Long before food creators, influencers, and chef-led pop-ups became mainstays of our popular culture, there was 'Khana Khazana' — the longest-running cooking show in India, as well as the rest of Asia — and its face was Sanjeev Kapoor, India’s first celebrity chef. A pioneer in introducing Indian cuisine to the world of network television, Chef Kapoor made cooking aspirational, accessible, and even glamorous with his calm demeanour and a friendly voice that reassured and guided millions of viewers through the intricacies of classical Indian gastronomy.
A key figure in India’s culinary history, Chef Kapoor sharpened his skills in professional kitchens across India before stepping into the spotlight in 1993 with Khana Khazana. Over the years, he has written more than 150 cookbooks, launched a successful line of Wonder Chef kitchen products, hosted international food shows, and built a wide-ranging culinary empire — including restaurants in India and abroad.
Chef Kapoor made gourmet cooking accessible to the Indian middle class, supported regional cuisines like the Bohra thali and the Himachali dham long before they gained mainstream popularity, and demonstrated that chefs could be storytellers, cultural ambassadors, educators, and entrepreneurs. From demystifying gourmet dishes on national television to building a culinary empire that spans books, restaurants, and product lines, he has played a central role in shaping how India eats — and how it sees chefs.
As Indian food culture becomes more global, more visual, and more experimental, Chef Kapoor continues to adapt — influencing tastes, mentoring new talent, and reminding us that cooking is, above all, an act of love. Last week, Chef Kapoor was in Kolkata to launch the Wonder Chef Chai Magic, the world’s first automatic tea maker. We spoke about the evolving landscape of Indian cuisine, the changes in food media, and how he sees his legacy after more than three decades in the spotlight.
In 1993, you stepped onto a fledgling Zee TV set and taped the first episode of Khana Khazana, which ultimately ran for 17 years. When you look back at that moment, what did 'celebrity chef' mean then — and what does it mean in 2025?
See, there's no profession called 'celebrity chef'. First, you're a chef. If you create a body of work that is worth celebrating, then people call you a celebrity chef. But it's not that you can qualify to become a celebrity chef. It's not like you can say that you'll become a star. If your work is worth it, then you become a star... it could be in any field. So how has it changed?
I think when you look at chefs, the recognition has changed. When I started, the biggest thing that I worked on was to give recognition to chefs. People did not know who a chef was. So that was something that I started working towards. And now the base is much broader. The reach is much broader. And mediums of reach have also increased. So that has helped. But it is still early days. Recently, I told Ranveer (Chef Ranveer Brar) and Vikas (Chef Vikas Khanna), if you think that you have arrived, I think the story has just begun.
If I were to give a similarity from the cricket eras, I told them, you are probably at the Vinoo Mankad era. So forget Sunil Gavaskar, forget Sachin Tendulkar, Dhoni, Virat Kohli, or now Vaibhav Suryavanshi. I'm not even talking about me, so you can imagine, right? But that's a good thing, which means there's such a big leeway; there's so much more that has to be done and it will be done.
In recent years, the rise of home chefs offering pop-ups and showcasing specific regional or community cuisines has gained significant attention. This trend reflects India’s growing appetite for authenticity in its culinary experiences. What are your thoughts on this boom of home-chef pop-ups and micro-regional tasting menus?
When I started my show (Khana Khazana), I was addressing people who were at home. I still remember that after doing my show for about 10 years, my dad once told me, "You have no clue what you are doing. It's a movement... in some sense, it's the emancipation of Indian women." He said, "In India, women have always been oppressed. Cooking is their expression. It's their expression of what they can do, but they still don't talk about it. They feel that freedom when they do it and when they eat it. This is real independence... this is the emancipation of women."
At the time, I did not understand what he was trying to say. Now, when I see that women from home, the so-called 'home cooks', are coming out and creating small and big businesses, I understand what he meant. I'm very happy that this is something that has happened because, for any culture, introspection is good, but outreach has to be much bigger.
People have to discover you; the world has to discover you. Just by being inside, that does not happen. You have to create a larger outreach. When that becomes a bigger movement, and when people at large start to do it, then it becomes something that will have an impact. We may not be able to know or see, but this will happen. This will create better reach for Indian food from different parts of India.
So, home cooks have the poer to create a much bigger cultural impact, and the vehicle is food. I'm very happy; I can visualize and see that. I may not be around by then, but I can see that this is what will happen.
With this evolution, is there an Indian dish or cuisine that you thought was too niche for home cooks or people watching from abroad that you did not engage with at that time, that you feel has arrived and can finall take its place in the limelight?
I don't think you can put that into one dish. Not even ten, not even a hundred, not even a thousand. Each dish is so unique and it has its place. The world is such a big place, there is something that would attract someone, and there is something that would attract someone else. So the good thing is our repertoire is so large that we never know where it's going to hit.
The complexity is so much. Let's say masala chai, right? If you've seen the coffee takeover. I think masala chai is so complex, but then people have to discover that. So, for example, today we have 'chai latte', which is big. I think cold masala chai is something that the world is waiting to discover.
If you had to start your career now, if you were an emerging chef right now, is there any way you'd approach cooking differently, or is there anything that you'd try differently now?
There's a place for everything. If I were to start today, I would not be a chef because it's something that has been discovered. I would do something which would have my stamp on it. I don't like to follow. If I were to start today, I'd be following. That's not me.
So, looking back over the last 30 years and your entire culinary journey, if future food historians were to look at your cuisine and your career, what do you think would be your defining achievement?
So, in terms of rediscovering the power of home cooking, I've showed people the power that they always had so they can celebrate it. That's on home front.
On professional front, it's helping with the recognition of the occupation of a chef as a respectable profession in this country. So, that's how I would see it. It's not about dishes. It's about something that has always been there. It's the ingredients that we have. It's the ingredients that you keep on having. It's not something that stops. It's a real contribution, I would say. It's about professional chefs, giving recognition to them, and creating space for home food.
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