Chef Ritu Dalmia proves the world that women still rule the kitchen! Elsie Gabriel

Chef Ritu Dalmia proves the world that women still rule the kitchen!

Chef Rushina Ghildiyal shows you how!

Elsie Gabriel.

I was elated to be on the guest list of chef Rushina Ghildiyals inaugural release of Chef Ritu Dalmia”s green book on vegetarian cooking. Two great women chef and one complimenting the other, it was an outstanding lunch alright!

Rushina’s cooking studio at Chandivli is magnificent and full of all the ingredients that a chef would ream of! As I watched Ritu Dalmia cook with such ease and expertise, sprinkling her culinary artistry with such spicy conversation and narrations, vegetarians stories about her childhood back in Kolkatta, she surely enlightened me as I too hail from West Bengal!A pure Marwari going out into the world and becoming one of the worlds best women chef, is something which doesn’t come too easily, a lot of hard work, research and travel can be witnessed in Ritus culinary presentations, most of them non vegetarian ,believe it or not!

 Rushina hosted the show as Hachette India launched ‘Diva Green’: A Vegetarian Cookbook by super chef Ritu Dalmia.It is truly an ode to all things vegetarian, the book amazes me with it’s simplicity and mundane vegetables which add exotic taste to famous dishes. Ritu makes vegetables luscious and spicy. After reading her Diva Green I assure you, believe me, you hardcore carnivores will give in and be a green convert alright!

After flicking through the pages of her fresh book in my hand, I was a convert alright, I already had an eye for all things green. Simplicity is the key element Ritu follows and that hit me in the mouth literally! Take your pick from a perfectly seasoned Green Mango and Banana Flower Salad or Mushroom Ceviche; a fun combination of Grilled Eggplant with Pepper and Sesame;  a wholesome Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart; or a comforting Papaya Curry or Carrot and Ginger Soup.

Uncommon yet easy-to-prepare, inventive and exciting, the recipes in Diva Green will reacquaint

you with vegetables in all their vibrancy and value, and have you celebrating shakahari!

Ritu Dalmia is among India’s best-known super chefs and restaurateurs. Her restaurants in New Delhi – the award-winning Diva, Café Diva and Latitude 28 – have been widely acclaimed for their superior quality of service and cuisine. She also runs the popular café at the Italian Cultural Centre in Delhi, and hosts two immensely successful cookery shows on national television.

Through her new book dedicated to her Mother, Ritu encourages all to master vegetarian dishes that are rich in flavour. "Actually I think it was time to redefine vegetarian food, and also showcase how great it can be. Saying that, I have to admit I find more people turning toward vegetarianism, something which I have been seeing a lot with our guests at all the restaurants"Ritu explains rightly. Ritu has put the simple pumpkin, beetroot and  eggplant on a pedestal. Making everyday vegetables truly heroes’ is what we Indian are really about. Aren’t we? Thats what Ritu Dalmia gives us without the fuss and complications. Cooking the Saints Day pasta with brinjals and spicy mushroom salad was simplicity with blissful taste.

Rushina M. Ghildiyal you are a lady chef who honors and proclaims the works of many other chefs at your cooking studio kitchen, sharing the platform together in the same culinary world, that’s what is so beautiful about you as a Woman chef! No competition, you simply celebrate food and all things tasty! Take a bow! Rushina invites all foodies to her kitchen, even children who love to cook, her world is a global kitchen!

Not only did I learn how to cook vegetarian but also learned that you have learn to share and learn from your seniors, colleagues and co-laterals in order to keeping your world spinning!

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