For actor Karan Singh Grover, fitness is more than a passion — it is religion. His wife Bipasha Basu’s influence on his taste buds is evident in his acquired love for Kosha Mangsho and Patishapta. The Free Press Journal caught up with him for an exclusive chat about his diet and fitness. Excerpts:
I begin my morning with: A glass of water with 1/2 a lime and trikatu powder.
My dietary preference: I am basically a non-vegetarian. My favourite dish is Kosha Mangsho (Bengali mutton curry).
My breakfast is: Chia seeds, a Kiwi or mango or an apple, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds along with some almonds and walnuts and oats with almond milk.
My lunch: I don’t have lunch.
My evening snack: Protein in any form and a fruit.
My dinner is: Matta rice with some chicken or fish with some vegetables and a dal.
My favourite desserts are: Tres leches (milk cakes), berry-flavoured ice cream, patishapta (rice crepe) and banoffee pie.
To keep fit: I train every day. I like working out outdoors.
My fitness regime: I follow the Ido Portal movement created by an Israeli named Ido Portal. It is a combination of Tai chi, Capoeira, yoga, and animal flow. We don’t train the muscles in the usual way. For instance, we don’t do a chest back, we do a scapula. We work on the spine, the legs et al. One day is marked only for inversions, another for exercises only with straight arms and so on. We work out a lot on the work out on the Roman Rings. This regime helps in eye-hand coordination and heightens your senses.
The gym I frequent: Currently, I work out on my terrace.
For health reasons, I try to avoid: Refined sugar.
I can cook: I have a BSC in hospitality and hotel administration, so I can cook many things, but I never do. I can make an egg salad sandwich.
My favourite cook in the family: My chef Bonnie. My wife Bipasha makes the world’s best banoffee pie.
My favourite childhood memory of food: Buckets of KFC and a pile of cheeseburgers like Jughead (from Archie Comics).
My ideal romantic meal: Full moon night at the beach gorging on mutton biryani.
My favourite restaurants are: Bastian, Joshi House and Yauatcha.
My favourite cuisines are: Bengali, Japanese and Vietnamese.
My comfort food: Pizza.
I feel guilty when I eat: I don’t associate guilt with food.
An exotic dish you have tried: I don’t eat food that is weird.
My favourite drink: Milk and turmeric. Also, fruit and mint-infused water.
On a hot summer day: My favourite food is ice cream, and my favourite drink is lemonade.
Favourite food in the winters: Pho and ramen.
During monsoons, I enjoy: Aloo parathas.
When I am shooting: I carry food from home.
An advice for all: Start your day with a litre of water, pay attention to what your body resonates with and eat accordingly. Everyone is different. In some ways, what suits you might not be what suits me.
Karan’s favourite recipe: Egg salad sandwich
REPRESENTATIVE PIC
Ingredients:
4 slices bread
2 to 3 eggs
1 tablespoon Thousand Island dressing
1 teaspoon butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Method: Boil the eggs, peel and mash them when still hot. Add Thousand Island dressing, butter, salt and pepper. Mix well and keep aside. Toast the bread slices. On each toasted bread slice, spread about two tablespoons of the egg mixture and place another toasted bread slice on top. Cut diagonally and serve. Repeat with the remaining two slices. You can have the egg salad sandwich either plain, toasted or grilled.
