Author Profile: Dipna Anand (author of Dip in Brilliant)

Dip In Brilliant is restaurateur Dipna Anand’s second cookbook, and it has recently been added to ckbk. Women In The Food Industry co-founder Mex Ibrahim spoke to Dipna about her inspiration for the recipes and the culinary adventures you will find in the book. Dip In Brilliant showcases not only delicious Punjabi delights, but also some of Dipna’s quirky recipe creations and some of her mum’s magical recipes too.

From a traditional Rogan Josh to Dipna’s express Makhani Chicken, Dip in Brilliant is a real treat for any Indian food lovers who like to put a unique twist to Indian recipes.

By Mecca Ibrahim

Q. What inspired you to create Dip In Brilliant, and how does it reflect your culinary journey?

It was when I opened my first pop up restaurant on the Fulham Road next to Chelsea Football Club. We called that Brilliant by Dipna Anand. I wanted to put on the menu dishes that really inspired me and that I love. Obviously some that were traditional, like my grandfather’s recipes. But a lot that were close to my heart as well, and my own creations.  Because the restaurant was so busy and people loved it, it had a great response. That’s when I thought. Oh, this should be my next cookbook! I wanted to name it after the restaurant, and the kind of dishes we serve here.

Q. You’ve got a mix of traditional and modern recipes in your cookbook. How do you balance, making them authentic, but also adding your own unique twists?

There are the authentic ones, obviously, that are my grandfather’s recipes. I don’t want to do too much with those, because they’re nice as they are. I’m quite fortunate to have two great cooks in my life. My mom and my dad. My dad obviously learned a lot of what he knows from his father. And I learned a lot of my home cooking from my mom, who’s a super chef and can cook everything. So in Dip In Brilliant you’ll see there’s  some of Mom’s recipes, things like her Spaghetti Bolognese and things like that. It’s a real mixture but I don’t want to “fusion” authentic recipes.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t make things like a Butter Chicken Pasty and things like that, because I think it’s okay to do things like that. For example there’s another recipe in the book which is Apple and Cinnamon Cupcakes. That’s not Indian at all. But you can put a bit of spice in cupcakes. You can spice them up with cardamom, or warm spices which is quite simple.

I don’t think there’s there’s a need to complicate any recipes. I did Paneer and Keema Tacos in that book. I love eating tacos at home. I love making them for my family. So they are a mixture of Indo Mexican flavours. That sort of stuff, I think, is really acceptable and good.

Q. What what would you say it is about your Mom’s recipes that makes them particularly special to you?

I’ve grown up eating them with my brother. As a chef you get asked, what’s your favorite dishes, and a lot of those that I mentioned are my favorites are my mom’s recipes. So in Dip in Brilliant, you’ll see there’s a stamp on the pages that are my Mom’s recipes, the rest are the restaurant recipes.

I think everyone has recipes which are unique in their household because their Mom created them. That’s something that will always stay with me forever. Now she finds it very difficult to cook, because she has Parkinson’s, but she’s taught me a lot of those recipes, and even now, if I want to eat something that I know she is her speciality. I’ll make her stand in the kitchen with me, and just tell me what to do.

Q. What advice would you give to home cooks who are very new to Indian cuisine? But they want to try authentic Indian recipes?

If you are looking to do a traditional Indian dish the Dip In way. Each of my books does Butter Chicken differently. It’s a  unique thing, because I’m just trying to show there’s not one way to cook it. There’s not a right way to do it, and there’s not a wrong way. It’s like any cuisine. It’s about experimenting. And what’s unique to you and your family and your recipes.

One thing I always say is do your mise en place. Which means preparation in the chef world, so do all your prep. And then Indian cooking can be the simplest. I can whizz up a curry in 20 minutes, and I stand by that even today. Because if you’ve done all your mise en place, if you’re organized in the kitchen, then there’s nothing stopping you.

But I think there’s a great starting point, something like a butter chicken, because everyone loves Butter Chicken.

I’m quite fortunate because my books sell for the reason that they’re really user-friendly. People keep saying, Dipna, when we cook your recipes, the dish comes out exactly as it looks like on the page. And that should be the whole point when you’ve got a cookbook.

Q. Could you give an example of some of one or two of your more adventurous or unconventional creations?

There’s a prawn pasta in the book, it’s a Creamy Prawn  & Mushroom Pasta with a Desi Touch. I love pasta but I don’t like pasta with the red tomato sauce. I like the ones with creamy sauces. So that’s my unique recipe for that.

The Gar-Lick Wings are off the hook. They’re really cool and these are like all my favorite kind of dishes. There’s a Rack of Lamb with Masala Mash as well. That’s really nice. It’s not traditional to do a rack of lamb in India.

For dessert I’d say my auntie’s Masi Mess.  I love Eton Mess. Nothing Indian about that one.  I just think these reflect what I love eating, because, although I’m an Indian chef, I don’t like eating so much Indian food, and not many people know this, but it’s my least preferred cuisine because I cook it all the time. So I always want something different. You know, I’m a salad sandwich and dessert person.

There’s also the Paan Infused Creme Brulee. It’s made with a special leaf. Inside the paan is like fennel, and then we wrap the leaf with sugar syrup, and we eat it as a mouth freshener.

Q. How do you ensure that you are going through different levels, from beginner stage right through to more advanced?

I think grading recipes can be quite off putting. My books are suitable for everyone.  If you’re not very experienced in the kitchen, and even if you’re a great chef, the recipes should work. That was just like my 1st book as well, and my 3rd book. I don’t specify you have to be the best chef to cook this dish. There are more complicated dishes in the book, like the Chili Garlic Lobster Thermidor  if you want to have a go at doing things like that. The book will show that it’s not as complicated as sometimes it’s made out to be.

Q. How would you elevate a simple Punjabi dish into something a bit more extraordinary?

If you know my cuisine, you know I don’t like to over complicate things. I’m not one of these chefs who believes in fine dining and making a biryani by deconstructing it. I do like to make my dishes presentable, but, firstly, they must taste good, and secondly, they must look good. So taste and flavour is obviously as important as the dish looks.

What I wouldn’t do is present a butter chicken with one piece of chicken here, then the sauce there, then some vegetables on the side. I’m not saying, totally don’t do that. But I think with Indian cuisine, if you have a Biryani, or if you have a Fish Masala, it has to look like that dish. My kind of cooking is very much about hearty Indian food. People like it because it is what it says it is.

Let’s just say I’ve made a Kashmiri Rogan Josh, and I want to do something with it the next day. If I have a curry left over  I’ll probably do a Biryani from it.  Or I have some masala sauce left from the previous day. I will probably quite happily make it into a Chili Cheese Masala Toastie.

Q. Finally, if  people could only try one recipe from Dip In Brilliant to experience the essence of what you do. Which one would you say? And why?

Probably the butter chicken as it’s my favorite. There’s also another dish in there called the Red Lion Tandoori Chicken, Tikka. And that’s  dedicated to my sister-in-law’s pub in Devon, Sidmouth. When we serve it there, the people absolutely love it. So I named it after that. I’d like people to try a non Indian one as well, one with a little bit of a twist, probably the Rack of Lamb with Masala Mash. It’s pretty good.

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