Chef Vikas Khanna Defends Gauri Khan's Mumbai Restaurant Torii After Influencer Claims They Serve 'Fake' Paneer

Chef and Masterchef India judge Vikas Khanna supported Shah Rukh Khan’s wife Gauri Khan restaurant Torii, Mumbai, days after an influencer claimed that they serve ‘fake’ paneer.

For those unversed, influencer Sarthak Sachdeva is seen performing an iodine tincture test, often used to detect starch adulteration, on a piece of paneer from Torii. When the iodine touched the paneer, it turned blue-black, prompting Sarthak to declare it ‘fake.’

He also tested paneer from other celebrity-owned restaurants, including those by Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty, and cricketer Virat Kohli. In those tests, the paneer did not change colour, suggesting no starch presence.

Vikas Khanna defends Gauri’s restaurant

On Friday (April 18), Vikas took to his Instagram story to criticise the influencer. He wrote, “I’ve been cooking & working with the science of food for the past several decades. I’ve never seen such terrible misinformation like YouTuber who claims to be a food scientist.”

The chef added, “IODINE changes color with reaction under presence of ingredients: Potatoes, Rice, Bread, Cornstarch, Flour, Unripe bananas. The use of these ingredients (thus reaction) could also happen in cross-contamination. It’s scary that unqualified people are taken seriously.”

Soon after the influencer’s video went viral a few days back, Torii’s official Instagram account clarified, “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.”

While Torii addressed the controversy with a technical explanation, Gauri Khan, the face behind the premium restaurant, has not yet publicly responded to the claims.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/chef-vikas-khanna-defends-gauri-khans-mumbai-restaurant-torii-after-influencer-claims-they-serve-fake-paneer