Gauri Khan’s restaurant, ‘Torii,’ recently found itself in a controversy following a YouTuber’s allegations. YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva made a video visiting celebrity-owned restaurants like Virat Kohli’s One8 Commune, Shilpa Shetty’s Bastian, and Gauri Khan’s Torii. In his video, he claimed that the paneer served by Gauri’s restaurant was fake. Following this, his video went viral, creating a stir. Now, Michelin-star celebrity chef, Vikas Khanna, has weighed in on the issue, schooling the YouTuber.
For context, in the video, Sarthak accused Torii of serving synthetic paneer. He demonstrated an iodine test, featuring a colour change on the paneer. Sarthak claimed that the colour change was evidence of added starch. He stated that this indicated that the dish had synthetic paneer. Soon, the video took over social media like wildfire. Following the allegations, the restaurant issued a clarification, standing by its ingredients.
The restaurant commented, “The iodine test reflects the presence of starch, not the authenticity of the paneer. As the dish contains soy-based ingredients, this reaction is expected. We stand by the purity of our paneer and the integrity of our ingredients at Torii.” Moreover, in a statement, they added, “We are utterly surprised at the news of ‘fake paneer’ being served at Torii. From sourcing our produce to the food being served on the plate to our patrons, there are quality checks at every step of the way. Our commitment to excellence in the food we serve remains unwavered.”
After the debate over fake paneer went viral on social media, celebrity chef Vikas Khanna defended Gauri Khan’s restaurant. Taking to Instagram stories, he called out the misinformation. “I’ve never seen such terrible misinformation like a YouTuber claiming to be a food scientist,” he wrote. Khanna explained that iodine turns blue-black in the presence of starch, a common component in kitchen staples like potatoes, bread, and flour.” Moreover, the chef noted that cross-contamination of soy-based ingredients could trigger such a reaction.
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