The Magician of FAST FOOD

In her new book Chetna’s 30 Minute Indian, UK-based bestselling author CHETNA MAKAN presents exemplary Indian food in just a half-hour. She tells Primrose Monteiro-D’Souza about what lights her fires

- CHETNA MAKAN

A collection of everyday family favourites that are quick to whip up with spectacular results – that’s Chetna Makan’s latest offering to the world at large. The recipes also work for Indian cooks still grappling with desi khana, perhaps even with the idea that Indian food is complicated to cook up, or that quick cooking will rob dishes of their heartiness and flavour. Makan, who was a favourite on The Great British Bake Off in 2014 and is currently a YouTube sensation, began the lockdown by sharing recipes every single day with an appreciative and enthusiastic audience. “It kept me sane by giving me something worthwhile to focus on,” she writes in the introduction to the book. Things changed, however, as the lockdown seemed to stretch forever, and she realised that, however much we appreciate good food, not many of us want to spend time cooking elaborate meals. And so, never one to back down from a challenge, Makan took it upon herself to prove that quick and easy everyday recipes are part of the Indian culinary lexicon too. The result is a range of delicious Indian dishes that take just 30 minutes, though, as she warns us, “those 30 minutes will be challenging with lots of chopping, stirring and other activity, but the end will always be in sight when you can sit down and enjoy your meal.”

Excerpts from an interview:

From fashion to food: tell us about the progression. And how did you come to take part in