How Jiggs Kalra, the 'Czar' of Indian cuisine, inspired India's top chefs

Tuesday, June 4 was a sad day for the world of Indian cuisine. After a long, 22-day struggle in a hospital’s intensive care unit, the “Czar” of Indian cuisine, as he was affectionately known, Jiggs Kalra breathed his last. An enterprising journalist, who pioneered food writing in the country and made it his life’s mission to promote India’s vast and rich cuisines, Kalra almost singlehandedly elevated them and ensured they are afforded the respect they deserve. And though Kalra was never a chef himself, his work motivated generations of Indian chefs. He showed them that their profession didn’t necessarily mean