Zarine Khan on her debut cookbook, Food Secrets

As a Parsi, you grew up eating mutton dhansak and patra-ni-macchi. Do you also include recipes from your parental home in the book?

My family loves Parsi food and we eat it three times a week. There’s patra ni macchi, white fish curry and sali chicken, all of which are in the book. I come from an aristocratic Parsi background and my mother was not much into cooking. My maternal grandmother was an extraordinary cook. She had a palatial house in Bandra and all of us lived in adjoining flats. Every afternoon, she would send food to the four-five homes and at night, we would sit together at this big community table. It was a close-knit atmosphere and I fortunately found the same at my husband Sanjay Khan’s house. The dining room is the main feature of our home and we always dine together.

There’s an interesting section where meat is paired with vegetables such as okra, apple gourd and cabbage.

Fatima Bibi would make a lot of these combinations. Too much of meat is not good for you, so she would pair cabbage, cauliflower, saag, tinda and bhindi with meat. Today, even I’ve become very innovative. The other day, I told my cook to try out brinjal gosht. Make a nice mutton korma and fry the brinjal separately. After the meat is done, lay the round brinjal on top, and steam it for 10 minutes so that the flavours seep in. Garnish with some coriander and you have Baingan Gosht. She also taught me the beauty of laying a table. With a yellow khichdi, there would be a Tamatar Mirchi Gosht. If there’s a white bharta, then some brown Shammi Kebabs alongside. The colours activate your taste buds.

Are your kids calorie conscious?

They are conscious, but on my table, they just dig in. In fact, Hrithik (Roshan) breaks his fasts when he comes here. The table looks so appetising. The men in the family love to not just eat, but also cook. My husband’s green masala chops are to die for. My son, Zayed, loves cooking European dishes and makes the best lasagne in the world. Fardeen (Khan), my nephew, makes really good steaks.

Your husband loves Persian food, like the Aash Maash. You also write about not using heavy ingredients like creams and cashewnuts for flavouring.

The Aash Maash is a delicious dish made with keema, rice and chana dal. My mother-in-law was Persian by birth. As she lived in Bangalore, she would make light preparations that were tangy — the seasonings like curry leaves, cumin and red chilli would add the flavour. Persian dishes don’t have too much masala, and use a lot of tomato or even yoghurt with a little bit of garlic.

Tell us about the famous Khan household’s famous biryani.

We always have guests and they adore our chicken and mutton biryanis. Having had it so many times, I get tired but that’s all people want. Sushmita Sen loves the biryani and also the shammi kebabs. Dimple (Kapadia) has been my close friend since she was 14 and comes over often. In fact, even Rekha, who is quite a recluse, loves the food and atmosphere at our home. Her niece is married to Sanjay’s nephew so we’re also related now. Recently, I was visiting Krishna Kapoor (Raj Kapoor’s wife) and I asked her if I should get a different dish from home. And she said, “Zarine, from your house, I want only biryani.”

shikha.kumar@expressindia.com