A Gujarati Brahmin who experiments with crocodile meat

Sharman Joshi says he’s a ‘corrupt’ Gujarati Brahmin, one who’s eaten non-vegetarian food all his life. “My father was responsible for corrupting me,” jokes the film and theatre actor. His father, says Sharman, took real pleasure in cooking whenever he found the time. His favourite was a spicy red aloo chicken dish, the recipe for which his father came up with himself, and was eagerly
anticipated by everyone at home.

 “I don’t cook myself. Neither am I a big foodie. Give me dal, roti, sabzi, and I’m content. My family keeps chiding me about how I eat the same boring food day in day out,” says Sharman.

But Diwali is different, of course, with his mother deriving great joy in “feeding me”. “There is so much food cooked at home during the Diwali week that it’s not funny. A couple of times, I have been turned off just seeing all the food around me,” he says. When he isn’t turned off, Sharman loves gorging on mohan thal and ghughra. Then there’s the usual sev and chakli. “I moved out of my parents’ a few years ago, but my mom never fails to send Diwali food home,” he says.

 A fond memory from childhood is eating puran poli (sweet roti) that his grandmother would feed him when he returned from school. “She would also make potato chips and sheera. No food can be better than that.” For someone who’s content eating plain vegetarian food, Sharman likes experimenting with all sorts of non-vegetarian food when he travels. “I have tried it all — grasshoppers, earthworms, crocodile meat. Although I don’t have any real cravings, I like indulging in Chinese or Thai food every now and then.”

g_aniruddha@dnaindia.net