Gurugram (Haryana) [India], May 17 : From becoming a familiar face in Indian households through TV shows, to cooking for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting foreign dignitaries, celebrity chef Kunal Kapur has built an illustrious culinary career. Yet, despite the accolades and recognition, Kapur said the person he looks up to the most is his mother, whom he calls his "biggest celebrity," crediting her for shaping his understanding of food, family and warmth.
Kapur shared that his mother's selflessness and dedication continue to inspire him both as a chef and as a person.
"I think my biggest celebrity is my mother," he told ANI.
"She has toiled herself all through her life feeding such a big family all the time. I have seen that time where she would serve everybody first and then say, 'Jo bachega, jo end mein kuchh hoga toh main khaa loongi,'" he recalled.
Kapur said if given the chance, he would choose to cook for his mother every single day. "I would love, every day if possible, to get that opportunity to cook for her," he added.
He often features her in cooking videos and heartwarming posts on social media.
Recently, on Mother's Day, he shared an adorable post dedicated to her mom. "From handling my tantrums, stubborn phases and endless mischief to standing quietly behind every little success I've had today, mumma has been there through it all. The older I grow, the more I realise that a mother gives pieces of her own life away so her children can build theirs. Her love was never loud, but it was there in every sacrifice, every prayer, every late night, every second chance and every time she believed in me before I believed in myself. Whatever I am today... started with her. Happy Mother's Day, mumma," he wrote in the caption.
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Opening up about his journey into the culinary world, Kapur said becoming a chef was never part of the original plan.
"When I was a kid, I never thought of becoming a chef. If my parents had their way, I would have been a banker today, may be chartered accountant," he said with a laugh.
Kapur recalled how, in the late 1990s, becoming a chef was not considered a glamorous or sought-after profession.
"In the year 1996-97, it wasn't thought that becoming a chef was a great career choice. But once I got into the trade, I enjoyed it so much that I thought, why not just go with the flow and I think sometimes things have a way of coming together," he said.
However, the roots of his love for food, he says, go much deeper tracing back to his grandparents, who migrated to India after Partition.
"My grandparents had a very interesting life. They were among those who came to India after Partition," Kapur shared.
The chef said he was especially close to his paternal grandparents and spent much of his childhood around them.
"I was more attached to my dada dadi. I was the pampered one with my grandmother," he recalled.
Kapur shared how was life for the family after migration, and added that every member of the household contributed in the kitchen to help make ends meet. "So every kid had to help in the kitchen. Like my father, my grandfather, my chacha they got into cooking very early, simply helping my grandmother when they were kids and as they grew older they enjoyed the process of cooking and that's where I think I got my inspiration from."
Those memories of simple home-cooked meals continue to influence his food philosophy even today. "Because my inspiration is from something so simple and basic and something so comfortable, which is your home you'll always see an element of ease of making dishes with whatever is available in the kitchen."
Even in his restaurants, Kapur says he tries to blend comfort food with innovation. "So even for my restaurants, it's you'll see a lot of comfort food, which is mapped with a lot of If I can say a bit of innovation, but the comfort food which is hidden hiding in that blanket of gourmet," said the celebrity chef. He added his comfort food is "ajwain mirch paratha, meethi dahi, namak mirch paratha with butter and dahi."
Kunal Kapur was in Gurugram for Blenders Pride Reserved Experiences, which was a curated multi-sensory evening combining food, music, aroma and "interesting reserve flavours," said Kunal, adding, "Understanding and re-understanding flavours in a new light where all of the senses come out alive."
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