Indian chefs who put Indian food on the world map

Indian food is now eaten everywhere from London to New York to Bangkok, and served everywhere from street stalls to Michelin-starred restaurants. That journey was shaped by a handful of cooks, writers and chefs. Here are some of the most influential.

Teaching India to cook

Tarla Dalal wrote more than a hundred cookbooks of tested vegetarian recipes, giving millions of Indian households their first cookbooks written for their own kitchens. Sanjeev Kapoor then brought chef culture into Indian homes through Khana Khazana, one of the longest-running cooking shows on Indian television. Today Ranveer Brar and Kunal Kapur reach new generations through television and YouTube.

Introducing the West

In Britain and the United States, Madhur Jaffrey did more than anyone to explain Indian home cooking. Her 1973 book An Invitation to Indian Cooking and her 1982 BBC series showed Western cooks that Indian food was more than restaurant curry.

Fine dining

In London, Vineet Bhatia became the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star, at Zaika in 2001. In New York, Floyd Cardoz brought Indian spices to fine dining at Tabla and won Top Chef Masters. Vikas Khanna earned a Michelin star at Junoon and became a familiar face on MasterChef India.

The modern wave

In Bangkok, Gaggan Anand reinvented Indian food with modernist techniques; his restaurant Gaggan was named the best in Asia four years in a row. Garima Arora, who trained at Noma, became the first Indian woman to win a Michelin star, at her Bangkok restaurant Gaa.

What changed

Together these chefs changed two perceptions: that Indian food was only home cooking or cheap takeaway, and that fine dining had to be European. They showed that India’s regional cuisines — from Kashmir to Kerala — offer endless depth, and that Indian chefs could be among the most creative in the world.