Stepping into a professional kitchen and donning the chef’s hat at a time when it was considered a career option for ‘losers’ who would end up becoming ‘halwais’, Chef Kunal Kapur has come a long way. After hosting the television food show, MasterChef India, his book, A Chef In Every Home, brings the world to your kitchen with simple recipes that can be cooked using local ingredients.

Chef Kunal Kapur

“The Indian kitchen is no more bound by dal roti. People are finally realising that one does not need to be an ace cook to create international cuisines. The aroma of global, gourmet food is wafting through Indian kitchens,” says Chef Kapur, whose book includes Middle Eastern, Indian, European, Italian and South East Asian recipes.

While Kapur offers authentic recipes for each, some of the dishes, like the Porcupine Chicken, have been tweaked. Inspired by an American recipe of meat balls, Kapur transforms this into an Asian dumpling. “Here, I replaced beef with chicken. One thing I noticed was that home cooks find it difficult to fold dumplings. So, I thought of rolling them in a bed of rice.”

Another dish is the Charmoula sauce, which is a traditional Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian sauce. While the sauce, a combination of parsley, coriander, lemon and cloves, goes best as a fish marinade, it makes for a flavoursome dip, too. “During the early years of my career, I was running an Indian restaurant in Kuwait. I learnt most of the Middle Eastern dishes from a Syrian lady who was the owner’s friend.”

For dessert, he takes the Italian Pannacotta and adds the zing of Indian paan (betel leaf) to it. “The recipes will take you on a delicious world tour,” says Kapur.

Cost: Rs 599, published by Random House India