rampur, whereas we explored various halwas, including Meat ka halwa and Fish ka halwa. It was only after I saw them prepare these, and then relished these that I finally believed they existed.”
He admits that when he worked at hotels, he only concentrated perfecting the recipes and taste. “But once I started working on television shows, I realised the importance of research. When new dishes come in, the old ones die. Once I began to research, I couldn’t hold myself back.”
Chef Kapur has hosted Masterchef India and Junior Masterchef India, and was invited to judge the semi-finale of Masterchef America with Chef Gordon Ramsey. He’s also penned A Chef in Every Home: The Complete Family Cookbook. Finally working with a new media, he says, “For a person like me, who wants to talk about his research, the internet is the fastest medium to connect.”