Chef Amninder Sandhu's tryst with the tandoor began in the early 2000s. As a trainee with a five-star hotel, she had accompanied a seasoned tandoor chef at an outdoor catering event for then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi. When the service got busier, Sandhu jumped in to slap the naans in the tandoor. "It's a beautiful equipment but not user-friendly. The chef was taken aback by my willingness to help. On our return to the hotel, he told the head chef to assign me to the Indian breads section," says Sandhu, who now helms the kitchen at the gas-free restaurant Arth in Khar.

On Sunday, Sandhu, also winner of mid-day's The Guide Restaurant Awards 2019 for Best Culinary Entrepreneur, will conduct a one-hour-long masterclass on the charm and rusticity of gas-less cooking at the debut edition of Isuzu X Food Festival at the Mahalaxmi Race Course. Produced and presented by 70 EMG, the two-day festival is being held in association with media partner Sunday mid-day.