Malaysian celebrity Chef Shankar R. Santhiram sits down with IOL in Cape Town.

Before he started an accidental "goat revolution" in Durban or caused a crayfish stampede on Cape Town’s Kloof Street, Chef Shankar R. Santhiram was just a curious kid being hollered out of his mother's kitchen.

Today, the 55-year-old Malaysian Tamil cook travels the world proving that while culture and religion can divide, a comfort bowl of dhal is the ultimate universal fix - injected, as he puts it, straight into the diaspora’s veins.

Santhiram is currently filming an extensive 10-episode culinary television series titled Shankar's Saapadu Story South Africa.

He is also the Chef Patron of the critically acclaimed restaurant ⁠Fire by Shankar located in Penang, Malaysia, which specialises in modern, innovative Tamil-inspired cuisine.