“What should I pack for tiffin tomorrow?” This would be my grandmother’s staple question each night before bed.
“Can’t think of anything,” I would always say.
Met with a lukewarm response, she had little choice but to channel all her creative juices to prepare a meal I would enjoy and never bring back home.
My conversation with entrepreneur and chef Harish Closepet brought back memories of the happiness a well-made tiffin box once gave me. Closepet’s journey in the kitchen began as a sous-chef to his mother, followed by cooking at his college friend’s apartment in Bangalore. But his journey as a chef only started when he prepared dabbas (lunchboxes) for his daughters, Vibha and Isha. It finally landed him a spot on the list of the top 5 contestants of MasterChef India 2023.
“My cooking and culinary creativity evolved with each empty lunchbox,” said Closepet in an exclusive conversation with Outlook Traveller Eats. He now runs an Instagram page called Harry’s Lunchbox, where he shares recipes for a great lunchbox pack for your children.
From Preparing School Lunchboxes To MasterChef India
“My daughters were always very picky and demanding about what they wanted to eat. They wanted something new every day, and I knew exactly what they would like,” said Closepet. He mentioned that curating a lunchbox requires immense creativity and thought. “I had to make sure that it looked good, remained fresh till they ate it, and was healthy,” he added.
His preparations are simple, fast, and always involve a rich balance of protein, fibre, nutrition, and energy. “It was a challenge to prepare something new every day, but I took it in my stride, created my dishes, and ensured that Isha and Vibha were always the kids with the best lunchbox,” said the chef.
Some of his most loved tiffin preparations included rice dishes, pasta, and a host of sandwiches. “It was in 2018 that my lunchbox creativity was at its peak. I prepared over 200 dabbas for my daughter, and as her college degree and the lunchbox ritual were nearing their end, she recommended that we preserve it,” said Closepet. Then, he started posting his packs and preparations on social media to hone his skills and share them with others.“It was my way of providing parents and grandparents options for their child’s tiffin when no one else was giving lunch box recipes,” added Closepet.
As his recipes gained eyeballs and the online community grew, his daughters insisted he apply for MasterChef India. “I took over five auditions and landed myself in the top 12. I did exactly what I would do in my kitchen— wore my creative hat, understood and employed my understanding of the chemistry between ingredients, and the rest, as they say, is history,” concluded Closepet.
A Kitchen Party: Dance, Music, Cooking, and More
“Dad had only one week at home before he headed to Mumbai for his MasterChef India auditions. In that week, we came together as a family to help him prepare one dish after another and review each one,” said Isha.
One of the first things she said about her father was how he is always ready to cook. “My dad is the warmest cook. If he ever cooks a dish for you, be prepared that it will not be normal. There will always be a Harry surprise element to it,” she added.
Isha also mentioned how her father loves hosting and feeding people with a wide roster of dishes. “When guests come over, it is a party in the kitchen. We all come together as a family, play music, dance, and cook our time away,” added Isha. She is a baker and taught her father many dessert hacks and recipes, such as how he taught her how to cook savoury dishes.
“I remember how I’d be so excited to see watermelon rice, Thai curry, or his paneer-stuffed paddu in my lunch box,” Isha recalled.
She also mentioned how she would wake up at 6 a.m., shoot her father preparing her lunch box, edit it on her way to college, and eat out of the same box during lunch break. “As our videos went viral, people in college already knew what I was carrying for lunch on a certain day because the video would be edited and out by the time I opened the box,” she added.
A lunchbox isn’t just food wrapped in foil paper and packed. It is a result of great love, care, and thought. As someone who lives away from home now, relies on house help to prepare lunch and finds herself packing her box every morning, I long to be asked again, “What should I pack for your tiffin?”
