Celebrity chef Saransh Goila, has an interesting digital initiative going on — he goes live on Instagram every morning with his celebrity friends from various fields and cooks. He does so as he deems it important to spread joy in the community at a time when loneliness is at it’s peak during the Coronavirus lockdown in India. His mantra? “Isolated but not alone.”
#MorningsWithGoila, features the likes of Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Chef Ranveer Brar, Pooja Makhija, Mithila Palkar, Prajakta Kohli and many more. The videos give us a sneak peek on the guests’ eating habits, along with some simple breakfast recipes.
Excepts from an interview:
What’s the idea behind #MorningsWithGoila?
The idea behind #MorningsWithGoila is to spread joy while we are all under self-isolation.The idea is to add a positive note in everybody’s morning, so that they can actually spend the rest of the day with fun and happy thoughts.
Also, to teach amateurs and give them basic tips on how to survive in their kitchen while they are in self-isolation. It presents breakfast tips and shows how others are dealing with this situation — what are they eating, how are they spending their mornings and how they wake up. It is basically a community exercise, an Instagram live at 10 am everyday. The idea is to get people to cook together and tell them that they are not alone while secluded in their homes.
How has the experience of self-isolation been for you so far?
Honestly, the experience has been tough. Yes, I am getting time for myself, I am relaxing, it is also a break from the fast-paced life that I am usually used to. But, I would say that it is a tough situation to be in. I am trying to be as active in my home as I can be. I am generating a lot of content, I have a schedule and I am not treating this like a holiday.
People, at this time, are getting creative with food. How would you encourage them to channel their inner chefs at this time?
Yes, people are getting creative especially with food. The videos are to tell them that cooking is not tough. It i, in fact, therapeutic. People should treat it as they would treat music. They should imagine how good music makes them feel and that is how cooking should feel too.
The idea is to tell them that it is easy. You don’t have to necessarily know how to cut, chop, and bake. You can use a lot of quick tips and tricks on how to preserve things or how to save time and energy while you are in the kitchen. Quick fixes, quick recipes, lots of eggs, pulses and basic ingredients can be made into fun things. I am doing #MorningsWithGoila of course to encourage people to channel their inner chefs and I would tell them not to make same things every day, because that also depicts monotony in your life.
You could take the same ingredients but create new dishes every morning. I am also sharing a lot of recipes on my IGTV while in self-isolation.
Cooking is a survival skill. Everybody should know that cooking is as important as swimming or driving and I think. It is definitely one of those art forms that does not keep only you happy but those around you as well.
Everything is in your control when you are cooking by yourself in the kitchen. I think it is a beautiful way of meditating, of keeping yourself healthy and ensuring that all vitamins, minerals, carbs, proteins, good fats are part of your diet. I think a lot of people need to cook to survive but a lot of people should cook to be happy and to meditate.
What are some of the recipes that can be easily cooked if supplies are available?
A lot of people can make use of dal in different ways — tikkis, salad or khichdi out of dal . The idea is to use one ingredient and make different things around it. Like the same poha that we are used to eating for breakfast, can be made into a poha pulao or a poha biryani. You can also use the poha to give your tikki a crust. So start imagining an ingredient from different angles and I think that is what will help you to make a good breakfast.
