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A native of Garhwal, Uttaranchal, Varun Badola was born and bred in Delhi. But in 1996, he moved to Mumbai to join a production house run by his sister and brother-in-law.
However, the desire to be on his own propelled Varun to move into his own pad. He had no choice but to learn cooking. However, now that he's married, there is no pressure on his wife Rajeshwari to learn cooking because Varun's parents believe in pampering the daughter and the daughter-in-law too.
A star attraction of TV drama, Astitva and Rabba Ishq Na Hove, Varun loves listening to music and penning his thoughts. He is passionate about his wife, actress Rajeshwari, singing film songs, bike-riding and cooking food, albeit occasionally.
Varun's thought for food
When I was living on my own, I called my mom in Delhi for the recipe of dal. Since she cooks by andaaz, my mother actually started to make dal herself to instruct me on the phone. I made arhar ki dal with steamed rice. I make excellent steamed rice; it never gets burnt or sticks to the pan. I have made pulao too, but it's too time consuming.
I can cook rajma, shahi paneer and egg curry. I can't make non-vegetarian food, but I feel what I cook is more than sufficient to keep a wife happy.
When my wife is shooting late, I make a drink for myself and start cooking because I find it very therapeutic.
Sanjeev Kapoor, a close friend, has gifted me a number of cookbooks. When he asks me, "Guru kuch try kiya?" I jocularly retort, "Aap ki books main toh 636 ingredients hain, unhe khareedte-khareedte mera pura din nikal jaayega."
When Rajeshwari and I got married, her mother warned me, "Agar yeh kitchen main ghussegi to kuch na kuch bana legi." How reassuring is that? But cooking runs in the genes and my ma-in-law is a very good cook. Even my wife cooks very good vegetarian food. Though we pitch in with the cooking, luckily we have a maid who can cook really well. But if we are at home, I prefer we cook the food ourselves as we are used to our mom ke haath ka khana.
It's a ritual that the wife cooks when she goes to her sasural for the first time. The first dish Raj made in my parents' house after our marriage was parathas. She received a lot of kharchi (cash) from the family.
When we came back to our house after our honeymoon, I had kept aside a bottle of wine from Austria which my sister had gifted me. By the time we finished having the wine, neither she nor I was in a state to enter the kitchen.
Since I don't sleep as well in Mumbai as I do in Delhi, I wake up early and begin my day with black coffee.
When Raj is at home in the mornings, she either makes poha or dosa. Hamara bas chale toh hum roz aloo ke parathe khayen.
I have never subscribed to dieting and diet food. Unlike my wife, I can't afford to binge. I play a lot of cricket and badminton. I was a regular gym-goer earlier; I could lift heavy weights.
For lunch, when I am shooting, I call for a tiffin. The unit food has too much oil.
I am a coffee person, but I'm not addicted to it. I have seen people who go on a coffee-and-chocolate diet to lose weight, but I don't subscribe to it.
I wasn't a restaurant person previously, but now we like going out for dinner or for a cup of coffee.
We are regulars at Bombay Blue and Grand Maratha for Peshawari food. I recommend Sampan at Holiday Inn too and Barista for coffee.
In Italian food, I relish lasagna.
Delhi is a foodie's paradise. At Tilak Bridge, behind Hanuman temple, the dhabas serve awesome food. People parcel a dozen plates of their channa dal. When you are in Delhi, you must try the cold coffee and cole-slaw chicken sandwiches at Janpath. For pizzas, you have an option between Nirula's, Pizzeria and Pizza Hut, but my first choice is Nirula's. How can I forget Karims at Darya Ganj? You can choose your pick from the variety of stews and meats.
Though I avoid pork and beef, I am an all-terrain man and can survive anywhere in the world.
Recently, when we went to Australia for our second honeymoon, we experimented a lot with different kinds of food.
America is truly international. You get food from countries you didn't even know existed. I had eaten Mexican and Italian food before, but I didn't know there was such a variety in their cuisine till I went to America.
When I ate Thai food in Bangkok, I realised that a lot of dishes were raw but they had an amazing taste. In Thai food, I like green curry with steamed rice.
I love desserts. My wife is going to freak when she reads this, but I used to hog a lot of desserts previously. I relish Bengali sweets — wahan se zindagi shuru hoti hai, wahee khatam. Mithai ho toh Kolkata ki. I love fruit cream and chocolates.
My wife loves white chocolate, which I don't eat, so it's easier to resist. At the most, I indulge myself with an occasional bar of Lindt chocolate.
In fruits, I love mangoes, watermelons and litchis. I have a farmhouse where there are lots of mango trees. Mujhe kabhi bhi aam count kar ke khaane ki aadat nahin thi. Yahan toh aam ko bahut izzat di jaati hai because they are so expensive but, even today, when I go back to my home town, we just pluck it from trees and feast on them.
For a romantic dinner, I would love to take Raj to the Grand Maratha.
I enjoy having a peg or two of whisky occasionally. I enjoy 'J and B' and scotch. When I go out, I make it a point to buy as many as bottles I can.
My favourite kitchen appliance is the silbatta (a grinding stone). It enhances the taste of the spices.
I resemble an onion. It is multi-layered. You have to peel a lot before it makes your eyes water. Similarly, it takes a long time to make me angry. But if I lose it, I lose it in a big way. It takes me a day or two to calm down.
Varun's Arhar Ki Dal
1 small bowl of arhar (tur) dal
1 tbsp ghee
1 medium-sized onion (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
2-3 green chillies (finely chopped)
1 big tomato (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
tsp turmeric powder
tsp asafoetida powder
Finely chopped coriander leaves (to garnish)
Clean and wash the dal. Soak in two cups water for 20 -30 minutes. In a pressure cooker, heat the ghee lightly. Add onions, garlic and green chillies. Saut the onions on a low flame till pink.
Add tomatoes and saut till tender. Add the dal along with the water, salt, turmeric powder and asefotida powder. Mix well. Pressure cook on a medium flame for 3-4 whistles, or till done. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.
However, the desire to be on his own propelled Varun to move into his own pad. He had no choice but to learn cooking. However, now that he's married, there is no pressure on his wife Rajeshwari to learn cooking because Varun's parents believe in pampering the daughter and the daughter-in-law too.
A star attraction of TV drama, Astitva and Rabba Ishq Na Hove, Varun loves listening to music and penning his thoughts. He is passionate about his wife, actress Rajeshwari, singing film songs, bike-riding and cooking food, albeit occasionally.
Varun's thought for food
When I was living on my own, I called my mom in Delhi for the recipe of dal. Since she cooks by andaaz, my mother actually started to make dal herself to instruct me on the phone. I made arhar ki dal with steamed rice. I make excellent steamed rice; it never gets burnt or sticks to the pan. I have made pulao too, but it's too time consuming.
I can cook rajma, shahi paneer and egg curry. I can't make non-vegetarian food, but I feel what I cook is more than sufficient to keep a wife happy.
When my wife is shooting late, I make a drink for myself and start cooking because I find it very therapeutic.
Sanjeev Kapoor, a close friend, has gifted me a number of cookbooks. When he asks me, "Guru kuch try kiya?" I jocularly retort, "Aap ki books main toh 636 ingredients hain, unhe khareedte-khareedte mera pura din nikal jaayega."
When Rajeshwari and I got married, her mother warned me, "Agar yeh kitchen main ghussegi to kuch na kuch bana legi." How reassuring is that? But cooking runs in the genes and my ma-in-law is a very good cook. Even my wife cooks very good vegetarian food. Though we pitch in with the cooking, luckily we have a maid who can cook really well. But if we are at home, I prefer we cook the food ourselves as we are used to our mom ke haath ka khana.
It's a ritual that the wife cooks when she goes to her sasural for the first time. The first dish Raj made in my parents' house after our marriage was parathas. She received a lot of kharchi (cash) from the family.
When we came back to our house after our honeymoon, I had kept aside a bottle of wine from Austria which my sister had gifted me. By the time we finished having the wine, neither she nor I was in a state to enter the kitchen.
Since I don't sleep as well in Mumbai as I do in Delhi, I wake up early and begin my day with black coffee.
When Raj is at home in the mornings, she either makes poha or dosa. Hamara bas chale toh hum roz aloo ke parathe khayen.
I have never subscribed to dieting and diet food. Unlike my wife, I can't afford to binge. I play a lot of cricket and badminton. I was a regular gym-goer earlier; I could lift heavy weights.
For lunch, when I am shooting, I call for a tiffin. The unit food has too much oil.
I am a coffee person, but I'm not addicted to it. I have seen people who go on a coffee-and-chocolate diet to lose weight, but I don't subscribe to it.
I wasn't a restaurant person previously, but now we like going out for dinner or for a cup of coffee.
We are regulars at Bombay Blue and Grand Maratha for Peshawari food. I recommend Sampan at Holiday Inn too and Barista for coffee.
In Italian food, I relish lasagna.
Delhi is a foodie's paradise. At Tilak Bridge, behind Hanuman temple, the dhabas serve awesome food. People parcel a dozen plates of their channa dal. When you are in Delhi, you must try the cold coffee and cole-slaw chicken sandwiches at Janpath. For pizzas, you have an option between Nirula's, Pizzeria and Pizza Hut, but my first choice is Nirula's. How can I forget Karims at Darya Ganj? You can choose your pick from the variety of stews and meats.
Though I avoid pork and beef, I am an all-terrain man and can survive anywhere in the world.
Recently, when we went to Australia for our second honeymoon, we experimented a lot with different kinds of food.
America is truly international. You get food from countries you didn't even know existed. I had eaten Mexican and Italian food before, but I didn't know there was such a variety in their cuisine till I went to America.
When I ate Thai food in Bangkok, I realised that a lot of dishes were raw but they had an amazing taste. In Thai food, I like green curry with steamed rice.
I love desserts. My wife is going to freak when she reads this, but I used to hog a lot of desserts previously. I relish Bengali sweets — wahan se zindagi shuru hoti hai, wahee khatam. Mithai ho toh Kolkata ki. I love fruit cream and chocolates.
My wife loves white chocolate, which I don't eat, so it's easier to resist. At the most, I indulge myself with an occasional bar of Lindt chocolate.
In fruits, I love mangoes, watermelons and litchis. I have a farmhouse where there are lots of mango trees. Mujhe kabhi bhi aam count kar ke khaane ki aadat nahin thi. Yahan toh aam ko bahut izzat di jaati hai because they are so expensive but, even today, when I go back to my home town, we just pluck it from trees and feast on them.
For a romantic dinner, I would love to take Raj to the Grand Maratha.
I enjoy having a peg or two of whisky occasionally. I enjoy 'J and B' and scotch. When I go out, I make it a point to buy as many as bottles I can.
My favourite kitchen appliance is the silbatta (a grinding stone). It enhances the taste of the spices.
I resemble an onion. It is multi-layered. You have to peel a lot before it makes your eyes water. Similarly, it takes a long time to make me angry. But if I lose it, I lose it in a big way. It takes me a day or two to calm down.
Varun's Arhar Ki Dal
1 small bowl of arhar (tur) dal
1 tbsp ghee
1 medium-sized onion (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (crushed)
2-3 green chillies (finely chopped)
1 big tomato (finely chopped)
Salt to taste
tsp turmeric powder
tsp asafoetida powder
Finely chopped coriander leaves (to garnish)
Clean and wash the dal. Soak in two cups water for 20 -30 minutes. In a pressure cooker, heat the ghee lightly. Add onions, garlic and green chillies. Saut the onions on a low flame till pink.
Add tomatoes and saut till tender. Add the dal along with the water, salt, turmeric powder and asefotida powder. Mix well. Pressure cook on a medium flame for 3-4 whistles, or till done. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.
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