In 1992, highschool sweethearts Rashmi and Harish Closepet started their married life in Singapore. A working couple, they’d take turns to prepare dinner. At any time when Rashmi labored late, she would come dwelling to an elaborately cooked meal, plated and served with love by her husband. Evidently, the younger bride was floored by her husband’s efforts.

Each weekend would imply events hosted by the couple. And what Rashmi cherishes 31 years later is the time they spent cooking collectively for these events. It was an actual bonding expertise, she shares. She loved watching her husband current completely different dishes and create attention-grabbing components on the plate. 

“Once we journey, I get busy looking for garments whereas he buys completely different pots and pans,” laughs Rashmi. 

This continued nicely after their daughters, Vibha (28) and Isha (21), have been born. Rashmi noticed the ‘household man’ emerge in Harish who would take care of the ladies and feed them. Harry, as he’s known as, began cooking for his daughters too, and would make their dabbas (tiffins) for college. Whereas they got conventional rice, sambar, rasam and roti-sabzi, the dad and mom noticed that they didn’t end it.

To make the meals attention-grabbing, the couple began including some paneer and cheese to the sabzis. In addition they made pastas, which the ladies cherished, and at last, the dabbas would come again empty. “They discovered this meals thrilling,” says Harry.

Thus, meals and cooking grew to become a robust bonding exercise for the household too. Isha tells The Higher India that a lot of her core reminiscences together with her father are within the kitchen. For nearly 15 years, until the ladies completed faculty, Harry and Rashmi would pack tiffins for his or her daughters. 

Within the final week of her faculty, Isha realised that this is able to most likely be the previous couple of days that her father would prepare dinner his delicious meals for her. 

Eager to share her fantastic father’s cooking with the world, she took a video of him making a lunchbox and put that reel out on Instagram. To her shock, it bought over 10,000 views on the primary day. And so started the journey of ‘Harry’s lunchbox’, which was a stepping stone to the 58-year-old man auditioning for MasterChef India, the place he’s now within the Prime 6.

So how did this entrepreneur’s tryst with meals start? Right here’s his story.  

Breaking gender roles

Youngest of 5 siblings, Harry grew up in an enormous household in Bengaluru within the Sixties. He would spend quite a lot of time within the kitchen and was his mom’s sous chef. The 4 brothers and sister would partake in all actions at dwelling, from including firewood to heating water, gardening and cleansing. 

In addition they noticed their father prepare dinner throughout festivals and household gatherings, which left an enduring impression on the younger kids.

“We have been all concerned in cooking at dwelling. I didn’t suppose {that a} boy cooking and being snug within the kitchen was something completely different. We loved partaking in actions at dwelling and that mindset stays with me even at this time. For us, our father was ‘Mr Fixit’ round the home,” Harry shares fondly.

The significance of household was instilled in him by his dad and mom and he realised early on that working with the household and doing on a regular basis chores collectively was a precedence.

He cherished making desserts and would make truffles utilizing bournvita and make his personal rabri. He cooked a full meal after becoming a member of faculty at 18. He heard his engineering faculty mates, who stayed on the hostel, complain concerning the high quality of meals. He determined to whip up a meal for them. 

“I tasted the meals on the hostel and it was terrible. I made a decision to attempt cooking and feeding my mates. I might prepare dinner at dwelling and take the meals to the hostel. They actually loved what I made,” he provides.

He would prepare dinner South Indian meals which included rice, rasam and poriyal for his mates. They cherished it, and it additionally made him an enormous hit along with his mates on the BMS School of Engineering, Bengaluru. This kicked off his cooking journey, which helped immensely when he moved to Singapore for work.

It not solely helped him prepare dinner for himself, and later his household, but it surely additionally gained him quite a lot of mates proper as much as his skilled life in Singapore and Australia.

“Meals breaks limitations and connects individuals. Once we migrated to Australia, we began internet hosting barbecues. We might join a lot better with the locals over our shared love of meals,” provides Harry.

A household that cooks collectively, stays collectively

At any time when Isha needs to prepare dinner one thing, she at all times reaches out to her father for recommendation. A whole lot of their conversations revolve round it. Harry, too, says that she most likely thinks of meals when she thinks of him. 

In September 2022, he put out a reel on Instagram which he titled ‘Pack A Lunchbox With Me’ Day 1 the place he made a tomato zucchini rice, baked crispy potatoes with a tomato sauce marinade and a contemporary orange and cucumber salad. It was an incredible hit and earned him a fantastic following. Up to now, he has made 63 wholesome, balanced lunch bins with a following of over 5.27 lakh individuals. 

Whereas they made the movies only for enjoyable, Harry quickly realised that he was fixing an actual drawback confronted in most households. What to make for the subsequent day’s lunchbox and the best way to make it nutritious but attention-grabbing for the kid?

“My daughters don’t like simple South Indian meals and I began making plenty of modifications. I might make several types of fried rice, noodles, pastas and breads. I might make pasta with Indian flavours. By mixing completely different flavours and fusing them with the Indian contact, I might give about 50-60 completely different sorts of tiffins,” he says.

He ensures that every meal is balanced with sufficient carbohydrates, good fat and protein. His lunchbox collection at all times embrace these components. 

A few of his in style dabbas are paneer paddu with a beetroot chutney and carrot salad, rajma pepper rice with tomato masala and chia fruit salad, peas fritters with a candy potato yogurt dip, masala paneer roll with tomato broccoli salad, a excessive protein upma with dry coconut chutney and a carrot vinegar salad and plenty of extra.

His favorite meal is rajma rice with a heat salad whereas his daughters love pastas and mexican rice with an avocado dip.

What fascinates Harry about cooking?

“I really like the chemistry of meals. I really like how completely different substances work collectively to provide a stupendous, tasty end result. The entire technique of seeing easy substances turn out to be a particularly palatable dish fascinates me,” he provides.

Because the web page grew, his daughter inspired him to use for MasterChef India. After a tricky audition course of throughout two cities and 4 rounds, Harish is at this time one of many Prime 6 contestants. He wowed everybody along with his watermelon rice in Chef Marco Pierre White’s problem the place they needed to prepare dinner with simply 250 ml water.  

Whereas not cooking, Harish runs a series of artwork and craft provides shops with Rashmi known as Itsy Bitsy, via which they supply employment to rural ladies in Karnataka. 

He begins his day early making and packing a tiffin for Isha, who now by the way takes it to work, then workout routines, goes to workplace and comes again late. The trick, the entrepreneur says, is to take pleasure in all of it. 

Harry’s positivity and heat is unmissable, even on a dialog over the cellphone, and thru his Instagram reels.

“One of many causes for my cooking journey to be so thrilling is the truth that I prepare dinner with my spouse and children. If you prepare dinner together with your associate, it can assist enhance your relationship. I might ask all of the younger girls and boys to prepare dinner together with your particular somebody and make it right into a enjoyable exercise, if potential on daily basis,” he says.

The truth is, he chortles and says that he’s bought fairly just a few of his mates in hassle as their wives/daughters predict them to prepare dinner. However isn’t that the way it must be? Harry provides that when each husband and spouse are working, it’s solely truthful that they share the chores at dwelling.

“See, it can take time to come back to an equation as to who’s going to do what at dwelling. It took us some effort and time to come back to the conclusion about our roles, but it surely’s price it. You need to be versatile. Whoever is free at that time of time can do no matter chore is pending,” he provides.

Whereas Harry has been shattering stereotypes, Isha says that it was normally uncommon for her classmates to get lunchboxes made by their father. 

“I’m so happy with my father. It’s actually not that frequent for fathers to prepare dinner, but it surely must be. I might have been lifeless in opposition to simply my mother cooking. It’s simply a lot enjoyable to prepare dinner collectively,” she says.

Harry hopes to make use of his MasterChef expertise to make extra attention-grabbing lunch bins in a shorter time span like 20 minutes to assist busy dad and mom. Rashmi playfully provides that one among nowadays, she goes to remain again late at work to come back dwelling to a completely cooked meal by her husband, very similar to the preliminary days of their marriage. 

Edited by Padmashree Pande