After serving a seven course mouth-watering treat to Prime Minister Narender Modi and the CEOs of top global companies in New York on Sep 24, Michelin-starred chef Vikas Khanna says that through this, he got an opportunity to showcase India to the world.
"We wanted to tell a story not just of food and this was the best way of telling the story of India. I thought that was the most important part...I got an opportunity to showcase so much of India through this," Khanna told IANS on the phone from New York.
Talking about the table, which had a cumulative worth of approximately $4 trillion, Khanna says that he feels very "proud" as this dinner would help the "economy and the future generation of the country"
"I do not understand money...But what I do understand is that these people will help in giving an impact to the economy of India and the future generation and I feel very proud," he said.
The meal included Indian delicacies with a modern twist. Some of the delicacies included Poha at Ganesh Chaturthi, Khandavi from Uttaryan, Sali Boti sauce at Navroj, Sol Kadhi from Shigmoutsav, the Coconut chutney mousse from Pongal, beetroot Poriyal served at Onam and the Bisi Bili bath from Ugadi.
At the same time, the scale and grandeur around festivals like Diwali, Eid, Holi, Shivratri, Baisakhi, Teej, Christmas got accentuated with the fifth dessert course and other select dishes such as Corn Dhokla and Peda as a part of the overall menu.
Khanna, who was also invited to the White House to host a dinner, says that only the only thing he found "difficult" for the dinner was "choosing the dishes" .
"The difficult part was 'which dish to choose?' because all these dishes are close to my heart. I wanted to choose something which was great in combination as it was a pre-plated dinner...and such kind of dinner (events) you need to think about 10,000 flavours that are combined together," he added.