Enterprising culinary experts, who dish out calorie-counted meals that also tickle the palate, have become a part of almost every film star’s entourage
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 22, 2019)

Chef Harsh Dixit still remembers how he once went in a pursuit of tomatoes in Sofia. Every vendor he visited in the Bulgarian capital seemed to turn him down. Then, at a store, when he chanced upon a crate stacked with fresh produce, he was puzzled as to why the man behind the counter had just denied having any. “Later, I learnt that in Bulgaria, they nod sideways to say ‘yes’, and each time I asked for tomatoes, they responded only with this gesture, so I thought they had run out ,” he laughs. Dixit has been Ranbir Kapoor’s private chef for the last 18 months, and has travelled from Bulgaria to Manali with the actor for the shooting of his forthcoming magnum opus, Brahmastra.

He is among a list of maverick chefs who are pushing the boundaries of their culinary skills to create delicious spreads, which are not only nutritious but also counted for calories, to tantalise the palate of film stars. Armed with essential ingredients and equipment, these travelling chefs operate out of hotel kitchens, BNBs with kitchenettes, and sometimes, even portable ‘vanity kitchens’ to ensure their pampered clients get a hot and healthy meal fresh from the pan. “If an actor is on a diet, it’s difficult for him or her to follow it, when shooting abroad or even outside the city,” says Dixit, who began his career in the kitchen of a popular Chinese restaurant in Bandra. “But having a chef, who is in tune with the taste and caloric requirements of a star, to tag along, just makes life much easier.”

So today, a Hindi film actor’s entourage not only comprises staff to manage hair and make-up on set, but also a personal chef to look after the diet. “We work through the shoot schedule, and we’re connected with the production of a film right from inception,” says Mohit Savargaonkar, chef and partner with Pod Supply, a company he runs along with Anmol Singhal, which assigns chefs to whip up customised meals at home and even on the go. “They share reference images of what the actor needs to look like in the film, so we become a part of the project, even before it takes off.” Their clients include Ranveer Singh, Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar, among others, and their meal plans can set one back by anywhere between Rs 3 lakh and 6 lakh a month.

Another meals-on-wheels provider, Akshay Arora remembers being appalled by the quality of food being served when he first visited a film set. “The chhole had drowned itself in a pool of oil,” he says. “That’s when I felt that if a celebrity is not on a meal delivery programme, it would be difficult for him to get access to healthy and hot meals on sets.”

Arora set the idea into motion by building a portable kitchen in a mini truck, and delivered his first spread for the lead stars of Student Of The Year 2, who were shooting for a sequence in Andheri. “Tara Sutaria had ’grammed a photo of our meal saying ‘what breakfast on the #soty2 set looks like”, but since we didn’t even have a handle, we weren’t tagged,” says the 28-year-old. His chefs presently cater to Vicky Kaushal, Sidharth Malthora and Arjun Rampal.



Packing for the job
A travelling chef’s carry-ons are largely dictated by the client’s diet, preferences and what the location has to offer. When Arora was in St Petersburg with Kaushal for the shoot of Sardar Udham Singh, he had packed a host of seasonings such as ‘gunpowder’, curry leaves, amchur powder and mustard seeds, even though Kaushal seemed to favour the local salmon with just salt, pepper and lemon. But Arora wanted to ensure Kaushal’s Punjabi palate wasn’t ignored during transcontinental travel. “We even made him a ragda pattice one day with sweet potatoes, chickpeas, spinach and topped it with mint chutney and house-made date syrup, and a frankie made with a jowar crepe — for days when he had to eat on the go,” says Arora, an alumnus of Ecole Mondiale World School.

In the absence of approprate appliances, sometimes travelling chefs have to wing it with what’s at their disposal. During Dixit’s first trip with Kapoor to Bulgaria, the actor wanted something to munch on while watching the football World Cup, and was provided with a range of chips and dips, salsa, liver pate on toast and hummus. What Kapoor doesn’t know is the kind of work that went into making these healthy treats. “I didn’t carry my mixer-grinder. So even to make chutney, I had to rely on my rolling pin and chopping board,” says Dixit.

Savargaonkar agrees: His chefs are trained to always think on their feet when it comes to travelling and the constraints that comes with it. They, however, do their research when it comes to locations, about the availability of ingredients and equipment. “When we were staying at ITC Royal Bengal, during the shoot of Maidaan [the sports film starring Ajay Devgn], we knew we would have access to the hotel’s well-equipped kitchen. But when we were in Patiala with Arjun Kapoor recently [for Nikkhil Advani’s Chale Chalo], we had to even carry blueberries from Mumbai,” says Savargaonkar, adding that sometimes the local produce turns out to be far superior to the stock one has shipped in. “For example, the quality of cauliflower we sourced in Ooty, while catering for Sanjay Dutt and Aditya Roy Kapur [on the sets of Sadak 2], was way better than what’s available in Mumbai,” says the 29-year-old chef. “There are hotels which don’t allow our chefs to cook in their kitchen because of insurance reasons. That is when we request the production to book us an apartment with a functional kitchen.”



Counting calories
While keeping in shape is a must for actors, sticking to the regimented diet is challenging, especially when one has to socialise and keep up appearances. Savargaonkar shows us a midnight text he received from Anil Kapoor: “Had one drink tonight”.

A text like this prompts the team to know that the actor has consumed approximately 200 calories over his assigned intake. “We must then balance out the excess in his meals the following day,” he says, adding that the secret of Kapoor’s ageless looks could be attributed to the fact that he hasn’t consumed refined sugar since he was 20.

A private chef’s job is also to understand how a client processes a meal and account allergies, predispositions and body composition. “Kriti Sanon has a naturally good metabolism — so even if she has a pizza one night, it may not show up. But it’s not the same for Arjun Kapoor, for instance,” he adds.

Sports nutritionist and restaurateur Maya Pereira, who caters Varun Dhawan’s meals, feels chefs must help their clients stick to the diet. “Long and erratic shoot schedules can make actors moody and averse to healthy food,” she says. “So we ensure they don’t resort to junk food by coming up with innovative options.” Pereira’s team created a ‘healthy pizza’ made with a cauliflower base, homemade tomato spread and lowfat cheese for Dhawan on the sets of Street Dancer in London. “Varun also loves our sushi sandwich, which is a seaweed wrap with rice and veggies.”

Arora tracks Kaushal’s meals through a WhatsApp group called ‘Wolverine’, which also includes the actor, his nutritionist and trainer. In it, recipes and proportions are vetted and discussed by all in great detail. “Vicky wants a body like Wolverine [the X-Men character} by the end of the year and that’s only possible if every morsel that goes into his mouth is accounted for,” he says.

Even Dixit believes in tracking calories and feels “knowledge of food science is critical to creating a nutrientrich menu”. “On certain days, Ranbir wants his sarson da saag, palak paneer and chhole bhature. But going by his diet, he knows that he’s only allowed two rotis and 200 gm of sarson da saag, and perhaps a chicken tikka to meet the protein requirement,” says Dixit, adding that Ranbir’s saag of choice is doused with only 10 ml of ghee — “just the right amount for his body”. “He also loves pork belly but I can’t serve that every day. I may offer him a tenderloin instead, which has a lesser fat percentage,” says Dixit, who also caters for Akkineni Nagarjuna.



Pampering the palate
Sanjay Dutt swears by red meat and Rohit Shetty only consumes food cooked in ghee and coconut oil. Aamir Khan likes a new egg prep every day, while Akshay Kumar won’t tolerate strong spices or biting into onion or garlic in his meals. In India or abroad, private chefs have to accomodate such peculiarities, while catering to their client’s cravings as well as whims and fancies.

Recently, when Ranveer Singh had a sudden urge for Mumbai street-style Chinese, while shooting for 83 in London, Savargaonkar found himself thinking long and hard. “He was on a Keto diet then, so instead of flour, we used xanthan gum [a food additive used in ice creams] to thicken the Chinese gravy and managed the precise flavour of Indian Chinese,” he says, adding that Singh’s idea of spicy is “aakh se paani aana chahiye”. In fact, a recent feedback he received from Singh was to “put bharpoor cheese in the pie” and “make the cabbage sabji a touch teekha”. “His omelettes have to be loaded with cheese and jalapenos too,” he says.

Savargaonkar also offers a dessert menu comprising 100 healthy variants, with many options for those on diets such as Keto. “Katrina [Kaif] was never too fond of sweets but she has been requesting our rolled oats mush, while Anil Kapoor seems to enjoy our almond flour cookies.”

Wasabi in Varanasi
Like most of us, stars aren’t too fond of their veggies, but since their regimented diets warrant its consumption, their chefs end up devising innovative ways to dress and disguise them in dishes. “You will put something on your plate, but if you don’t want to eat it, it will probably remain untouched on the plate… that’s how it is with Ranbir,” says Dixit. Kapoor told him about his dislike for zucchini, thyme and broccoli, and his fondness for all things meat when he signed him on. “I knew that if I had to feed him veggies, I would have to juice it, include it in a curry, like pumpkin gravy, or pound them into tikkis. As long as the vegetable is not visible, he will have it,” he says.

Dixit recalls the time when he managed to get Kapoor to dig into a vegetable in a dish that traditionally doesn’t require it. “I couldn’t source squid for seafood paella once, so I skinned snake gourd, and cut it into squid-like rings,” he says. “The vegetable soaked up so much flavour from the chorizo and paprika, the natural taste of parval was gone.” And even though he informed Ranbir about the cheat substitute, he actually loved it.

Even Ranveer isn’t big on seeing greens on his plate, but doesn’t mind aubergine, okra and cabbage. “When we serve him tacos, we make his curry with lots of onions, tomatoes and spinach, so that he gets his fibre,” says Savargaonkar, who once prepared lasagna for the actor by swapping the pasta sheets with a slab of aubergine.

Catering to personalised tastes and nutritional needs while grappling with the many challenges that come with cooking on the go, Harsh Dixit is aware of how crucial a role he plays. “A lot of people help a star look the way they do,” he says. “We’re just one of them.”

Ranbir Kapoor's personal chef lets us in on creating delicious meals with only as much fat as his trainers approve of
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; September 25, 2019)

Bored of consuming boxed meals, and finding his basic home-cooked meals less appetising, Ranbir Kapoor, apparently on Alia Bhatt's recommendation, turned to Harsh Dixit for suggestions of a suitable chef to appoint. Dixit, who had previously catered to Kapoor as part of his meal-prep service business, had recently called time on the service and was willing to be his person. "For a year, I have been making meals for Ranbir, seven days a week. I'll head to his home to cook, and even travel with him for shoots," Dixit tells mid-day.

Striking the right balance between preparing scrumptious dishes and meeting the right proportion of protein, carbohydrates and fats that is recommended by his nutritionists, is his key job. "There is usually a discussion that ensues with his nutritionist and trainer about his requirements. There are requests pertaining to the [daily] calorie count as well as how and when different food sources must be incorporated in his diet. For an upcoming film, he needs to look lean and ripped. His meal plan for it was intricate; a post-workout protein meal was expected to be fish-based, so that it could be easily consumed. Dinner had to have red meat, since it is digested slowly, and could keep him satiated," says Dixit, adding that even seemingly inconsequential factors, like ensuring that the meals can be consumed by spoon in the midst of Kapoor's mid-shoot makeup sessions, are things he must be mindful of. Dixit says part of his job also entails "figuring out how to serve vegetables in a way that's adaptable for the palate." In a bid to ensure Kapoor doesn't "miss out" on important nutrients, he chooses to add them to his diet in the form of juices, smoothies or purées.

"If I must make low-calorie meals, I cut down on the richness of the food. For instance, the core ingredients in butter chicken are chicken, tomatoes and kasuri methi. What makes it high in calories is the cashew paste, ghee and cream. So, if I am given a stipulated amount of fat that I must feed him, I will control the richness of the dish by using olive or avocado oil instead of ghee."

Kapoor, Dixit says, was on a diet involving macadamia oil for a long time. "It was advised by his trainer, who had researched on its health benefits. But, I was interested in factors like its smoking point, and whether I must use it as a gravy or flavouring agent." Pointing out that rice, rotis and meat are staples that cannot be played with, Dixit adds that the factors that allow him to put his prowess on display are vegetable preparations. "As a chef who cooks for survival, I need to know how to make things interesting for him. Right now, I feed him turi, parval, and a bevy of other sabzis that even a nutritionist wouldn't specify." Only on two occasions, Kapoor requested Dixit to avoid repeating a dish. One was for a zucchini dish, and the other for a thyme-based meal. "But I still add the thyme in dishes where he can't spot it," he laughs.

A true-blue Punjabi, Kapoor loves his meals. "He enjoys pork and meat, and loves all things sweet, including Indian sweets, chocolates, cookies, cupcakes and brownies." But when a role demands he cut down the fats, a discussion ensues with the actor where it is specified that sweets would be replaced by savoury dishes. On a particularly dull day, Kapoor may ask him to forgo what's on the charts and play mischief. "But our variations may be of the order of 300 calories more than designated. That too, he knows, he must later burn it off."

2,400
Kapoor's current daily calorie count

Porridge
Kapoor's favourite meal prepared by Dixit