Eating Out

He’s both an actor and a politician. That gives Shatrughan Sinha two good reasonsfor being late. And also explains why he has kept his dark glasses on even after we haveentered The House of Ming, the Chinese restaurant at Delhi’s Taj Mahal Hotel. This isclearly a favourite haunt. The staff come over to say hello. “Do you have my chillipaste?” Sinha asks them. And tells me: “Everyone knows I come here for thechilli paste.” Then he takes off his dark glasses.

A cursory glance at the menu and he’s ready—spicy prawn and lemon soupfollowed by a dry, crispy Tai Chin Chicken, king prawns in garlic sauce and hakka noodles.He then adds “some broccoli” as a token vegetarian dish. Seeing my grin, hesays: “In Bengal and Bihar, fish is considered vegetarian. It’s called Jal Taroior water fruit. Basically, dil ko behlane ke liye, Ghalib ye khayal achcha hai(to ease your conscience this explanation will suffice).”

But whether he is eating fish masquerading as vegetable or plain broccoli, he has tohave one thing: green chillies. Otherwise he says his is an easy palate to please.“So what didn’t you like about the BJP kitchen?” I ask him. “Itdoesn’t have the right masala. And no green chilli!” On a serious note, he says:“I firmly believed this party stood for national interest. It also offered a strongand clean leadership.” Interrupting this very un-Shatru-like speech, I ask: “Doyou still believe in its leadership?” He smiles: “Let’s talk about the foodinstead.” But I want to talk about his plans of joining the Congress. He denies it. Ipersist. “Then why did you invite Sonia to your play?” His response:“Should I shoot Amrish Puri every time I see him?” It’s time for dessert. But Sinha refuses the restaurant’s famous date pancakesand points to the caramel cashewnuts instead, exclaiming, “Seventy-eight calories inone piece!” So, he does know when to stop. That should be good news for the PMO!