These are the ingredients India's chefs can't wait to cook with in 2026

If 2025 was about caviar and truffle, fine-dining menus are expected to get more adventurous this year with a spotlight on ingredients rooted in sustainability. India’s top chefs will continue to draw inspiration from some of the most unique and rare produce indigenous to the culture, and at the same time demonstrate restraint and respect through their specialised cooking techniques. We asked chefs from across the country to share the ingredients they are looking forward to cooking with in this year.

AHMEDAKI LALOO, CHEF & FOUNDER, A’ORIGINS, SHILLONG

I’m super excited to cook with sohphlang, a crunchy winter tuber that is native to our Khasi and Jaintia hills of Meghalaya. It is more than just food. It’s an emotion that connects me to my roots. I remember I’d often sit by the fire with my loved ones, roasting the sweet and nutty sohphlang wrapped in banana leaves with chilli flakes, salt and perilla cubes. While travelling in Chiang Mai in Thailand and Japan, I discovered sohphlang is a common thread that bridges cultures. This year, I am planning to interpret those flavours in dishes such as tuber dumplings with perilla chilli oil and tuber salads.

RADHIKA KHANDELWAL, CHEF-OWNER, RADISH HOSPITALITY PVT LTD, DELHI

Insect protein is something I’m curious about not as a shock ingredient, but as a long-term conversation around sustainability. Many cultures have historically consumed insects, even in our country, like silkworms in the North-East, and red ants across the tribal belt in central India. From a sustainability standpoint, insect protein is incredibly efficient. It requires far less land, water, and feed compared to conventional animal protein. I’d work with it in subtle formats like powders, flours, broths or blended preparations, where it adds nutrition and depth. Its success lies in quiet integration rather than spectacle. Ingredients such as these excite me because they push me to cook with more thought.

SAURABH UDINIA, CULINARY DIRECTOR, HOM, MUMBAI

Bhatt or black soybean is an ingredient I first experienced in Kumaon, Uttarakhand, and later kept encountering at my second home in Nepal. It is everyday hill food, cooked without fuss, but with a lot of understanding. It is earthy, nutty, slightly bitter, and deeply warming. Bhatt demands time, slow cooking and patience. It represents a food culture shaped by terrain and climate, not trends. In 2026, I want to work more with ingredients like bhatt that slow you down as a cook and reward restraint. What interests me equally is how bhatt is used in different forms. I would like to explore it through dishes such as whole bhatt cooked slowly with goat meat. Or coarsely ground bhatt cooked down in goat stock with regional herbs. And maybe worked into a paste, cooked gently with spices and finished on embers. The fresh beans cooked simply in fat and exposed to gentle smoke with minimal seasoning is also another idea.

MATHEW VARGHESE, CHEF & CO-FOUNDER, KARI APLA, MUMBAI

If I had to pick one ingredient, it would be green garlic from Maharashtra and Gujarat—the tender, freshly-harvested garlic that shows up briefly in winter and then disappears before you’ve had enough of it. Green garlic (called hirva lasun in Maharashtra and leelu/lela lasan in Gujarat) is that magical in-between stage—before the bulb forms. It has the fragrance of garlic without the aggression, and a sweetness that feels grassy and fresh. I want to treat green garlic as the main character. Some ideas are a softer version of green garlic thecha pounded with green chillies, peanuts, oil, and salt. There are also green garlic vegetable dishes, where instead of adding it like seasoning, I’d build dishes where chopped green garlic is the vegetable, paired with potatoes, spring onions, or methi, letting its sweetness carry the dish. Another great form is in infused fats and oils by slowly warming green garlic in a neutral oil or ghee to capture its aroma—something to use sparingly over dal, khichdi, or vegetables long after the season ends.

SHRIYA SHETTY, CHEF-PARTNER, BUCO ARTISANAL BAKERY & CAFE, MANGALURU

I have always been fascinated by leafy greens, and one of my favourites is padpe, or red amaranth. It is commonly eaten at homes, but is not really seen on restaurant menus. I want to start incorporating hyperlocal regional ingredients at Buco, and this year I want to execute an idea using red amaranth for our sandwich menu. The purpose is to use it in place of arugula, lettuce or rocket leaves, which are the usual choices for greens and crunch. Or, in the Indian context, it is typically spinach. I have experimented with red amaranth, and it has a great texture. Just by treating the roots, stems or the leaves differently, you get something unique and fun, and that’s the kind of cooking I want to do in 2026. I want to ensure one ingredient gives me a range of flavours and textures to play with.

GAYATRI DESAI, CHEF-OWNER, GROUND UP, PUNE

I am quite fascinated by seaweed/sea lettuce. During a research trip to Sindhudurg in the Konkan coast last year, I was introduced to a variety of seaweed, and what excited me was how the flavour profiles vary according to the seasons and ecosystems. Fresh seaweed is packed with umami, and I am somehow always thinking of miso. In fact, I have been fermenting a batch of seaweed, and it should be ready soon. I’d love to use it for any dish that needs that extra punch, for instance soups and salads, or pastas with a butter sauce. It is perfect for someone who doesn’t eat fish, but wants to taste the ocean.