I like Indian dishes: Bobby Chinn

He could well have been a successful financier at the Wall Street. But the smell of spices was stronger than the smell of money for Bobby Chinn, who preferred to be a chef and restaurateur. And he has no regrets, as these pots and kettles have given him much fame and respect. What is the World Café series about?It’s all about travel, different lifestyles, cultures, food and people.You’ve already worked in many TV series. How is this different from the others?In season 3, when we went to the Middle East, the show used to be 30 minutes. Now each show is for an hour. Over the seasons, we have perfected the formula with the directors, producers and cameramen. It’s getting easier to film and I think they’re getting better, personally.Who is your kitchen inspiration?Boarding school food was a good motivation. My grandparents — my grandmothers were both very good cooks and my parents had a pretty good palette so we ate well. It was a good opportunity to leave Wall Street. It was an amalgamation of all of that ­— the upbringing, the family, the travelling, the different types of food and now you see a completely different breed of chef from when I was a kid.Which is your favourite Indian dish?I like them all. The problem is that I haven’t travelled enough to India to understand all the different types of regional cuisine. I’ve always been influenced by the Punjab region but my travels to New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai broadened that sense of what Indian food is. I am also interested in the ayurvedic standpoint and health aspects of Indian food.Which Indian dish do you think is the most difficult to make?They are all difficult to make. There’s a kind of inherent understanding among Indian cooks that they can simply just throw spices in and almost know what it would taste like. Where for somebody like me I like to measure it because I want to make it perfect. These recipes change based on the region, the person’s coming from. In our show we cooked one dish that used almost 20 different ingredients. I probably didn’t understand why because I didn’t eat — certain flavours were much more pronounced than the others, but that’s the art of Indian cuisine.Do you have any plans to start a restaurant in India?I’d love to; I need some rich financial backers. Do you know any?Do you have any advice in regards to food for Indians? I am looking at the Indian diet because I love the food very much. And I think that they put a bit too much ghee and their sweets are too sugary. I was doing some research on this and it turns out that Indians have very high diabetes  and it’s growing. Even cholesterol. Maybe they should consider lightening their food because it would be just as good anyway. What’s your speciality?I simplify and I like to make it light. I make a lot of clean flavours. Actually I was cooking for Bill Clinton. It turns out that he is a vegan and so I tried to make him low fat, Indian, ghee-free food and it turned out pretty good, considering that there was no ghee, cream or thickening agents and flavour enhancers. How do you look at the future of the food industry? I think that the food industry will be forced to go more local and people are getting more educated in that department. I hope to see more of that all over the world — sourcing local and supporting local farmers and using local produce. Which country would be the food capital of the world?We’re living in a global economy now where you can get sushi in the Middle East. There’s great food all over the world. I think that Singapore is a food capital in many ways because they keep incredible variety at incredible discount. San Francisco is another food capital. Sydney would be a food capital. There is no single Mecca in the culinary world any more.The street food that you enjoy the most...I’m indulging in incredible Thai food. Street food in Vietnam is incredible. I think in Penang it’s also pretty impressive but I had some incredible food in Mumbai too.World Café will start airing from May 27, Monday-Friday at 10 pm on TLC