On the 19th of November 2012, I got an invite from Debasmita on behalf of NDTV Good Times for Meet the Chef Session with Chef Aditya Bal. The session was held on Tuesday, November 20 at Le Meridien, Bangalore. The session was organised by India's leading lifestyle TV channel NDTV Good Times to celebrate the best in the food industry by raising a toast to the single most important ingredient that could make or break the fortunes of a restaurant - The Perfect Recipe.
It also celebrated the NDTV Good Times award Food Awards which were held on 3rd-Dec-2012 and also it's 3rd anniversary.
Foodizens from across the country were invited to participate in this celebration and meet their favorite chef, through Meet the Chef(MTC) session with Aditya Bal, their favorite super chef.
Sometime back I had an opportunity to review his first cookbook named "The Chakhle India Cookbook". Aditya Bal is the well known anchor of NDTV Good Times cookery Show named Chakhle India and Kaccha Rasta. He has roamed all over India and is familiar with most of the local cuisines. His family is from Punjab, but he was born in New Delhi and grew up in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. He was a great model once upon a time and even tried some luck in Bollywood. Later he packed his bags for Goa where he brushed most of his culinary skills. Goa was his most favorite food destination ( and so is mine :))
Regarding the cooking session - The chef was there dot on time. I was really impressed with his punctuality. The hall was pouring with people, with some people sitting on the stairs.
The chef demonstrated 3 of his favorite recipes.First one being Dilli Ki Fried Aloo Chat, second was Bengali Doi Maach ( Bengali Fish curry in Yogurt) and the last one was Rajastani Zaffrani Pulao. While demonstrating the recipes, the chef told us many cooking concepts which were quite new to us. A lot of people also asked many questions regarding cooking. It was a very interactive session and I was lucky to meet the super-chef in person.
Watch and Learn is the Chef's motto. The chef never follows any recipes. He says that we have to try by tasting the food and adjust the taste.
The best part was that I met a few fellow food bloggers whom I knew only in the bloggosphere. One of the food blogger Valarmathi was lucky enough to get an opportunity to toss the Dilli Ki Aloo Chat with the chef.
Thanks to NDTV Good Times, Chef Aditya Bal and Debasmita for inviting us over to witness this wonderful event.