American Ingredients Find a Growing Place in Indian Cuisine

From ingredients training to retail shelves, American agricultural products are finding new roles across Indian kitchens and markets.

By Charvi Arora, SPAN Magazine, U.S. Embassy New Delhi

Food choices shape more than what ends up on the plate. In India, they increasingly reflect how chefs and consumers feel about reliability, sourcing, and performance in the kitchen. Questions of where ingredients arrive from, how they behave when cooked, and whether they deliver reliable results are shaping everyday decisions.

That shift is visible in Indian kitchens, where familiar techniques are now paired with new accents. American ingredients, long present in Indian markets, are being seen in a new light. Cranberries simmer in orange juice. Pecans fold easily into paneer. Duck crisps slowly in its own fat. Together, these combinations point to a broader story, one in which culinary choices too shape markets and trade relationships.

Expanding Markets Through Culinary Initiatives

Through two culinary initiatives – the Taste of America ingredients training at the American Community Support Association (ACSA) and a U.S. Food cook-off at Food Stories, a retail outlet in New Delhi – the U.S. Embassy showcased how American agricultural products fit naturally into Indian kitchens. Led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), these initiatives aimed to do more than inspire recipes. They focused on expanding markets, building professional confidence, and supporting long-term economic growth for U.S. Farmers and exporters. U.S. Embassy New Delhi

Training the Table: A Deeper Understanding of Ingredients

The Taste of America ingredients training brought together ACSA members, hospitality students, and food and beverage professionals for hands-on cooking paired with guidance on sourcing, storage, and preparation. Chef Neha Deepak Shah, who led the training, says the session was designed to head beyond recipes, using U.S. Agricultural products already available across Delhi-NCR.

“The session focused on building a deeper understanding of these ingredients, their unique characteristics, and how to incorporate them thoughtfully into both everyday and professional kitchen applications,” she says.

The menu blended familiar Indian formats with American inputs. For example, paneer tikka was reimagined with U.S. Cranberries and pecans. Samosas featured Oregon hazelnuts. Duck and turkey were presented using techniques familiar to Indian kitchens.

“What truly stood out was the remarkable consistency and reliability in quality across every ingredient,” Shah adds. “They give chefs and home cooks the confidence to experiment and innovate while delivering consistent, high-quality results.”

Participants highlighted the benefits of using American ingredients. Sayan Dowari, a hospitality student, called the session “an eye opener,” noting the potential for using berries as infusions. Mansanjam Singh Bhatia, a bartender, emphasized the reliability of consistent size, shape, and taste throughout the year.

Cooking for Consumers: Testing American Ingredients in Indian Cuisine

At the retail cook-off at Food Stories, four participants created original dishes using U.S. Ingredients in front of an audience of chefs, buyers, and consumers. The format allowed them to test how these ingredients perform in Indian-inspired cooking.

Osheen Bansal drew on Kashmiri flavors for her Noor-e-Kashmir zaffrani pulao, using U.S. Cranberries as a central element. Mallika Banati’s winning creation, cranberry-glazed turkey with pecan pilaf and pistachio butter, placed American pecans at the center of the dish, highlighting their versatility. Mehak Asif created a stuffed turkey roulade with a pecan-walnut sauce and cranberry accents, marking her first experience cooking turkey. Deepshe Saluja took a plant-forward approach with chickpea kebabs, using U.S. Chickpeas alongside pistachios, walnuts, blueberries, and cranberries, discovering the versatility of berries in savory dishes.

Chef Ajay Chopra, who moderated the cook-off, explained why U.S. Products work well in India. “The exciting part of working with U.S. Ingredients is the versatility, the counter-seasonality, and the high quality,” he says.

“If I’m cutting a classic Red Delicious apple, it’s juicy, it’s crunchy, and it delivers on its promise. If it’s an American pistachio, the grading is so perfect that every pistachio is a similar size.”

Scale, Safety, and Growing Demand

Behind the scenes, scale and safety drive sourcing decisions. Sumit Saran, a longtime promoter of American foods in India, explains why chefs trust U.S. Products. “There are three big pillars: quality, food safety, and consistency of supply,” he says. “U.S. Products are USDA certified. What is available to a customer in the United States is exactly what reaches a customer in India.”

Those numbers are already visible. “Cranberry imports were around 60 to 70 tons five years ago,” Saran says. “In 2025, we touched 5,000 tons.” He adds, “Washington apples are the gold standard. Imports today are close to 500,000 tons.”

Retail Response and Future Growth

Indian brands are responding to this demand for high-quality produce. Dinika Bhatia, founder of the snacking brand Nutty Gritties, shares how U.S. Ingredients drive growth. “About 35 to 40 tons per month of what we consume is U.S. Ingredients,” she says. “The growth of U.S. Ingredients is 40 percent.”

She ties this directly to standards, pointing to “the quality, the consistency, the crunch, and the flavor.” Her experience visiting processing plants in the United States reinforced that trust. “The standardization, the mechanization, the quality control, and the hygiene are the best I’ve seen,” Bhatia explains.

As more chefs, retailers, and consumers work with these ingredients, familiarity is turning into confidence. What begins as experimentation in kitchens is translating into steady demand, reliable supply chains, and long-term commercial relationships. In that sense, the story of American ingredients in India is not only about flavor or technique, but about how everyday food choices quietly support trade, growth, and shared economic interests.

On February 3, 2026, US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stated that India has agreed to widen the agriculture sector for American products, potentially reducing the $1.3 billion agricultural trade deficit America had with India in 2024. The Daily Jagran

the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service has reported a reduction in India’s forecasted rapeseed harvested area and production for 2025/26, as farmers shift towards wheat cultivation. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service