Flavors Unknown

Maneet Chauhan: Merging Indian Flavors & Global Culinary Arts

Chef Maneet Chauhan

Today, I’m talking to Celebrity Chef Maneet Chauhan. You might recognize her from The Food Network where she provides culinary insight to aspiring chef on Chopped . As a successful Nashville restauranteur, she’s known and admired for her uniquely global Indian culinary style.
You’ll hear about her early life and career and the key influences behind her signature modern Indian cooking. She shares stories from her childhood in India and why seasonality is so important to her cooking. She’ll also tackle some of the most common misconceptions people have about Indian cuisine and inspire you to cook outside of the box.

What you'll learn from Chef Maneet Chauhan

The smell that takes Maneet Chauhan back to her childhood 3:23
Why you should visit a food festival in India 5:01
How her love for cooking began 5:2
Where she’s currently gathering inspiration 8:35]
Advice on forming your team 9:51
The wisdom of experience 11:11
The simple key to her approach to Indian food 12:47
How creativity became a bestseller 13:14
Who Maneet Chauhan admires most in the food industry 13:54
How she gathered inspiration for her book 15:13
A simple recipe from her book to make at home 17:04
The biggest misconception about Indian food 17:52
Expressing Indian food through seasonality 19:52
Why Maneet Chauhan gives her team the space to be creative 23:03
The trap of things being too easy 25:25
Where Southern food and Indian food meet 26:23
A hybrid dish you can find on her menu 27:40
Maneet Chauhan culinary projects in Nashville 28:27
Why she prioritizes grown from within 30:31
Wise advice for aspiring chefs 31:43
What to do when you make a mistake 32:33
The long term effects of Covid on the industry 33:54
Why many young chefs have success backwards 34:12
How to think if you want to succeed 36:57
What impressed Maneet Chauhan the most on Chopped 37:29
Why she loves competing on TV 39:25
Where to eat in Nashville 41:25
Her simple, yet specific, guilty pleasure food 42:41
Cookbooks to inspire your creativity 42:57
Her biggest kitchen pet peeves 43:34
The best and worst things about being a chef 43:46
Condiments to add to your collection 44:16
Advice for young chefs 44:54

I'd like to share a potential educational resource, “Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door”, my new book that features dialogues with accomplished culinary leaders from various backgrounds and cultures. It delves into the future of culinary creativity and the hospitality industry, drawing from insights of a restaurant-industry-focused podcast, ‘flavors unknown”. It includes perspectives from renowned chefs and local professionals, making it a valuable resource for those interested in building a career in the culinary industry.

Get the book here!

Links to other episodes in Nashville

Don't miss out on the chance to hear from these talented chefs and gain insight into the world of culinary techniques. Check out the links below for more conversations with Masako Morishita, Carlo Lamagna, and Fermín Nuñez.

Conversation with pastry chef Alyssa Gangeri

Interview with chef Matt Bolus

Links to most downloaded episodes (click on any picture to listen to the episode)

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When people say ‘who are the chefs that you look up to? I say it is the street vendors because they have limited resources. Everything is fresh because they have no storage. And with limited resources, they are making such incredible flavors.

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There is no elevator to success, you have to take the stairs. And it is okay to fail because what you learn from failure is so much more valuable than what you will learn from success.

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With social media, we have fostered a generation of people who want to learn shortcuts in cooking food. It has a place, but it only has a place when you know the foundation.

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