A lesser-known facet of the legendary playback singer, who passed away in Mumbai on Sunday at the age of 92, was her love for cooking, discussed at length in "Asha Bhosle: A Life in Music"
Asha Bhosle passed away on Sunday, April 12, at 92. Photo Courtesy: File pic
She had lent her voice to thousands of songs across seven decades, but when asked what she would have been had music not found her, Asha Bhosle had a ready answer -- a cook.
This lesser-known facet of the legendary playback singer, who passed away in Mumbai on Sunday at the age of 92, was discussed at length in "Asha Bhosle: A Life in Music", a biography by author Ramya Sarma.
In the book's chapter "Her Culinary Skills", the author discussed the singer's lifelong passion for cooking and how it helped her deal with stress.
"I'd have cooked in four houses and made money," she is quoted as saying in the book.
The book revealed that Asha Bhosle's culinary reputation extended well beyond her family circle, with several film personalities recalling dishes she had cooked for them.
Members of the Kapoor family, for instance, were said to have continued requesting her paya curry, Goan fish curry and dal. Her kadhai gosht and biryani also had a devoted following.
"'I find cooking de-stressing. Like with music, I love experimenting with flavours and ingredients. Like I sing all kinds of songs, I also cook all types of food. But I believe in being traditional - I like traditional clothing, traditional food,' and tends not to go beyond what she does best, which is Indian vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine," she said.
Even at 90-plus, the singer was perfectly willing to spend a few hours on her feet cooking for guests. She employed staff to handle daily meals, but reserved special dishes for herself when the occasion demanded.
Actor Poonam Dhillon was a frequent visitor to the Bhosle home and found the singer to be a "great cook and host".
"There is nothing else that relaxes her as much and gives her as much happiness -- after all, she's not doing it for herself! She's cooking for her grandkids or her family or her friends. Other than being with her grandkids, that would probably be the most important thing for her," the actor said.
The biography also chronicled how food became a binding force in Bhosle's personal life, especially her relationship with her late husband, music composer R D Burman.
The two, both accomplished kitchen handss, held friendly cooking competitions at home. Burman, described in the book as an impromptu chef, would cook with whatever he could find and still make it taste extraordinary.
Bhosle learned to make traditional Bengali prawn curry from Burman's grandmother, acquired a repertoire of Lucknowi specialities from lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri's wife, and picked up the famed Peshawari biryani recipe from none other than Raj Kapoor himself.
The singer's eclectic palate was on full display in the book. While her strength lay in Indian cuisine -- particularly Maharashtrian, Goan and Bengali preparations -- she also had an appreciation for Thai and Chinese food.
Her personal favourite meal, the biography noted, was a comforting plate of rice, dal and chilli pickle.
"I rarely go to bed without having a sweet. But I take care not to stuff myself. If I eat too much in the day, I skip dinner," said Bhosle.
Exercise was an unfamiliar idea to the singer, who considered music her form of yoga.
The book also recounted a memorable kitchen encounter with superstar Rajesh Khanna, who once came to watch Bhosle cook. While she remained careful about adding too much ghee, something she had often described as the secret to her youthful spirit and glow, Khanna insisted she be more generous.
"Why just one, add three spoonfuls of ghee!" he once told her.
Bhosle's restaurant chain, Asha's, which operates in the Middle East and specialised in traditional North-western Indian cuisine, was a testament to how seriously she took her second passion.
She spent three months personally curating the menu and trained the chefs herself over a six-month period, drawing from the full range of regional Indian cooking she had absorbed over a lifetime.
"If a restaurant is to have my name, then it has to be successful, so I want the food to be exactly the way I cook it," Bhosle once told a journalist.
Cooking had also been Bhosle's refuge in grief. Following the death of her daughter Varsha in 2012, she channelled her pain into both music and the kitchen.
"'Ashatai has always loved to cook and feed family and friends. Now, cooking has also become her way of dealing with the pain," recalled a relative in the book.
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