Maneet Chauhan: After Iron Chef, It’s Chopped
After being the chef at Vermilion, the acclaimed Indian-Latin fusion restaurants in Chicago and New York for eight years and the first Indian woman to be a competitor on The Iron Chef and The Next Iron Chef, what do you do for an encore?
Well, if you’re Maneet Chauhan, you take a break. You go have a baby, become a judge on Food Network’s ‘Chopped’, work on two cook books and plan a new restaurant in Nashville, TN, partnering with the M Street Restaurant Group.
Chauhan, who worked in major hotel chains like the Taj, Oberoi and Le Meridian in India, first came to the US to study at the Culinary Institute of America. Her cooking prowess has enriched the taste of the Big Apple, so little surprise that she was nominated by Time Out as the Best Import to New York!
Here Maneet Chauhan shares her life and signature recipes with Lassi with Lavina readers.
A Baker’s Dozen of Questions for Maneet Chauhan
1. Maneet, tell us of your growing up years – did you have a love relationship with cooking and food?
I grew up in Ranchi, in Eastern India in a small steel colony. There were people from all over the country living there—neighbors from Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, and Kerala. I was always so fascinated with their food— it was my first love. I remember as a kid that I would go to neighbor’s houses, after having had a meal at my house, and tell them that my Mom hadn’t fed me—which as you can imagine, mortified my parents! This would assure that my neighbors would quickly whip up some mysterious snack for me. The use of different spices and cooking techniques would always fascinate me.
2. What’s your earliest memory of food and why you have such a passion for it?
There is a standing joke in my family that my elder sister Reeti was responsible for my love of food. As the story goes, I was just a few months old and my Mom was making aloo parantha (hello Punjabi household! ) and my sis comes running to the kitchen and tells mom that she has shared her aloo parantha with the baby – me! So mom rushes to the crib to see my mouth stuffed with the flatbread and making no complaints about it – on the contrary, enjoying it!
3. When did you cook your first meal?
Throughout my childhood, I always helped my mom, grandmom, aunties and anybody who was in the kitchen. I would learn as I would watch them cook. The first meal that I ever cooked entirely was when I was in the 6th grade. Mom, dad and sis had gone for a concert – Usha Uttap, I still remember – and they came home to muttar aloo, pulao and shahi tukra. I think they were very impressed!
4. Were there plans to make cooking your profession, or did your family expect you to go for a more traditional career?
I have been very lucky to have parents as supportive as mine. I have never once felt the need to pursue a conventional career. Once, I decided that I wanted to study Hotel Management and pursue cooking as my profession, they stood by me, supported me, cheered for me and backed me on each and every step. I would not have achieved an iota of what I have accomplished if it had not been for them. Even now, my husband, Vivek Deora, has a similar unconditional support for me and my career – I am very thankful!
5. What was the most exciting experience for you at CIA?
Being under the same roof as 2000 other people who were as passionate about food as I was is an experience that still excites me when I reflect upon it. My time at CIA is very close to my heart. I am extremely proud to have been invited as the commencement speaker for CIA graduation in February 2013.
6. While at Vermillion, you cooked mostly Latin-Indian fusion. What are you up to now?
I love fusion, and a global approach to Indian food is what I am currently working on.
7. Tell us about ‘Chopped’ and what viewers can expect to see from you in the future?
I am excited to share that I recently received an invitation to participate as a full-time judge in what will be my fourth season on Chopped. Being a part of Food Network’s hit show Chopped couldn’t be more exciting. This season we were nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award and won the James Beard Award of Excellence. Working with Ted Allen and the amazing cast has been the experience of a lifetime.
8. How difficult is it combine the roles of mom and chef? What are your tips to others who attempt to do that, even if for their own families?
I have always known that being a chef is a difficult profession. Over the last 12 years I have seen, felt and lived these difficulties. It was the toughest thing I had ever done – until I became a Mom. It is a very difficult balance, but I know that thanks to my work and travels where I usually take my daughter Shagun along, she is blossoming into a fearless citizen of the world.
9. What are your tips for others who may attempt to do that?
My one bit of advice would be to not be afraid. Once you face the situation, you come up with the most amazing solutions. I think the most important factor is to give equal time to all things that are important to you. When you are working, work should have 100% of your attention. If you are with your child, they should have 100% of your attention.
10. What is your favorite ingredient that you’re never without?
It changes and is seasonal at times, or spice-centric. Right now it is Amchur (dried mango powder).
11. Do you always cook Indian at home or do you fuse different cuisines together?
Much to my husband’s dismay, I tend to favor fusion. At times, he just wants the basic home-cooked Indian food.
12. What’s the comfort food that can set things right for you?
My mom’s aloo methi with parantha and a BIG dollop of homemade butter!
13. What are the various ways you are incorporating the foodie life into your own work and career?
I think once a foodie, always a foodie. Food is an integral part of my being, from what I order at a restaurant, to what groceries I buy, to where I dine.
Now try Maneet Chauhan’s recipes at home! Click on the link below:
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