Grand Master Chef Imtiaz Qureshi
Dum Pukht, ITC Hotels

"One day may be there will be a book where I will let you in on many a kitchen secret, and all my experiences, both sweet & savoury.�

Hailing from the famed Qureshi clan of cooks, Master Chef Imtiaz Qureshi is the man behind the underrated Dumpukht. Born in the year 1939 in Lucknow, he learnt on the job and jumped into catering for a gathering of 1000 people as well as cooking for political big-wigs including Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Chef Qureshi is a jovial figure in the kitchen who commands respect as well as quiet reverence.

Innovation has been part of chef Qureshi�s way of cooking since a very early age. His cooking is not restricted to non-vegetarian food rather he could make delicious vegetarian fare at a lunch party hosted by UP Chief Minister CB Gupta in the early 60�s in which Prime Minister Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Zakir Husain were invited for a private lunch, but since the host was vegetarian the dishes has to follow the same. Chef Qureshi started his career at age of nine and has worked with brands like ITC Hotels- Welcom Group, Mughal Sheraton-Agra, Maurya Sheraton- New Delhi amongst other. His signature dishes include, Gosht ke Pasande (Succulent piccata of baby lamb marinated with raw papaya and selected spices), Gundum ke Tikke (Gluten cakes soaked in pomegranate juice arinated with Kashmiri chilli masala and finished on clay oven), Gosht Nahari (Tender lamb chunks skewed with spices) and the Mughlai Paratha to go with the kebabs.