Workshop: Celebrity Chef Shazia Khan at PMC Bangalore

Last weekend, I had an exciting opportunity to see Chef Shazia Khan cook up some delicacies for us and hopefully pick up some lovely recipes and cooking tips to share with you all.

For those who aren’t aware, Shazia Khan is an Indian chef. She participated in MasterChef India (season two) and was the Runner-Up in the competition.

I went primarily for the foodie bits, but I came away impressed by Shazia as a person as well.

The Yummy Food

First up, here are some details about the yummy food she cooked up for us. I am doing just pics and a summary, as I didn’t want to make this an overly long post. Watch this space for detailed recipes coming soon.

Grilled paneer with pineapple and cherry tomato relish

I thought the cherry tomato relish recipe was brilliantly easy, and I will try this at home. It’s perfect as a side for kebabs and other similar fried dishes.

This was delicious, and I will be sharing the recipe for this dish and all other dishes in another blog post.

Smoked Subz Kabab (veg) with Lavash

These kababs were quite different from the norm. These were made with yam, raw banana, and chana dal.

Throughout the workshop, I was charmed by how she made all these fantastic dishes using straightforward, down-to-earth ingredients that one can find in every Indian kitchen.

Frequently, I am frustrated with recipes that require expensive equipment or ingredients. However, everything she made seemed doable and straightforward in her workshop by the average cook.

The subz kabab was served on a bed of Lavash.

Lebanese Chicken Skewers

I am a vegetarian, so I didn’t try these skewers, but Snubnose did and loved them so much that she went for multiple tastings.

Desserts

As you can imagine, I was most interested in the desserts she was preparing for us.

Some almond crumble, choco lava cake, and strawberry basil coulis were on the agenda.

I have always been intimidated by making desserts, and I was surprised to see how easy she made all this seem.

Her disappointment with the choco lava cake (which wasn’t as gooey as expected) heartened me. It’s nice to know that things don’t always go according to plan, even for a seasoned cook like her.

Shazia Khan was kind enough to share the recipes for all her dishes. And I will be blogging about them in later posts.

Leave a note in the comments if there is any specific recipe you would like me to share.

Her Book

Shazia’s book – What’s on the menu? is out and is available in bookstores and online.

She spoke a bit about her book and the thought process behind it. Here’s a short soundbite from her about her book.

Her book has pretty decent reviews online, and I think I will pick it up the next time I visit Om Bookstores.

You can also buy it from Amazon.

Her Philanthropic Activities

So far, all I knew about Shazia Khan was that she was an excellent cook and a finalist on Master Chef. I didn’t know about her ventures into the education space and the philanthropic drive behind it. I was pleasantly surprised to hear her speak eloquently on a topic close to her heart.

I am a massive fan of her now – not only as a Chef but also as a person.

Once we did all the cooking, it was time for tasting, and then the folks from Phoenix Marketcity mall, who organized the event, provided all the attendees a full buffet lunch from Copper Chimney.

You can imagine our state after that. It took a lot of shuffling window-shopping throughout the entire mall for us to start feeling light again.

Huge thanks to Phoenix Marketcity Mall for hosting and organizing this event. They did a fantastic job!