Heritage plated

Chefs, restaurateurs, and food historians are reviving forgotten recipes across India, blending nostalgia with innovation to showcase authentic regional flavours and heritage, writes Garima Verma

Isn’t it fascinating how food often holds the key to nostalgia? The kitchens of our grandparents, where every dish carried a story, remain etched in memory. While global cuisines have long captivated Indian diners, there is now a noticeable shift back to our culinary roots.

This revival is evident in the recent opening of Ikk Panjab by Rajan and Deepika Sethi in Chandigarh and Gurugram. With an established presence in Delhi, their new spaces aim to do more than serve Punjabi food — it’s about reclaiming personal heritage. Inspired by Rajan’s maternal grandfather, a soldier from Punjab, the restaurant aims to dispel misconceptions surrounding popular Punjabi staples, such as butter chicken and dal makhani.

“Growing up, we never ate dal makhani at home. It was always maah ki daal, made without butter or cream,” says Rajan. His mission at Ikk Panjab is simple: to remind diners that what is widely considered Punjabi cuisine is only part of the story. “Much of what people eat today comes from Mughal influences or migrant cultures. True Punjabi food remains largely unexplored,” he adds.

Breaking stereotypes

Chef Ebaani Tewari echoes this sentiment when discussing regional cuisine. She recalls how South Indian cuisine was long pigeonholed as strictly vegetarian or limited to idlis and dosas. At her Mumbai-based restaurant Kari Apla, which she runs with colleague Mathew Verghese, Ebaani blends regional flavours into a modern dining experience.

According to her, India’s renewed interest in its culinary diversity has reshaped the narrative. Diners in the north are learning to distinguish between Udupi, Chettinad, and Hyderabadi cuisines, while in the south, Rajasthan is being explored beyond its famous daal-bati churma and laal maas.

“There’s a new wave of people seeking food that connects them to culture and tradition,” says Stanzin Jigmed Namgyal, young scion of Ladakh’s 400-year-old Namgyal dynasty. Namgyal is introducing Ladakhi dishes such as tangthur (a buttermilk-based vegetable stew) and yarkhandi pulao (a rich mutton pulao with dried fruits) to the broader Indian audience. He credits social media with amplifying this resurgence, as young Ladakhis proudly share their food heritage online.

From family kitchens to the fore

Chefs are increasingly drawing on home kitchens and forgotten recipes to revive the flavours of yesteryear. At The Oberoi, New Delhi, Executive Chef Manish Sharma has reintroduced traditional cooking tools like the sil batta (grinding stone) and imam dasta (mortar and pestle) to extract true Dehlavi flavours. Dishes like silbatte ke shammi — lamb and lentil kebabs pounded by hand — celebrate this return to authenticity.

In Old Delhi, food historian and chef Osama Jalali is researching and reviving lost Mughlai and Nawabi recipes. His efforts to bring back Rampuri royal dishes such as taar gosht (mutton slow-cooked in its own juices) and gosht halwa (a sweet-savoury meat pudding) have been widely praised. For Ebaani, inspiration also comes from childhood. Drawing on her family’s roots in Goa, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, she creates dishes like Madurai Mutton Cutlet, recalling childhood trips to Chennai, and a playful Banana Bread with Filter Coffee Ice Cream, inspired by Kerala’s train station snack stalls that Verghese frequented. Each plate, she says, carries “a personal memory, retold for today’s diners.” At Ikk Panjab, Rajan continues his quest to rediscover recipes from Punjab’s undivided past. “There are no cookbooks to reference, and most recipes were never written down,” he explains. His menu features little-known dishes such as Kotkapura ka Aata Chicken (a flour-coated chicken preparation) and Karachi Koila Kadhai (chicken smoked on hot coal) — delicacies even many Punjabis are unaware of. The restaurant also borrows from royal kitchens, offering Patiala Shahi Tandoori Bater (quail) and the acclaimed Gosht Beliram, named after Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s personal chef.

A taste of nostalgia

The revival of traditional food isn’t limited to regional specialities. At Indian Accent, Chef Shantanu Mehrotra incorporates childhood memories into his menu, such as Chicken Seekh with Rice and Prune-Mulberry Korma. “The mulberries used in this dish come from the tree right here in the compound,” he says, emphasising the connection between food, memory, and place. Nostalgia runs through his offerings, which also include Kala Khatta, Solkadhi, and Narthangai (pickled citron).

At Loya, Taj Palace, Grand Master Chef Rajesh Wadhwa is introducing forgotten recipes such as Kafuli (a slow-cooked spinach dish from Uttarakhand) and Faridkot Meat Curry, a rustic mutton curry from Punjab. “These dishes represent the land and its people. It’s a privilege to bring them back to life with authenticity,” he says. In Rajasthan, Chef Kunwar Hemendra Singh of Bhainsrorgarh is reviving recipes once served at royal Rajputana feasts. His curated thalis celebrate the culinary heritage of Mewar, Marwar, and Malwa, with highlights such as Dal Bidwal (a lentil soup from Bidwal) and Hari Mirch ka Maas (a fiery mutton dish from Bhainsrorgarh’s royal kitchens).

The future of Indian cuisine

As chefs, restaurateurs, and culinary historians bring back forgotten recipes, regional Indian cuisines are becoming far more than a passing trend — they are entering the mainstream. The division of Indian cuisine into stereotypes is gradually erasing, believes Ebaani. From Punjab to Ladakh, kitchens across the country are unveiling the true diversity of Indian food, blending nostalgia with innovation.

With each dish, these chefs are not only reviving history but also writing a new narrative for the future of Indian cuisine. As diners increasingly seek food that connects them to tradition, this era of rediscovery is only set to grow stronger.