If there is one person who introduced me to what good taste meant when I was barely a foot long, who baked cakes that looked like they belonged to a coffee table book, who whisked sauces and whirred marinades, and even made her own wine, and was without a doubt, the biggest influence from the world of food for me, it was my aunt and neighbor, Niru Gupta. Niru aunty has written over a dozen cookbooks, that range from Continental cuisine to Indian foods, to snacks, to food from U.P. There are few people as versatile as her, and even fewer who can bake the range of cakes that she can. Growing up and till date, Niru aunty has been an institution in the world of food.

I learnt how to make her legendary chocolate cake way before my teens, and at the time, little did I know that it would become a signature cake in my life for decades to come. In my convent school, I would turn up with Niru aunty’s Dark Devil Cake for many charity events. It was such a hit, that sometimes the nuns would forget my name and refer to me as Chocolate cake. I have had the good fortune of being a lifelong recipient of Niru aunty’s culinary talents, and would proudly say that she laid the foundation for western cooking for me. She was the “Joy of Cooking” or the “Larousse” and the inspiration of what good food meant.