contemporary indian cooking
As a child growing up in Bombay I was drawn to the fragrant kitchen aromas conjured by our family's skillful cook, Chandan. His traditional Indian cooking, based on practicality and subtle application of spices, inspired my love of this warm and cultured food which I have elevated to my original style through the use of ingredients from the United States to create light, clear flavors for bright and innovative dishes.
I came to the United States in 1968 and stayed on to attend Columbia College for Television and Cinema Arts for a year. There I met my wonderful husband Franklin, of German Austrian descent, born in Cuba and of the Jewish faith. A year later we were married. We have a son, a daughter and four grandchildren.
Both of our children and their spouses have taken on my passion for cooking and are accomplished cooks in their own rights. In fact our oldest granddaughter, now 10, has been baking and cooking with me since she was 3 years old.
Never having cooked before coming to the United States, but missing the flavors of home I started to delve into simple Indian cooking with the guiding hand of an aunt and by reading cookbooks, magazines and watching cooking shows on television. Julia Child, Graham Kerr, Jacques Pepin and magazines such as McCall's, Good Housekeeping and Ladies Journals all played a guiding role in my learning to cook beyond just Indian food.
During the next twelve years, while working in the banking industry, I continued to improve my culinary skills and broadened my recipe repertoire during many visits to India. Several parties and private dinners for friends and family led to small catering jobs throughout Los Angeles.
In 1985, I defied the stereotypes of rich, heavy Indian dishes by opening my first restaurant in Los Angeles, Chutney's Indian fast food. Based on the then popular Pollo Loco style of charbroiled chicken, Chutneys served Tandoori chicken, naan, salads of the day and we had a "chutney bar" in place of the salsa bar. It was an instant success. I then went on to open the hugely successful Bombay Café and ran it for 19 years. The "chaat" and "frankies" were the talk of the town.
My book, The Bombay Cafe Cookbook, published in 1998, put me on the national map as one of the leading voices of contemporary Indian cuisine. In 2007, I sold my partnership in the cafe and in 2008, my husband and I were drawn to Napa as a destination point for combining Indian food with wine.
Neela's, contemporary Indian cooking, opened in April 2009 and soon thereafter was awarded a three star rating by Michael Bauer of the San Francisco Chronicle. I often present non-Indian menus on special occasions such as an Indian influenced Jewish dinner for Yom Kippur and a Cuban meal for Havana Night all in honor of my husband.
My latest accomplishment was competing on the highly successful Food TV program, "Chopped". Four chefs compete in three categories, appetizer, entrée, and dessert with limited time, using ingredients in a mystery basket. After each category one chef is eliminated or "chopped". My episode, entitled "Duck for dinner" aired on December 13, 2011 where I prevailed as the champion. The reruns of the episode can be seen on Food TV, or you can find it on YouTube and HULU.
Indian food is still struggling to make its mark on the high-end dining scene in the United States. More often than not the restaurants limit themselves to the perfunctory north Indian menu, resplendent of heavy Masala based curries. Though these recipes in the right hand are delicious, one gets tired of the same. I have aspired to bring home cooking to the restaurant scene along with some American inspired dishes. It has been a long journey, but very well received by the gourmet palette and critics. I am hopeful that the younger generation of Indians living in America who have chosen the culinary profession will be able to advance the flavors that we all grew up loving and help Indian food earn its deserved status in the epicurean stage.
Neela Deva Paniz
Class of 1963
What an awesome weekend it has been for Old Boys of Mayo - Doon - Sanawar!
The inaugural SDFC was a resounding success, as expressed by all those who attended it; and the turnout was pretty much as expected. The players braved the 40 deg heat and humidity and gave some sterling performances over the weekend. Chief Guest Mr Shomie Das refused the offer of an afternoon nap in an AC room a few feet from the action, and instead preferred to cheer for the teams... without taking sides !
It was an honour for the players, ex-colleagues and former students to interact with 'SRD'. Other dignitaries who attended were Mr BG Pitre (Doon), Mr & Mrs DN Mathur (Mayo), 81 year old Mr Chandu Joshi (Mayo) - a leg spinner of the highest repute in India and Mayo's cricket coach for more than two decades, Mr Arup Patnaik (Commissioner of Police Mumbai and a former student of SRD at Mayo), and many other Old Boys and Girls.
The brief scores were as follows;
Match No 1: Sanawar 198/4 (Sangram Singh 51 not out, Apoorva Lakhia 24, Abhimanyu Singh 2/24) vs Doon 170/8 (Abhishek Mishra 53 not out, Uday Bawa 27, Dhruv Soota 2/16, Raghav Karol 3/25). Sanawar won by 28 runs. MoM: Sangram Singh (Sanawar).
Match No 2: Mayo 217/5 (Mansur Ali 40, Vikram Dayal 32, Dhruv Singh 54 not out, Jaideep Mathur 27, Raghav Karol 2/23) vs Sanawar 180/8 (Pratap Bajwa 20, Apoorva Lakhia 54 not out, Bunty Walia 20, Raman Chahar 2/19). Mayo won by 38 runs. MoM: Dhruv Singh (Mayo).
Match No 3: Doon 175/7 (Manas Agrawal 53 not out, Shivtaj Singh 52 not out, Raman Chahar 2/14, Jaideep Mathur 3/25) vs Mayo 177/5 (Dhruv Singh 37 not out, Raman Chahar 53 not out, Shivtaj Singh 2/15, Manas Agrawal 3/33). Mayo won by 5 wkts. MoM: Raman Chahar (Mayo).
Final: Sanawar 168/7 (Sangram Singh 50 not out, Apoorva Lakhia 42 not out, Sherry Singh 2/8, Jaideep Mathur 2/16) vs Mayo 170/5 (Vikram Dayal 52 not out, Dhruv Singh 46 not out, Apoorva Lakhia 3/26). Mayo won by 4 wkts. MoM: Vikram Dayal (Mayo).
In addition to the cricket the SDFC dinner on the 24th and the Le Sutra dinner on the 25th were attended in large numbers by players and alumni of all the schools.
All in all, a great debut event for a very special and much loved Headmaster
News release from Shomie Das Friendship Cup facebook
Brig Satdev Bajaj(OS71) has been recently approved for promotion to Major General. Commissioned into the EME in June 1976 and now permanently seconded to the Directorate General of Quality Assurance Army Headquarters in Delhi.
Congratulations from the OS Fraternity!
Niharika Bhasin(OS88) won the prestigious National Awards 2012 for Best Costume Design for the film "The Dirty Picture". Earlier in the year she had won the Filmfare Award . She also featured in the "Know your OS' column in Feburary 2012.
Dear UK OS,
We will be holding our next reunion lunch on Sunday 20th May at the usual venue, the Bombay Palace, which has recently been refurbished. Unfortunately, this means that the cost has gone up slightly!
Details of the reunion:
Date: Sunday 20th May 2012
Time: 12.30 pm
Cost: £21 for a 3 course buffet lunch plus tea / coffee
Venue: Bombay Palace, 50 Connaught Street, London W2 2AA
Bar: Drinks will be available at a 10% discount to OS
Bookings by 13th May please - through the following:
Aruna Mongia (NGD 1967): mobile: 07771 604 820 email: anu@strongfield.com
Subhash Jayaswal (SBD 1964) : email: subhash_jayaswal@hotmail.com
Arvind Sikand (HBD 1962): email: medianiche@aol.com
Divya Mahajan (NGD 1993) email: mahajan_div@yahoo.com.au
Payment: Cash on the day please
The lunch will be open to all OS, their families and friends.
Please pass the word around to any OS you are in touch with.
Any OS visiting London at the time will be most welcome. Do join us.
Looking forward to seeing you all again, and hopefully some new OS too,
Let's make it another bumper year of attendance like last year!
All the best
Aruna (Sharma) Mongia(OS67)
Ashish Pradhan(OS73) Moose, passed away on 20 Mar 2012 after complication arising from a heart surgery in Atlanta USA.The passing away of Moose left our batch devastated as he is a 2nd classmate to go less than a year. We all remember our days together with fondness, I in particular knew him from prep school where we were in the same house; I shall miss him at the batch of 1973 annual dinner which he promised to attend this year.
Sanjiv S Singh(OS73)
Heartfelt Condolences from the OS Fraternity!
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