Superchef Vikas Khanna toys around with the ‘western’ oats and stirs up his own breakfast specials with a hearty homely twist. By Shambhavi Suri
He has had to stretch and bend his time to make it as a Michelin-star chef but Vikas Khanna has never ever taken the shortcut with breakfast. “Belonging to a small town, I wasn’t allowed to step out of the house without eating a big breakfast. There was no negotiation, the tummy had to be full. Today, the habit has programmed my sleep and activity patterns. I would wilt without my breakfast. My cousins, who lived in big cities, had a more flexible lifestyle. They broke this rule often, usually having the liberty to pick up a snack along the way. In smaller towns, we never had this option.”
However, chef Vikas now credits his routine to his happiness hormones. He believes skipping breakfast is one of the foremost reasons why most Indians feel stressed, more agitated and angry throughout the day. “There is a scientific reason behind this. You feel taxed because your brain does not get the required fuel for it to function. You tend to become more anxious and your body craves for food leading to unwanted binges.”
Now that he has a multi-national stint, shuttling between the US and India, he has developed a healthy breakfast habit of oats and is crafting several recipes out of it for today’s no-fuss professionals on the go. “When Indians took to oats as one of their staple cereals, I thought it was a fantastic idea because they have all the proteins and nutrients that one needs. The prep time needed for oats is anywhere between three and six minutes according to how you like it and one doesn’t even need to go through the hassle of cooking it,” he tells us at a product launch.
And on a hot summer day, chef Vikas, who entered every Indian home with his disarming ways in the Masterchef series, gives a master class on how to make Thandai Oats with Chikki. Putting the saucepan on medium heat, he points out to the ingredients for the recipe — A jar of milk, a cup of hazelnuts, a cup of almonds, a cup of dried melon seed, cashews, a few strands of saffron and honey. These are the things you need for the thandai.
As the pan heats up, he tosses in a few hazelnuts, almonds, melon seeds and cashews, letting them roast. “Make sure you don’t burn these nuts. Dry roasting brings out the flavours more than just having to dry the seeds outside,” says Vikas, adding a dollop of smart tricks and tips. “Pour in a glass of whole milk after roasting the nuts. Put in a few strands of saffron which will enhance the flavours further and give the thandai a beautiful colour. Adding too much of saffron will overpower the rest of the flavours. So be prudent,” adds he.
ladling a bit of honey into the mix, the chef recommends that to give a kick to the more traditional taste, one could add a pinch of black pepper. “Turn off the heat after stirring the mixture for a few seconds. Then add the oats. The ratio of the thandai and oats should be 1:1. Oats need to bloom evenly in an equal volume of liquid.” And then he adds texture, dropping a few figs soaked in simple sugar syrup at the bottom of the jar.
For chef Vikas, texture, body and richness are very important to make a great start to the day. “Eating plain soaked oats every day in the morning will eventually bore you but if we add texture and layers, you will eat the same thing every day without complaints.
He next proceeds to make the chikki, adding half a cup of sugar in a pan containing two tablespoons of water and turning down the flame. Stirring the concoction, he offers another smart tip: “I do not use a spoon to stir the sugar mix because if there’s even a little moisture on the spoon, it will crystallise the syrup and that’s something we don’t want.” Once the syrup turns golden brown, he tosses in a teaspoon full of sesame seeds and immediately pours the syrup mix on to a silicon pad. He spreads it evenly and lets it cool down.
In order to assemble the dish, he drops the figs at the bottom of a jar, then adds the thandai oats over it and sprinkles some basil seeds to coax a bit more complex flavour profile. Another layer of thandai oats and he tops it with dry fruits and pieces of the chikki. A fusion of modernity with a timeless classic, looking temptingly luscious like a dessert in a jar.
Chef Vikas further demonstrates a South indian innovation, curd rice-inspired oats with a zesty tadka or tempering, plum chutney and parmesan Kolhapuri papad, a perfect balance of tastes, a tummy soother with a nice crackle of a crunch. He usually loves to plate his food but when it comes to curd rice, he has it straight out of the bowl.
Despite the tweaks, oats in the average Indian household are seen as a western import. Does the superchef have any card up his sleeves to revive the Indian cereal and grain heritage, considering they are equally good in ensuring weight loss and lowering blood cholesterolIJ Says he, “While millennials may go for Western choices, traditional Indians haven’t given up on what they have grown up with. So I do not think our grain heritage is under threat at all. I see so many people eating rotis made out of bajra (pearl millets), amla (Indian gooseberry) daily and what not. But we live in a time wherein people are more open to adopting western trends and create something with their own flavours. My demo was all about cooption, not subversion. Personally, I still feel that we are connected to our roots, we know our grains and food, and we are lucky to have the knowledge of both worlds.”
He emphasises on living healthy as being of utmost importance. “I know people who have lived for over 90. The only reason behind their long lives is healthy living and not missing a single meal a day.” And finally we get some starred advice as well from chef Vikas: “A mantra everyone should adopt is Rise, Eat and only then can you Shine!”