'Indian food needs exploring, not inventions'

Star chef Manish Mehrotra believes Indian food doesn't need inventions to be on the top spot in the global food map but it could do with a lot of exploring of the variety that the nation has to offer in terms of flavours.

"Indian food doesn't need inventions. All we need is exploring. If we go across India, we will see the diversity and the variety. It's a pity Indians do not know the variety on offer in all the states," Mehrotra said here on Friday at a discussion on good taste at The India Story show.

The award-winning chef who runs the kitchen at Indian Accent in New Delhi lamented that people in Gujarat think Bengal has only fish to be proud of.

"People in south India think, north Indians eat butter chicken while north Indians only know of idli-dosa from the south. If we continue to explore all the regions we will get hundreds of new things," he added.

The chef also observed that food is one such entity that sort of gets everybody on the same level.

"It levels everybody. One owns a Mercedes but can be seen enjoying a plate of chaat sitting inside the vehicle. That barrier dissolves," he said.

For Mehrotra, the humble 'khichdi' is the "most balanced dish in the world".

"It's the benchmark for me, it's got the silkiness of the rice, the tang and pungency of the chokha or tadka and the crunchy texture of the accompanying papad," Mehrotra added.