CHEF OF THE WEEK

Harangad Singh is the Corporate Chef of Biggie Hospitality, running two popular restaurants in Gurugram— the award-winning Prankster and first of its kind, the whimsical wonderland of a restaurant called PraPraPrank. In both the restaurants, the ambience showcases his philosophy about food; it is fun, textural, appealing to the eye and above all, the food tastes great.

Chef Harangad specialises in Indian cuisine, and over the years he has been able to carve a niche for himself in innovative and nostalgic Indian food, which focuses on freshness and the use of local ingredients.

In a candid conversation, he talks more about himself and his work:

What is your work philosophy?
My philosophy is to make sure that every member in my team is happy with his/her work, as only happy cooks can deliver a happy recipe on plate.

What has been your inspiration in life?
Food. Not because cooking is my profession, but because it describes me best.

If you were not a chef, what else would you have chosen as a profession??
I would have been a bartender then.

If it were to be your last meal on earth, what would it be?
I will eat anything prepared by my mother.

What advice you would like to give to aspiring chefs?
There’s nothing called authentic food so paint your canvas with all the colours available.

Choley Kulcha Doughnut

Ingredients
For doughnut dough
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup whole milk, heated to 110°F
2 to 2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons (30 grams) superfine sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature and cut into cubes
Vegetable oil for frying

Ingredients for filling
1 cup kabuli chana (boiled)
1 tomato
2 green chillies
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tbsp ghee or butter
1 star anise
1 bay leaf (tej patta)
1 inch cinnamon stick (dalchini)
5 to 6 methi (fenugreek) seeds)
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin (zeera) powder
2 tsp coriander (dhania) powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chana masala
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 tsp garlic, grated
1 black cardamom (badi elaichi)
1/2 tsp chaat masala
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnishing
Kasuri methi (Dried fenugreek leaves).

Method

-Make a puree of tomato and green chilies and keep aside.
-In a large kadai or deep saucepan, heat the oil and ghee.
-Add the whole spices (star anise, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon and methi) and fry for a few seconds.
-Stir in the onions and hing and fry for about a minute
-Add the tomato paste and cook till it thickens.
-Stir in all the masala powders (except the chaat masala) and sauté till the oil separates.
-Pour in the cooked chickpeas along with the water in which it was cooked, black cardamom, chaat masala and salt and mix well.
-Taste the gravy for salt and sourness and if needed, add more salt/chaat masala.
-Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
-Add crushed kasuri methi on top, mix well.
-Strain the gravy and keep it for side dip.
-Choley should be dry for stuffing.

Method
-Mix all the above ingredients and make soft dough
-Divide the dough equally in small round balls
-Stuff the prepared choley in the balls and roll them
-Keep the doughnuts for proving
-When the dough rises to a desired volume, deep fry it