Shail Swamy studied Economics in college, but cooking has been her passion. She said she was inspired by her father, in whose creative hands even ‘bharwan bhindi’ tasted magical, and she started participating in cookery contests when she was still a student.
Soon, it became a habit with her to win competitions – she even won a ‘turkey challenge’, where each participant was asked to cook the bird associated with Thanksgiving in the United States, and with Christmas elsewhere, with the ingredients given in the mystery box handed over to each one of them.
Shail had never cooked turkey in her life, like the overwhelming majority of Indians, but then she had her eureka moment. Instead of cooking it in red wine, she thought to herself, why don’t I use cranberry sauce?
This made-for-each-other combination worked wonders and Shail took home the top prize. “It was an instinctive move; it was the first time I was working with turkey,” she said on ‘Food Talk with Sourish Bhattacharyya’ for the We The Chefs YouTube channel. “I think Wahe Guru wanted me to win the top prize.” She added that she did not know how she did it, but she did manage to impress the celebrity judges of the competition – Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, Chef Dhruv Oberoi and Chef Nishant Choubey.
Shail was introduced to us at the We The Chefs Experiential Centre in Gurugram, Delhi-NCR, by Nishant Choubey at a turkey masterclass he was conducting for our home chefs. It was the precursor to a turkey promotion that the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) had conducted with We The Chefs for Christmas last year. Shail is Nishant’s understudy.
Earlier, the Indian Culinary Forum (ICF) had awarded Shail the title of Student Chef of the Year. She wowed the judges with her creation, an ‘inside out vada pav’, where the pav, along with cheese, became the filling inside the vada. It was then dunked in a besan batter, fried in boiling oil, and served with tamarind and coriander chutneys. “The judges emptied the plate in which I served my preparation,” recalled Shail. “They must have really liked it.”
Saoji Chicken, the hot, spicy and flavourful Nagpur speciality, was the other dish that Shail prepared for the all-India competition. “It is very yum,” she said, promising to share the recipe on the We The Chefs YouTube channel.
“I had just five years of experience in cooking when I entered the competition, so I was taken by surprise when I was declared the winner. I am really grateful to have won it, especially because the judges were the top chefs of the country. I now firmly believe that hard work can take you anywhere,” Shail added.
Talking about her evolution as a chef, Shail recalled her childhood growing up in a Punjabi household in Delhi and how she was naturally drawn to cooking from the age of six. She would keep asking her mother questions about the dishes she prepared, but what left a lasting impression on her young mind was her father’s cooking skills – he would create magic using just onions, ginger and garlic. She particularly remembers his ‘bharwan bhindi’, which she said has an unforgettable unique taste. Her mother’s speciality was ‘makke ki roti’ with ‘sarson ka saag’, the gold standard for any Punjabi family.
Shail got associated with We The Chefs as a result of the Cook-Off organised by us in association with American Pecans in December last year. She made sushi with pecans and managed to impress the judges despite the unusual combination.
There was a reason why she chose sushi – her daughter, who accompanied her to the American Pecans event, just loves Japanese food, especially raw salmon sashimi! No dal-roti for the little lady! Shail said she is constantly pushed to excel in cooking by her daughter and her husband (who’s a Tamilian raised in Delhi, so their marriage seems straight out of Chetan Bhagat’s novel ‘Two States’, with the roles reversed of course!).
Interestingly, it is her husband who coined the name of Shail’s YouTube channel, Savor Kitchen, which has 1,23,000 (and growing!) subscribers. And it is riding on this channel that Shail pursues her dream of becoming a celebrity chef – “a celebrity not only in India, but all over the world”.
Because of her close association with Chef Nishant Choubey, Shail was asked whether she would still like to call herself a home chef or she regards herself as a professional chef. She replied saying that she met Nishant at an event and requested him to take her on as an intern, which he did – and she thanked Waheguruji for the “blessing”, adding: “He always answers my prayers.”
Shail sees herself more as Nishant’s student, mastering the techniques of plating, fusion cooking and working across cuisines from the accomplished chef. “Nishant Sir can even turn a glass of water into something special,” said the appreciative student. “He keeps telling us, ‘Do it yourself. I can show you the way, but you’ll have to make the best use of it.’ He just doesn’t believe in spoon-feeding.”
The biggest lesson she has learnt from Nishant, though, can be expressed in two words: “Stay humble.” Shail never allows herself to forget this life lesson.
Tags: We The Chefs; We The Chefs Experiential Centre; Home Chef; Home Chef in Gurugram; Chef Nishant Choubey; Shail Swamy; Savor Kitchen; Indian Culinary Forum; ICF; Saoji Chicken; American Pecans; US Poultry and Egg Export Council