Eat street

Mom’s kitchen
I have grown up eating non-vegetarian food, which was cooked everyday at home. My mother would not cook a vegetable without adding meat to it, be it aloo, palak, shaljam or even dal. Exactly the same way the Bengalis can’t live without fish, we can’t live without meat. My mother cooks the best Dal Gosht in the world. I can eat it anytime, anywhere. Besides, her kofta curry was special. She used to make it with thin shorba. I also relish chicken in any form.  I still crave the flavours of my village, Budhana, near Muzaffar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. I miss that taste, in these big cities. Even the street side food there like chhole or chaat pakoras served in a small leafy plate sprinkled with onions was awesome.

Delhi ka swad
Around 1995, I came to attend the acting course in Delhi’s National School of Drama. The big problem was that I had to eat at the canteen, where bread and vegetables were served regularly but meat was prepared only once a week. I hated bread with vegetables. So I’d go to Jama Masjid, where I used to eat a famous meat dish, called Nalli Nihari. It’s simmered on slow fire the whole night. Only in the morning is it ready to be served, garnished with ginger, green chilly and finely chopped coriander. The meat becomes so soft that it just melts in the mouth. Another food joint close to my house was the Bengali Market specialising in chhole bhature.
 
Mumbai woes
During my struggling days, I have borrowed money just so that I could treat myself. Living in a small room with friends, it was like a dawat when one of us got some money. We all would go and enjoy the chicken curry from Royal Challenge close to Film City in Goregaon. Now we’ve moved to a joint called Leaping Window at Yari Road. The grilled fish and chicken served there are favourites. Bandra’s Pali Hill also has an eatery that serves delicious Sushi. I love street food too. For that, I go to Swaraj Restaurant at Seven Bungalows. I choose restaurants for their ambience, but you can’t be sure about the food. I believe in tipping for good food. That’s an appropriate way to appreciate their effort. I used to tip little amounts even back when  I didn’t have money. When I crave chaat or pani puri it has be Juhu Beach. I don’t like Mumbai’s specialties, pav bhaji and bhel. I never understood why people are so crazy about them. I miss the flavours of Delhi and North India, which one can never find in Mumbai.  

Love for cooking
So when I first came to Mumbai, the first thing I did was to learn, the art of cooking. Before my wife came here, I would often invite my friends home. A Bengali friend would prepare fish while the Punjabi one would cook up Dal Makhni. That was fun. I make good chicken pickle with dry red chilly and coriander powder. It also has chopped ginger and garlic. While seasoning the chicken, I add lemon juice before adding any other masala. Today, my wife prepares dishes just the way my mother did, especially Dum Biryani.  


Work ‘n’ fun
Gangs of Wasseypur was shot in Benares. There’s a place called Assi Ghaat there, which foreign tourists often visit. There are so many restaurants that serve tasty Oriental food there. Though it’s bland, I enjoyed it. Recently, we were shooting at Mandwa for Bajrangi Bhaijaan with Salman Khan. Salman Bhai is a foodie and he loves to feed his unit. He gets along a big caravan of cooks. They cook up a variety of chicken and fish dishes.  They made some dozen varieties of fish. It was amazing. During the shooting of Kick too, I had the privilege of gorging on the food sent from Salman Bhai’s home. Generally, we used to eat mutton biryani. It was awesome. At lunch time he often invites his co-stars to eat with him.  His huge tiffin has enough for everyone on the set.

In bad taste
When Gangs of Wasseypur was sent to the Cannes Film Festival, I had a chance to visit the city. After watching two films back to back, I was so hungry that I visited a restaurant nearby. I ordered a beef steak and was ready to attack it. But what I had anticipated to be a scrumptious round steak turned out to be undercooked and hard! It was impossible to bite in to it. I requested the waiter to grill it further.  But even then it was inedible. I wondered how people around me were enjoying their food. Finally, I ordered a boiled egg.  My dream of enjoying beef with champagne was over.|

Diet watch!
Earlier, I never gave much thought to what I ate. But after becoming an actor, I’ve become particular about what I eat. I avoid excess oil and spices. I pay attention to nutrition and hygiene. I prefer home cooked food. We use olive oil for cooking. My day starts with green tea and biscuits. For breakfast, it’s a half boiled egg, omlette, poha or corn flakes with curds. Lunch is sent from home as far as possible. For dinner I usually have a vegetable or chicken soup and salad. But I have a sweet tooth. I love sweets made from jaggery. So much so that sometimes I forget my diet. However, I make up for it by extra exercise or running. I never feel guilty eating sweets. My favourite ones are besan ka laddoo, kaala jamun and chamcham… Simply irresitible!