Taste drive

TUSSHAR KAPOOR WAXES ELOQUENT ON FOOD, FAMILY AND FINDING BALANCE. SUMAN SHARMA RECORDS THE CONVERSATION

- SUMAN SHARMA

Tusshar Kapoor says he lives to eat, always has, always will. “Though I no longer eat like a pig, food continues to hold a sacred place in my life. It's in my DNA,” he says. Dieting? Absolutely out of the question. A true lover of food, he’s simply learnt to embrace mindfulness instead. That's his mantra now, eating the right food in the right quantity, without ever losing the joy of it. For him, food is comfort, nostalgia, and a powerful love language. From tiffin boxes packed with care, to college-time cravings and now gluten-free cakes shared with his son, it's been quite a journey. And the best part? He’s still hungry for more.

Growing Up Kapoor

At home, our meals were always simple. We grew up on Punjabi food but not the typical rajma-chawal or butter chicken. Our plates were filled with parathas, rice, roti, chicken, mutton and dal. Breakfasts would sometimes be sandwiches, sometimes dal pakwan. And lunch? Never complete without a stuffed paratha, aloo, gobhi, paneer, you name it, we had it. My all-time favourite was pomfret cooked in green masala.

I used to wait for it like a kid at a candy store. Mixing the masala with rice and digging in, that’s still comfort food to me. I honestly don't think anything beats kadhi chawal or dahi chawal with a sabzi on the side. It was my mom, (Shobha Kapoor) who decided what was cooked every day. And thank God for that. Our food was always Indian, always balanced. Dal, sabzi, phulka, chicken... It was never greasy, never heavy. My dad was health-conscious and even though he was busy with shoots, the food at home was always clean and wholesome. We were food lovers, yes, but there was no “party food” on a daily basis.