CHEF Santhi Raj Barr makes it look simple, whether she is cooking aromatic Asian or Western cuisines.
The home chef (with a TV show) can whip up a dish within minutes, but when she cooked for the first time, she took five hours to complete one dish – sotong sambal.
Now, self-taught Santhi has become a cooking guru to many.
Who inspires you in terms of cooking?
It’s without a doubt my amazing mother, Pushpa Rani. She’s a traditional cook who whips up some of the most amazing and hands-down best-tasting dishes that always gets me craving for more. She has always encouraged me to add a twist to her recipes. Honestly, after having my home-cooked meals, I always crave for her cooking, which warms me up from inside and makes my day better. I must say that her consistency to shower love and care through the meals she prepares has taught me so many lessons in the kitchen that is so relevant and valuable for me in my life to become a better daughter, wife, mother and member of the community.
What do you love about cooking?
What I love most has to be the fact that I know exactly what goes into each and every dish I prepare and serve on the table for my family. It gives me great joy and satisfaction to see them relishing the dishes I prepare every day. It also allows me to sleep peacefully, knowing that they get nutritious meals that have no additional preservatives or anything harmful to their health in the long term. I think mothers out there will agree with me that wholesome meals are the supplements the body needs, in terms of not falling ill easily.
What is your favourite or guilty pleasure food?
I love spicy food and that brings Thai food to the top of my favourite food list! I must have spice in my food as much as possible. As for my guilty pleasure food, it has to be my mother’s home-cooked mutton dish, which she does with her special and secret recipe, something that I can’t get anywhere else, not even if I make it myself.
Tell us about your furry kids?
My furry kids mean the world to me! I can’t imagine going back to an empty home. Scotch is two-and-a-half years old while Spencer will be one in January 2021. Beemer is a rescue cat found inside our car tyre. Many people are surprised at how they all get along. Probably, it is because I let them share one bowl of milk the day I brought Beemer into the house. I thought I was not a cat person, but I guess when the time comes, your motherly instinct kicks in, and all fear goes away.
Tell us about your marriage and your family.
I am very excited to start this journey with someone I see as my soulmate, a friend, my greatest companion and the best dad I could ever have imagined for my son, Akshay. My husband Rayan Barr is also the man behind Chef Santhi! He saw how passionate I am and has been my rock in my cooking journey. I must say that I wouldn’t have explored cooking if it was not for him. Since 2017, he has been everything a woman needs to become the best version of herself. I am very thankful to God for bringing us together. Being a foodie himself, he often joins me in the kitchen and gives me an honest opinion.
When it comes to Western dishes, I have learned a trick or two from him. He does the best-grilled salmon but he claims that I do it better than him. As they say, a family that eats together, stays together. I want to continue cooking up a storm to keep us happy together. I have found my happiness. I hope every woman will, too.
As for her future plans, Santhi hopes to start a YouTube cooking channel – Sizzle with Santhi, where she hopes to share more of her recipes with a wider audience.
