Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/472984
spring 2015 bca a .com 25 profile at home Which is your favourite room? "My mother said that when I was a young child, I always wanted to be in the kitchen, although she never understood what motivated it. Now, as soon as I come home, I have to go into the kitchen." What are your most important kitchen tools? "You must have a heavy pot; all of ours are cast iron. A masala box is an Indian chef's painting palette, with beautiful, richly coloured spices; and the canvas is our pot. And I need Bollywood music to dance to while I cook in my 'art studio.' My kids think I'm crazy, and say, 'Why do you have to be so dramatic about everything?' It is important to enjoy yourself while cooking, and not fuss about it. As long as it is made with love and passion, and you use your creativity, who cares if it isn't perfectly cooked?" Who does the cooking at home? "Now that Meeru oversees Shanik Restaurant in Seattle, she is often gone, so we both cook for the girls whenever we can, which means dinner might be between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. Whereas Meeru cleans the kitchen as she prepares, I leave a mess, and then realize later, 'Oh heck! I have to clean this up.' I forget that it's not like the restaurant kitchens where I don't have to." ever cook up a disaster? "Lots of times I do. I recently made something with so much chili pepper that no one except me could eat it." What made you decide to join Dragons' Den? "Twenty-three years ago, I wrote a business plan and pitched the idea of a restaurant serving modern Indian cuisine to venture capitalists to raise the $20,000 I needed. They said, 'No one will want to eat modern instead of traditional Indian food,' and declined it. Dejected, I told my father, and three weeks later he came from India carrying a paper bag with $23,000 PRIzed kITcHeN POSSeSSION "I love our old-world, heavy cast-iron gas stove. It was only $500 second-hand at Dunlevy Food Equipment, but it cost more to install and refurbish than to buy it. It is very well made, powerful (30,000 bTUs) and cooks incredibly." ROOm TO LIve "meeru and I had huge discussions about the living room because I wanted to add on a TV room. meeru is insistent that we don't need a larger house with a bigger environmental footprint." profile