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J. Inder Singh Kalra, known universally as Jiggs Kalra, who died on June 4 at the age of 72, can be described as a pioneer in the popularization of Indian cuisine. His son Zorawar Kalra, who launched many popular restaurants such as Farzi Cafe and Pa Pa Ya, treated him of "legend" and his "mentor and hero" in a post published on social networks .
Jiggs delved deep into the country's myriad culinary traditions, uncovering long-forgotten recipes, rediscovering ingredients that had disappeared from daily use and hounding the leaders who still practiced these techniques. He had a mission to document these discoveries and was pbadionate about informing the world that it was not just the butter chicken, the biryani and the curries in the Indian cuisine.
The galouti kebab, now a staple in many restaurants, was virtually unknown until today. Jiggs has introduced it to restaurants. Many dishes came from ancient royal families, kept for generations. Although he was not a chef, his knowledge of cooking techniques was encyclopedic.
Honors followed and he became the first Asian to be part of the Hall of Fame for International Food and Beverage. He has represented India in several festivals and gastronomic summits.
Journalist turned writer and entrepreneur in gastronomy, Jiggs drew public attention to these cuisines and some of his discoveries were a resounding success. One of them was dum pukht, a slow cooking style that created subtle dishes well known to Awadh. ITC Welcomgroup Hotels, where Jiggs was a consultant, opened a restaurant of this name and it is still dynamic. One of the greatest practitioners of this style was the leader Imtiaz Qureshi, whom Jiggs helped turn into a star. Unlike the days when chefs are celebrities, they were once hidden in kitchens of hotels. Kalra put them in the spotlight.
Jiggs Kalra began his career as a journalist with Khushwant Singh's Illustrated Weekly of India in the 1970s. He was then sent by Singh to Delhi to help Maneka Gandhi launch his magazine ] Surya . Even then, he was interested in food and eventually quit journalism to get into writing and food counseling. , a book full of recipes from across the country. Often, the dishes required several recipes and the shortcuts were discouraged. It has become a reference book not only for families in India, but also around the world. Kalra often stated that he had been pleasantly surprised to hear people telling him that they had discovered something about their own food that they had never known before.
Some of his other books were Clbadic Cooking of the Punjab . Clbadical cuisine of Rajasthan .
As I have discovered many times, a meal with Jiggs was a complex ritual. The guests were not supposed to suggest anything, let alone order. He resumed the debates, often requiring samples of many dishes before moving to the main course, at which time no one could eat any more. Each dish has been explained with love, with its history, its origin and even its health benefits. His reputation was such that in the restaurants, the chefs were only too happy to oblige him, preparing the dishes exactly as he wished. The guests left not only fully satiated but also better informed.
It was at a time when Indian cooking and cooking writing were not as prevalent as today. Before liberalization in the 1980s and early 1990s, independent restaurants were rare and only five-star hotels had specialty restaurants. At the time, it was hard to convince even newspapers and magazines to leave room for culinary writing, but Jiggs managed to break through, paving the way for subsequent generations. His stroke in 2000 left him weakened and he could not take full advantage of the many platforms available today, nor get the funding needed to open his own restaurant at the time, although He finally opened the Masala library chain.
But in the 80s and 90s, he was an invaluable resource for major hotel chains, able to promote new ideas and create properties and dishes that have proven themselves. Taking advantage of the lifting of import restrictions, he experimented with new mergers, such as a tandoori salmon tikka, which was a bestseller.
His son was bequeathed by his son Zorawar, who, with the help of his father's ideas, opened restaurants in Delhi, Mumbai and Dubai. He leaves behind his wife, Lovejeet, and his sons, Zorawar and Ajit.
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