KHANNA: REPRESENTING INDIA’S PLURALISM VIA HIS DISHES

Driven by passion for innovation, Chef Vikas Khanna partnered with Agthia Group to help consumers adopt sustainable means of living through Grand Mills Flour.

“I have been very inspired by Agthia Group, who are bringing unique things and getting involved in the process of innovations. I have always felt that it is a company that is always reinventing itself. If you look back at how they have evolved over the years, this partnership seems like the best way not only to encourage people to eat healthier, but also to have easy access to it and add value to people’s lives,” he said.

Talking about his latest culinary venture in Dubai, Kinara, and its fit into the UAE’s culinary ecosystem, Khanna said, “I just want to fit in what I have been doing throughout my career of almost 31 years

— representing the totality of India in pluralism. When you’re in Dubai, whole of South Asia comes together. So, I feel that when a restaurant like Kinara offers homage to the Indian cooking, you need to think about that constantly.”

When asked about new restaurant ventures in the GCC, Khanna reiterated that he doesn’t want any of his restaurants to be runoff-the-mill. He added, “Even if you eat at Kinara everything is custom made for that restaurant, which takes months of effort. So, any new market I’ll step into, I’ll make sure that I do that whole thing. Cooking is sacred and I don’t want to commercialise that.”

It’s a well-known fact that Khanna and his cooking have been very inspired by his mother all his life. “Everything that I do is to make her proud. After all, she sacrificed her entire life to raise me and she deserves every honour for that.

Going back to bringing the spotlight on Indian cuisine globally, Khanna spoke about the challenges and opportunities that he sees today. Pointing out at the diversity of the cuisine, the challenge, he said, is to make people feel the different elements in food. “Some foods have acquired taste. And its challenging to change that taste. So that’s a challenge. But the opportunity is if you can strike a balance by knowing your consumer. I feel proud that I am at the forefront of the whole international phase of Indian food and constantly innovating with full conviction, just like Agthia Group. What I cook is not mass produced, just like the products from this brand.”