PANKAJ UDHAS�S bungalow �Hillside� on Altamount Road in Bombay is pregnant with the heavy aroma of good food cooking. In his kitchen on the ground floor, the Ghazal King is bent over a pot of simmering Mutton Dhansak. In a small oven by the side, a tray of Mutton Kebabs keeps from getting cold. And on a side table, ready for lunch, are a platter of Green Chutney Fish, brown dhansak rice, kachumber, chapatis, and ladhi pav. Inside his fridge, he tells me in a conspiratorial whisper, there is Parsi Dairy malai kulfi. �That�s because I am bad at making desserts,� he winks.

Yes, it is lunch time and Pankaj Udhas, who everybody only knows as an outstanding ghazal singer, is cooking for me. Two days ago, he and wife Farida had celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary with a mehfil and khana evening at Hillside. Other ghazal singers entertained and outside caterers provided the food. I had missed the celebration. But Pankaj, who is a wonderful man, had agreed to treat me to a home-cooked lunch thereafter. �I will do the cooking,� he had promised, thereby revealing that he was a foodie and closet cook. Now I watch him sniff the rice to make sure that in its browning process, the golden fried onions had not lost their taste.

He has a happy little kitchen with a large window overlooking a garden. A small two-in-one hums FM softly all the time. �The radio and kitchen have always gone together,� Pankaj explains. Outside, in his large hall, a ghazal album is playing. His. He knows his way about the kitchen. Not once when I was in there did he call Farida or any of the domestic help to ask where something was kept. The kitchen itself is neatly appointed with its cooking range, fridge, shelves on which masalas and afternoon snacks are kept in clean bottles. Farida tells me that she never cooks at all and that she loves Pankaj�s cooking.

�Next janam too, I want to come back as his wife,� she says coyly. And Pankaj blushes! He used to love to do the shopping for ingredients and produce but it started becoming difficult when people recognised him and came to talk or ask for autographs. But he is familiar with the market drill. How to select fresh vegetables and good fish. Meat, he never shopped for. Somebody has always been buying, cleaning and cutting it for him. He can do the marination, however, and the cooking. I am amazed by this revelation. Here is a Gujju who grew up in a strict vegetarian home talking about buying fish and cooking meat! �Yes, but we are Rajputs from Kathiwada in Gujarat, we are not against eating meat, only my mother never cooked it at home,� Pankaj says in defence .

He learnt much of his cooking by helping his mother in the kitchen. �I can do all the various dals, kadhis, sabzis, khichdis, but do not have the confidence to roll out rotis,� he admits. He perfected his cooking skills between 1975 and 1977 when he stayed in Canada. �I was staying with a friend who was a hotelier. We were both struggling, and we used to cook our meals at home. I got a lot of confidence then. I also got used to eating and cooking meat then. What beef steaks! What lovely veal! What ham sandwiches...� Canada and his subsequent travels around the world have given Pankaj an adventurous palate. He likes to eat all kinds of foods but is not mentally prepared to try snails, dog�s meat, cockroaches!

He returned to India and met Farida, whose mother is a brilliant cook, and who is a 100 per cent meat-eating Parsi, but who does not do much cooking herself. Just as well that Pankaj does! He regrets his concerts leave him very little time for cooking. It is not just India, but the whole world, especially the UK, US, Canada, Europe, the Gulf, Africa and Far East, that is crazy about Pankaj Udhas! He spends over three months a year just in travelling to these places and performing before appreciating and demanding audiences. In India, there are concerts almost every weekend. Plus there are his recordings of new albums. In 23 years of music, Pankaj has recorded 35 successful ghazal albums. He has also done some film music. And when he�s at home on Sundays, he gets into the kitchen and gives Farida and daughters Nayaab and Rewa a treat.

Farida says that when the family goes to their holiday home at Lonavala, Pankaj does all the cooking. They prefer to eat at home rather than go to restaurants, because they love his food. Othertimes, they go to the Zodiac Grill, to China Garden, Trishna, to Dum Pukht for frontier food, to Indigo. �We eat out often with friends,� Farida says. In a restaurant, it is always Pankaj who decides the menu for everybody. �He carefully studies it, asks a lot of questions, then makes his selection,� she says. And if the food is not to his liking? �Oh, he never says a word,� she laughs. �Even at home, if we give him something to eat that is not good, Pankaj will not even mention it. He�s so polite.�

Pankaj now leads me to his bar. He slides behind with a casualness born or long practise. �What�ll you have,� he asks. It is a drinker�s bar, stocked with bottles and bottles of liquers and scotch. Kahlua, Tia Maria, Dubonet, Schnapps, Grand Marinier, Drambuie, Martell, Ballantine, Cognac, Absolut Vodka, Royal Salut, Dunhill Scotch, Wild Turkey Bourbon, MaCallan Single Malt, and giant five-litre size bottles of Johnnie Walker Red, Black, Gold and Pure Malt. He loved Scotch. Now he�s given up on all spirits and is developing an education, and a passion, for red wines. �I�m learning to differentiate tastes, it�s quite interesting,� Pankaj tells me.

We are into lunch and Pankaj�s food is deliciously amazing. The best way I can describe it is by saying that it tastes like ghar ka khana! He watches me carefully, then says, �I never go by cookery books. I don�t believe you can learn how to cook from out of a book. Practical training is far more superior.� Though he can cook all kinds of Indian cusines, he hasn�t tried his hand at South Indian food. �If I experiment, I don�t think I will have a problem cooking Kerala or Mangalore fish and crab curries,� he says. His repertoire is still impressive. It stretches from barbecue to biryani. �He does an excellent Hyderabadi mutton biryani and a mirchi ka salan,� Farida informs me. Sometimes they call eight, ten friends for dinner and the happy Ghazal King does all the cooking. �Talat Aziz, the great ghazal singer, freaks out on my biryani,� Pankaj says shyly.

He is not so hot about western cuisines, though. �I would like to learn how to cook Italian food,� Pankaj tells me. �I like pastas, though I think pizzas are junk, there�s more to Italian food than pizzas! Italian food does tend to be heavy because of all that cream and cheese. I once tried my hand at Chinese but wasn�t very successful. I�m so used to eating Chinese food around the world, and this didn�t taste like Chinese food at all! I made noodles and chicken. But I didn�t have the right spices, the sauces. I haven�t tried Continental food, too.

I came to nearly making a baked dish, but didn�t quite perfect it. I can do a great masala omelette without breaking it up! An akuri is no problem too.

I can make excellent tea, put up a great breakfast.� Lunch is over and I am tempted to ask Pankaj to make me a good cup of tea, but he�s bringing out the Parsi Dairy kulfi for dessert. He himself will not have any. �No ice-creams, either. Nothing very cold or chilled. No ice-water, even. And nothing sour, no orange juice. I must take care of my voice,� he says almost apologetically. And in the background on the ghazal album that is softly playing, I am aware that his rich and mellifluous voice is gently rising and falling like the afternoon breeze blowing through Hillside. I ask Pankaj Udhas: �Are you satisfied, pleased, at your cooking skills?� �Yes,� he replies, �but I�d like to learn how to cook Awadhi dum pukht from that master chef Imtiaz Qureshi in Delhi.�