Shakahari bhojan served fresh to the Obamas

Mumbai: Chef, author and restaurateur Vikas Khanna was recently in Mumbai for a short but important visit  -- he was researching for the third part of his seven-part film series, Holy Kitchen. The series explores the link between food and Indian religions. The first part, True Business, on Sikhism and the langar, a free food service premised on the notion of seva, was released in 2010 to critical acclaim; the second was on Hinduism (Karma to Nirvana) and released in May 2011.

In fact, the 39 year-old owner of 12-million dollar New York restaurant, Junoon, holds the concept of seva in high regard, seeing it as one that can spread love, peace and health. This probably explains why the dinner he is throwing at the White House on July 29 as part of a fund-raising activity is called Seva Dinner.

You will be hosting a dinner at the White House next month. Why are you calling it the Seva Dinner?
I have an obsession with the word seva. It signifies humility. I am organising an essay competition for students in the White House, which will be followed by dinner for 200 people that I will cook with my team. US President Barack Obama and his family are expected to be part of the dinner. I decided to call the event Seva Dinner, as a way to thank the country where I now live. We will open the event with videos of powerful leaders and their notions of seva, including Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Mata Amritanandmayi, Dr Deepak Chopra, and Bill Clinton.

What do you plan to feed the students and probably, the Obamas?
I am going to cook vegetarian food.
I will cook dishes that I would have cooked for my hero, Mahatma Gandhi, if he was alive. I will be using goat cheese. There is an entire course on goat cheese. There will also be Gujarati food and some Punjabi dishes.

Your film series Holy Kitchens is quite popular in the United States. What prompted you to create a film that combines faith and food?
The concept took birth years ago.
I landed in America in December 2000, and 9/11 happened a year later. There was a lot of discrimination against Sikhs. Talking about religion is not healthy because people associate it with fanaticism. However, everybody loves to talk about food. In my films, I talk about food of a certain religion and through that talk, about the people who belong to that religion.

Tell us a bit about 'True Business' that was released at the Sikh International Film Festival in 2010. Has the movie managed to convey your thoughts?
It is a 37-minute film, and by the end of it you will know everything you need to know about Sikhism. We talk about the langar and how it laid the foundation of Sikhism. The system is like a democracy. There is no caste system since anybody can go and eat. Within four days of the first film's release, I got a call from Bill Clinton's office saying, 'this is genius'.

You have cooked with some illustrious chefs, including Gordon Ramsay. What is your favourite food?
When I was studying at Le Cordon Bleu in France, we would have the world's best chef cooking for us but after every two days, I would get this mad craving for dal. Once, I had mentioned in an interview that dal is my favourite dish. After that, every dinner I attended, I was fed dal.