Kudla Cuisine to Get Twist of Taste with Vikas Khanna

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 23, 2014: If you’re a diehard fan of traditional Mangalore cuisine and feel it’s the ultimate and cannot be improved upon, you’re about to be proved wrong.

Michelin starred Master Chef Vikas Khanna, who was in Mangalore recently scouting for good local dishes to mess with, finally zeroed in on a few items to feature in his popular show ‘Twist of Taste’. They will be a part of ‘Twist of Taste Season 3 (Coastal Curries)’ being telecast on Fox Traveller TV Channel on Monday, 24th February, 2014 at 9.30pm.

 

Showing up in the show are three proud Mangaloreans - Kudpi Rajanikanth Shenoy, Nikhil M. Pai and Colin D’Souza. It was Nikhil and Colin – the guys who run The 3 Hungry Men, a popular food review website – whom Vikas Khanna sought out first to get to know the local scene. They in turn got him in touch with Kudpi Rajanikanth Shenoy – better known as KudpiRaj, a food aficionado who hosts the popular food blogspot ‘Kudpiraj’s Garam Tawa’.
 
According to the culinary expert, his blog spot is a household name these days. Since it was started in September 2012, it has recorded over 200,000 page visitors, with followers all over the world. Impressed by all this, the creative team of Only Much Louder (OML), the Mumbai based Media Company which produces Twist of Taste Season 3 with Vikas Khanna selected him for one of the episodes.

‘Twist of Taste’ show format, as the name suggests, calls for a live demo of a traditional dish (the regular way), which is then followed by an altered experimental version (the ‘twisted’ way) inspired by it and using the same ingredients and method. As Vikas Khanna needed a live demo of how to prepare the dishes, the Kudpi couple – Rajnikanth and his wife Meena - was more than willing to give him one at their home in Chilimbi.

 

Vikas Khanna with Meena and KudpiRaj

When the production team descended on his house, it was a mind boggling experience indeed! Speaking to Mangalore Today, KudpiRaj said, “Acting is not new to me but this was more of a reality show. We were not allowed to wear any makeup and there was no script or dialogue. We were supposed to speak spontaneously! We were not allowed to meet Vikas Khanna before the shooting and I met him directly on the location. Vikas is a down to earth compassionate person. He keeps talking about his mother in Amritsar and his teachers at Manipal, where he did his Hotel Management course. Though he runs a prestigious restaurant in New York and has the fame of hosting the President Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton, he is a simple man with a genuine smile and good humour!”

Diehard fans of Master Chef Vikas Khanna swarmed around the locations in Ladyhill and Car Street when the shooting session was on in October 2013. However, the actual preparations featured on the show are a secret until it is telecast and even Kudpiraj is clueless about what sort of ‘twist’ Vikas Khanna will give to Namma Kudla dishes.
 
“I am proud to be a Mangalorean,” says KudpiRaj, “I have tried to highlight the Tuluva traditions by presenting a famous Tuluva dish in the episode which was well appreciated by Vikas Khanna.” Adds Nikhil andColin of The 3 Hungry Men: “That’s an exciting part we have done with Vikas and Vikas was equally thrilled to act with us.”

He also adds that the show has another Kudla connection. The creative director of OML is Ashwin Shetty of Kodialguthu West who was born in Mangalore and studied till 5th standard in Milagres School Mangalore.

• Episode 10 Mangalore - 1 featuring KudpiRaj will be telecast on Fox Traveller channel on Monday February 24 at 9.30 pm.
• Episode 14 Mangalore – 2 featuring ‘The 3 Hungry Men’ will appear on Fox Traveller channel on March 4, 2014 at 9.30pm.