Cooking for UpperCrust

Kimmy Cooks Best

Over a million hearts beat wildly as she gyrated to Amitabh Bachchan’s Jumma chumma de de, setting the screen on fire. She was the heartthrob of the masses but Kimmy Katkar bid farewell to all that adulation to settle down into marital bliss as Mrs Sheorey. Ensconced in domesticity, she panders to son, Siddhant and husband, Shantanu, having shed the war paint and donned the apron instead.

Over the years, she has developed her innate passion for cooking and ‘Kimmy cooked’ meals are now legendary among her friends. “At one time, I entertained my fans through my movies,” she grins, “now I entertain my friends through their bellies.”

Her first foray in the kitchen was a result of sheer desperation. She was newly married and needed to eat; as simple as that. Coming from a family of foodies, she could not stomach the Maharashtrian diet on offer. “I was suddenly married, voluntarily out of work and fed up of Shantanu telling me his grandmother was the best cook in the world. Heady in love, I was jealous of his dead aiee (bless her soul) and decided to take it up as a challenge,” reminisces Kimmy. Maybe as a subtle hint, her husband encouraged her to buy cookbooks each time they entered a bookstore and inadvertently created a monster. Today Kimmy is passionate about cooking and collecting cookbooks. “I invest heavily in cookbooks from all over the world and feel the need to justify my purchases, so I cook,” smiles the still stunning Kimmy. Shantanu was her support and ate his way through many a disaster in the kitchen.  

Now she can whip up a meal in her sleep, but she recollects an incident in the early days that involved eggs. Her mother had always prevented her from entering the kitchen because she was afraid of the gas blowing up in her face, which would have been disastrous for her career. As a result, she never knew how to cook. Generally, Shantanu always fixed breakfast because she would be rushing to work in order to complete her assignments before retiring from the movies. On one of her days off, she decided to return the favour and cook him boiled eggs for breakfast. She boiled the water and stood above the utensil, throwing the eggs in one by one. She could not understand why they kept breaking and Shantanu woke up to find her in the kitchen, sobbing her heart out. She was convinced her mother was right and she would never be able to fry or boil an egg, leave alone cook an entire meal. That day was an awakening. “I steeled myself and decided I had a husband, and this cannot go on for long. I put my mind to it and perservered, and Shantanu uncomplainingly ate all the crap I dished out,” narrates Kimmy.

Though she does not have any real preferences, Kimmy admits that she probably enjoys cooking Chinese and Italian cuisine the most. “Sid (her 18-year-old son) loves that kind of food,” smiles the indulgent mother. She has also mastered all of aiee’s recipes and does a pretty good job. “I am not trained,” she admits, “but I challenge myself and try everything.” Her family loves her obsession with the kitchen. Not only do they get a wonderful meal, they do not even need to leave home for it, and a double bonus is that ‘mum is occupied,’ beams the actress turned chef.

Despite having spent so many years in the arc lights and tasted national adoration, she does not miss the life she left behind. Kimmy shrugs and says, “My family keeps me grounded. We are all foodies and it is a common bond we share at our dining table. My career is of no consequence to them. It was a job I had before they came into my life.” Son, Siddhant is also following in her footsteps. Not on celluloid but in the culinary field. He is passionate about cooking and as a chip of the old block, is also a budding photographer; a skill he picked up from his celebrity photographer father. He is the talented offspring of two artistic people. In fact, Kimmy is an accomplished painter and can often be found in her studio immersed in the world of canvas, colour and creativity.

Kimmy considers herself a jack-of-all-trades. Acting to her was simply a job. It was good while it lasted but she enjoys cooking and painting more and does not think of these hobbies as work.  Cooking and painting are relaxing and fun for her and she enjoys the added bonus of the pleasure it brings to her friends and family. “This is what life is all about…love what you do,” she declares. On her Facebook page, she is often uploading pictures of her latest experimentations in the kitchen and has all her friends inviting themselves over for a taste. Since Siddhant is her only child, it is not surprising that her life revolves around him and as a result, her favourite dishes to cook, inevitably, are his favourite dishes to eat. Shantanu, Kimmy and little Siddhant spent five years in Australia before finally moving to Pune. While in Australia, she enrolled in cooking classes. She learnt a Moroccan Chicken and this dish is Sid’s favourite dish. She considers the dish a sure-shot hit and easy to make when entertaining many guests. Basically chicken breasts have to be marinated in white wine, red wine, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. She mixes the marinated chicken with olives, prunes, capers, parsley and olive oil. The chicken spends an hour and a half in the oven after which she sprinkles brown sugar on it to caramelise. Served with baked potatoes, she loves watching her family and friends polish every last morsel.

For UpperCrust, she decided to cook Grandma Welinkar’s recipes. “I have not had this kind of food anywhere else except in the ancestral home of Shantanu’s maternal family, confesses the pretty lady. “It has its own flavours and is distinctive to the family. Anything else would have been repetitive and UpperCrust deserves originality.” Kimmy also included her mother’s Pork Vindaloo in the mix as a tribute to her own heritage. As we waited for all her friends to gather, hubby Shantanu and son, Siddhant fussed with the generator since the lights had gone and while Shantanu poured out bubbly for the women, Siddhant clicked away with his Nikon, and Kimmy was in and out of her kitchen, completely hands on, putting finishing touches to some dishes, giving instructions and ensuring there would be no last minute disasters.

A dill and hung curd dip with chips, cucumbers and carrots was simply a teaser to munch on while sipping on Bird in Hand – a sparkling Pinot Noir, and in typical girlie fashion, commenting on everything from someone’s shirt, to another’s handbag, a third´s shoes and also Kimmy’s lovely home. When Kimmy was ready for us, everyone trooped off to sit around her festively decorated table with orange mats and white jui gajras permeating the air with their fragrance. The excitement was palpable because the aroma of the food laid on the table was causing stabbing pangs of hunger in the belly and turning the olfactory glands mad. The Prawn Kharouni stood resplendent in the centre of the table. Made with green mangoes, onion, garlic, green chillies and coriander, there is not a drop of oil used in the recipe, though oodles of coconut milk enhances the calories and the taste. Kimmy explained how it is necessary during the process of marinating to keep the Bombay Duck under a certain weight in order to draw out the water and get the perfect crispy fried bombils we were digging into greedily. A whole stuffed pomfret taunted us as everyone wondered who would take the plunge and make that first cut while a subtly flavoured carrot koshimbir balanced out the spices of the food. The family favourite, kokum saar, was a perfect digestive and antidote to any of the fish which, God forbid, could have gone off; an ingenious way of preventing any sort of stomach upset according to the chef du jour. Tina Katkar’s Pork Vindaloo had everyone licking their fingers. To hell with table etiquette and elegant eating. Finally, when no further morsel could make its way into the mouth, everyone staggered up and waddled away from the table, only to walk straight into the arms of sin. Kimmy loves to bake. She had done an intense course in cake-making and can make anything out of sugar paste, so that everything she puts on her cake is edible. “When a cake comes out right, it means I can decorate to my hearts content,” she confesses gleefully. The strawberry cheesecake and pear and Ricotta pie were testament to her baking abilities. Over dessert, Kimmy reveals that while she does not miss her filmi life, she does miss working and her independence, as well as some of the friends she made in those days. However, her eyes light up when she discloses that the high point of her life was the day her son was born.  “The highlights in my life followed with him in my life. I discovered a lot about my abilities and myself after my son was born. Till then, all I knew was how to stand in front of the camera,” she divulges. When further probed, Kimmy acknowledges that her most satisfactory culinary achievement was the cake she baked for Siddhant’s first communion.  They were in Australia and she decided to bake the cake from scratch, which is why she also did the course on cake decoration. It was like a dream come true for her. She also catered for 30 people sans help, right from shopping for groceries, the preparations, cooking, serving and cleaning up later. “It was a feat, but well worth it. That cake was my masterpiece,” she adds emphatically.

Content and satisfied, Kimmy says just being able to cook and see happy faces gives her a high. It feels good for her to be appreciated for her creative skills, and she adds wickedly, “I like the feeling of control in my kitchen. It is the only place my husband cannot boss me around!”

Describing herself in a nutshell, Kimmy concludes she is a completely and utterly dedicated mum, a traditional wife but with a twist, was a hardworking and beautiful actress, is a consumed homemaker and is an artist who tries very hard and sometimes succeeds.

Whatever her past and whatever her future, there is no doubt about one thing…Kimmy can cook.