Kahaani: Foods of India brings 12 regional chefs to Delhi, November 13-15

Kahaani: Foods of India, a chef-led festival of regional Indian cooking presented by the cultural venture Indophile, opens at Travancore Palace on Kasturba Gandhi Marg in New Delhi on Friday, 13 November 2026 and runs until Sunday, 15 November. Twelve chefs from different parts of the country are taking part, and the programme pairs food from regional stalls with workshops, live cooking demonstrations, panel discussions and a curated bazaar. This is the festival's second edition; the first was held in February 2026. Event listings give opening hours from 12 noon each day, with tickets sold online from Rs 899.

Most Indians eat within one regional tradition at home, but restaurants in big cities tend to offer a narrow menu that stands in for "Indian food": a few north Indian gravies, a few south Indian breakfasts. Festivals like this one try to widen that picture by putting the cooking of particular regions, communities and households in front of city diners, often with the cooks themselves explaining where a dish comes from and why it is made the way it is.

That focus on ingredients connects food to everyday health and heritage in a practical way. Herbs gathered in Himalayan villages, grains and spices specific to the Deccan, and recipes passed down in small-town kitchens are all part of what is often called traditional or indigenous food knowledge. Much of it survives only in family practice and is rarely written down. Events that bring such cooks to a large audience give that knowledge a wider public, and give the cooks a route to customers beyond their own region.

The format also matters. Instead of only selling plates of food, the festival includes workshops and panels, so visitors can learn techniques and hear the background to what they are eating. The organisers held a preview dinner in Delhi on 28 October 2026, where the line-up included chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar and Shalini Krishan of Edible Archives. The festival's own list of its 12 chefs had not been widely published in the coverage available at the time of writing.

The venue on Kasturba Gandhi Marg sits near Connaught Place in central Delhi, and the three-day run covers a Friday and the weekend, so the festival is within reach of both office-goers and families.

Peepals timeline: Kahaani: Foods of India held its first edition in February 2026. On 28 October 2026 the organisers hosted a preview dinner in Delhi to set out their plans for the second edition. The festival was announced to the trade press in the first week of November, and it opens on Friday, 13 November, running for three days until Sunday, 15 November 2026.

Short-term: Delhi residents and visitors have three days to taste and learn about regional cooking from 12 chefs in one place, with workshops and talks alongside the food stalls.

Long-term: A second edition within a year suggests the organisers are trying to build a regular fixture for regional food in the capital. If it continues, it could become a steady platform for home-style and community cooks, and for producers of the indigenous ingredients they rely on.

Who is affected: Food lovers and families in Delhi; chefs and home cooks who specialise in regional food; small producers of traditional ingredients; and people interested in India's food heritage and traditional eating habits.

What to watch next: The festival's closing day on Sunday, 15 November 2026.

Questions and Answers