This no holds barred podcast with celebrity chef, Maneet Chauhan, is sure to turn you into fans. The aim of the EkWomen podcasts is to showcase inspirational South Asian women in the diaspora and Maneet certainly fits the bill. After completing her Bachelor’s degree from India’s top hotel management school, the Welcome Group Graduate School of Hotel Management, Maneet interned at some of India’s finest hotels before enrolling at the Culinary Institute of America in 1988. She speaks about issues faced by female chefs in Indian kitchens and how gender has no room in her kitchen.
Maneet graduated from CIA with top honors and many scholastic achievement awards, before embarking on her culinary career in the US. She gets candid about her time on Iron Chef and how even by losing she won. Not only has Maneet started the Morph Hospitality Group with her husband where they run four restaurants in Nashville, Tennessee, but she has also authored two cookbooks and is a popular judge on the food network show, Chopped, for which she received a James Beard Award for Excellence.
In this podcast, Maneet talks about hers struggles during the pandemic and reveals a shocking incident that brought out the inner warrior in her. Maneet reminisces about her days as a small-town girl, in Ranchi where one of her favourite activities was to sample the cuisine at her neighbour’s homes. Among her many interesting encounters, Maneet admits taking her mom along when she visited Barack and Michelle Obama at the White House, was special. She reveals a fierce maternal side when she shares her views on raising her daughter to be unbiased and proud. For a couple that works together, you’ll hear how Maneet and her husband give each other space and flourish in their relationship.
EkWomen is about creating a global community and is something Maneet believes in. The biggest connector is food and she talks about how it brings people together. Maneet also talks about taking and passing on the baton of popularizing Indian cuisine in the US. Find out about her likes and dislikes in the rapid fire round. EkWomen is amazed at how Maneet constantly reinvents herself and salutes this amazing woman.
