In the second episode of Culinary Masters, celebrated chef Vicky Ratnani prepares his signature dish, Green Chilli and Strawberry Risotto for Robb Report India, a recipe he calls a chef's signature.
Vicky Ratnani contains multitudes, and he makes no effort to conceal them. One of India's most widely travelled culinary minds, he has spent a career collecting traditions from kitchens across continents and then quietly dismantling them to see what holds up. His cooking doesn't defer to convention. It interrogates it, season by season, ingredient by ingredient.
Ratnani's path has been anything but conventional. As a man who has delved deep into the eating habits of cultures far beyond his own, he possesses a rare fluency in both Italian technique and the quietly radical possibilities of Indian produce. He was part of the opening team for the Queen Mary 2, one of the most storied ocean liners in the world. That composure, it turns out, is something Ratnani has always had in abundance. Perhaps the clearest proof of it: his appointment as personal chef to Nelson Mandela during Mandela's journey from Durban to Cape Town in support of his charitable work, a moment that says, more plainly than any accolade could, exactly who this chef is.
Today, Ratnani has his fingers on the pulse of the modern gourmet. He knows what belongs on the menu and, perhaps more importantly, what doesn't. His food sets trends rather than chasing them, rooted in rigorous classical preparation, alive to the possibilities of global influence, and always, unmistakably, his own.
Ingredients
Black rice (from Manipur)
Pearl barley
Arborio rice
Olive oil
Butter
Onions
Green chillies
Fresh strawberries
Freshly squeezed orange juice
Method
Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a pan, followed by butter.
Begin the tempering, then add the onions and allow them to soften.
Add all three grains, black rice, pearl barley, and arborio ensuring each is well coated in the butter and aromatics.
Deglaze with freshly squeezed orange juice, letting the citrus lift and open the grains. Let it cook for sometime.
Fold in green chillies and fresh strawberries, allowing their heat and sweetness to work with the orange.
Finish by folding in cold butter to bring gloss, richness, and cohesion to the dish.
Serve immediately.