Neha Gupta

Abig thank you from The Business Traveller India team for your encouragement on the launch of our debut issue. We are overwhelmed by your support and are even more spirited than before to get our forthcoming issues to you each month.

When our April-May issue hit the stands, we decided to celebrate with a feast of Indian dishes. Strangely, we realised that the only fine-dining Indian restaurants are in luxury hotels. Sure there are ample eateries serving traditional foods, but most are better suited for quick bites.

What are becoming more common in addition to international kitchens are modern Indian menus.

Experimental cuisines have taken over, especially in Mumbai and Delhi; and this includes Indian food with a twist (see page 72). A basic kebab will use exotic ingredients, cocktails will include a twist of Indian flavour, as will desserts that blend east and west, and finally they’re plated in a manner that makes you guess the dish.Yet, the charm remains.

The fiery zing that most mistake for chillies, when in fact it is the garam masala (spice mix), may be reduced, but is not completely lost. A country where food is worshipped, and comfort food is sought from mother’s dal-chawal (lentil soup and rice), a complete refurbishing of the cuisine is out of the question. We’re meeting the world half-way because we want to share what we honour most.

In 2013 when I had met one Michelin starred chef Vikas Khanna, he made an interesting statement to the effect of: anybody who says they despise Indian food, haven’t eaten it at the right place; and the best place for this, is at an Indian home.

Touché!