‘Yeh toh apna bhaji pav ho gaya’: Chef Sanjeev Kapoor recalls PM Modi’s hilarious reaction to being served Emirati breakfast; how food connects cultures | Food-wine News
Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor recently shared a memorable experience of cooking for Prime Miner Narendra Modi during a visit to Abu Dhabi.
Speaking about the encounter during an interview with Mashable India, Kapoor described how he carefully curated a breakfast menu that reflected both his culinary style and local Emirati traditions, ensuring everything was purely vegetarian. “Hum Abu Dhabi mein the, toh phir maine unko apna toh khana diya hi naashte mein… toh maine local khaana bhi Emirati khaana, vegetarian sab toh (We were in Abu Dhabi, so I gave him my food for breakfast… but I also served local Emirati dishes, all vegetarian),” Kapoor said. “Sab unhone try kiya. Kehte hain ki matlab, jo agar kisi jagah ka, culture ka, yeh pata karna hai, toh khaane se bohot acha pata chalta hai (He tried everything. They say that if you want to understand the culture of a place, food is the best way to do it).”
Kapoor also gave insights into Prime Miner Modi’s eating habits, highlighting his simplicity and deep respect for food. Recalling a specific moment, he said in Hindi, “I remember serving him ful medames (a Middle Eastern dish made from fava beans). I told him, ‘Sir, here they add some chopped onions, tomatoes…’ and he laughed and said, ‘Yeh toh apna bhaji pav ho gaya’ (‘This is just like our bhaji pav’).” Adding more about Modi’s preferences, Kapoor said, “His food is simple and purely vegetarian. He eats khichdi, parathas, theplas — everything.”
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Horically, how important has food been in helping travelers and leaders understand new places and communities?
Alok Singh, expert on food hory and science at Diga Organics, tells , “Food has long been one of the most intimate and effective entry points into a region’s culture. Horically, traders, explorers, diplomats, and even emperors have used food as a means to connect with unfamiliar communities. Meals reveal much more than just ingredients; they reflect climate, agricultural patterns, religious beliefs, social customs, and even horical trade routes.”
How have different cuisines adapted to vegetarian preferences when hosting guests with dietary requirements?
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor discussed adapting local Emirati dishes into vegetarian formats for Prime Miner Modi. Singh explains that adapting recipes for guests’ dietary needs is not a modern phenomenon; it’s an age-old practice rooted in the principles of hospitality. “Across cultures, hosts have traditionally modified or innovated dishes to show respect to their guests’ beliefs, whether due to religion, health, or personal preference.”
For instance, Singh notes, Mughal emperors were known to commission special vegetarian feasts when hosting Jain or Vaishnavite guests. In the Middle East, Chrian monks travelling through Islamic regions would often be served meat-free versions of traditional dishes. In fact, the spread of Indian vegetarianism along trade routes led to the invention of entirely new plant-based variations of Persian, Arab, and Southeast Asian dishes.
How common is it for vastly different regions to have versions of the same ‘simple, hearty’ dishes?
When Prime Miner Modi compared Abu Dhabi’s ful medames to India’s bhaji pav, it highlighted how different cultures have similar comfort foods. “It’s incredibly common and fascinating to find similar comfort foods across vastly different geographies. Many cultures, despite having no horical contact with one another, have arrived at strikingly similar dishes using locally available ingredients,” observes Singh.Story continues below this ad
From Italy’s minestrone to Mexico’s frijoles, and from Egypt’s ful to India’s chana or rajma, we see echoes of a shared human instinct, to find comfort in warmth, simplicity, and flavour. These parallels are not mere coincidences; they reflect our shared hories of migration, trade, and adaptation.
