Team MissMalini caught up with the yummilicious Malaika Arora Khan at the opening of Chef Rakhee Vaswani‘s Palate Culinary Studio in Mumbai. We spoke to her about her favorite foods, what she cooks for her family, and of course… what’s in store for her on the filmy-front post Dabangg-2.
Team MissMalini (Team MM): Tell us about your culinary journey…
Malaika Arora Khan (MAK): From not knowing how to boil water to now doing an entire meal, I think I’ve really come a long way. I was never a foodie as a kid. We just ate because it was shoved down our throat and you had to eat, like any other child. But I come from a family of outstanding cooks –they are one better than the other – and then somewhere along the way, I got hooked on to cooking shows and it kind-of got me thinking that this was something I could enjoy doing.
And then of course, I met Chef Rakhee Vaswani and she made me confident that I could be a good cook and ever since there has been no looking back. I enjoy cooking. I find it therapeutic. I find it a stress buster. And I really thank Rakhee for it because she brought out that side of me and now I really take pride in cooking.
Team MM: What kind of food do you personally enjoy eating?
MAK: I am a typical “home food” kind of a girl. I need my fish curry and rice – the true-blue South Indian that I am. Growing up, I enjoyed hot fish-curry-rice and that’s food for the soul for me. I’m more partial towards South Indian food. My taste buds are more inclined towards South Indian style food and so I also love Sri Lankan food, Thai food, because it’s all very similar tasting.
But nowadays, I experiment a lot – whether it is making sushi or risotto or pastas or pizzas – all of it…!
Team MM: Given your busy schedule, how often do you get to cook for your family?
Chef Rakhee Vaswani: I want to answer that. She cooks almost every day. She even comes for a cooking class to our Palate Culinary Studio whenever she is free and in town and her son, doesn’t let her NOT enter the kitchen. And I can vouch for that because Malaika will suddenly call me and ask, “Now my son wants XYZ dish and quickly tell me how to make it!”
MAK: My biggest area of concern is, “What do I cook for my son? What do I send with him to school?” because it has to be nutritious, it has to be tasty, and the kids have got to like it. So that’s when I actually bother Rakhee by asking her what I should make for him!
But otherwise, I cook mostly for friends when they come home. I love making sushi at home because it is something we all enjoy and I also enjoy making Thai food.
I do keep Sundays aside for ME in the kitchen. I chuck everybody out so that I have space all to myself. My son is my biggest fan and also my biggest critic. I cook – he tastes – he tells me what is wrong – I improve upon it. Yes, he is my biggest critic!
Team MM: Are there any big film projects now that Dabangg-2 is over?
MAK: We’ve just about come out of Dabangg-2 and we’ve enjoyed every bit of it. But that’s over now and we are in the next phase where we have a couple of scripts that we’ve really liked and we want to set the ball rolling for that. So hopefully by mid-2013 we will be ready to roll our third film.
About Arbaaz directing, well, he doesn’t want to get in to it right away. He will probably give it a year. But yes, there are some scripts we want to get started with!
More Photos:
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Pix: Ranjit Rodricks and Yogen Shah for MissMalini