~ The star-studded launch organised by AWL Agri Business celebrated heritage, history and the everyday magic of India’s most loved grain
New Delhi, September 30, 2025: AWL Agri Business Limited (formerly Adani Wilmar Limited) today unveiled Kohinoor’s ‘Qisse Kuchh Khaas’, a richly produced coffee table book authored by notable food historian Professor Pushpesh Pant that traces the storied journey of Basmati from royal kitchens to family tables, and the role Kohinoor has played in taking India’s most evocative grain to the world. The launch brought together and Padma Shri awardee Professor Pant, celebrity chef Kunal Kapur, and Mr. Gurnam Arora, Jt Managing Director, Kohinoor Foods Ltd. for a lively conversation. The guests at the event, which included royalty and the crème-de-la-crème of society were treated to select dishes featured in the book.
Opening the evening, Professor Pant framed Basmati as more than an ingredient and “a part of our heritage”. He drew a parallel between the Kohinoor diamond’s singularity and Basmati’s unique allure. He spoke of aromas that drift across courtyards, of recipes that carry memories, and of a grain that inspires stories as readily as it feeds families. He explained that book represents India’s breadth with fifteen carefully chosen dishes that span biryanis, pulaos, taharis, khichdis and more. The collection, he added, “slow-cooked on a gentle flame,” blends scholarship with appetite with references to historical manuscripts and mythological references from Draupadi’s single grain to the Buddha’s kheer, and images that can draw even an “Insta generation” into deeper reading.
Chef Kunal Kapur added the chef’s-eye view of Basmati’s magic with its fragrance that announces lunch from the kitchen to a child’s room, its unrivalled ability to be “comfort and luxury on the plate” depending on who cooks and where it is served. To him, Basmati is a canvas with range. From simple dal-chawal with a lick of ghee that can soothe the soul, to a master’s biryani elevating the grain to rarefied indulgence. He called the book “precious” because it delivers tested recipes anchored in truth and craft, and praised its “poetry-like narrative” and research depth. On versatility, he noted how Basmati moves seamlessly from rituals of prosperity to restaurant plates, while urging home cooks to match rice variety to application, one for biryani, another for kheer and to respect the science of scale: the moment you cook for 20 or 200, time, water and starch behave differently, and experience becomes the difference between fluffy grains and a sticky mass. His one “must-try” for home kitchens: the wholesome, pantry-friendly Kabuli Pulao.
A moment of nostalgia and pride arrived with Mr. Gurnam Arora’s recollection that Kohinoor holds a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest biryani, cooked in 2008 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, 14,008 kg stirred with an excavator-like rig and heated by 98 cylinders for 12-hours. The feat, witnessed by dignitaries and international media, captured the audacity and organisation that have long defined the brand’s relationship with rice at scale.
Angshu Mallick, MD & CEO, AWL Agri Business Limited captured the spirit of the day and the intent behind the book. “This book is not just a collection of words and recipes; it is a tribute to the rich, fragrant, and timeless legacy of Basmati rice and the brand Kohinoor. For us, Kohinoor is more than just a brand, it is a responsibility and an honour. We are committed to preserving its authenticity while reimagining its journey for a new generation. This coffee table book is a bridge between history and the present, between culture and cuisine, between tradition and innovation. It reminds us that food is not merely sustenance. It is memory, identity, and heritage.”
The conversation repeatedly returned to the book’s central promise – to let readers savour stories as much as recipes. Professor Pant delighted the audience with the tale of a meatless, date-and-nut “Kabuli Pulao” inspired by Sufi Mystic & Poet Rumi, a dish that reminds us luxury need not always be extravagant and with an affectionate rumination on Kolkata’s biryani lineage, Awadhi influences and the democratic diffusion of royal techniques into street food. Chef Kapur reflected on how a single long-grain variety can be wrong for certain desserts even as it is perfect for layered biryani, underscoring the importance of choosing rice by purpose. For younger readers, the book’s visual grammar with paintings, plates and period images, acts as a gateway – eye-catching enough for a scroll, substantial enough to inspire curiosity beyond the caption.
The launch concluded with a tasting drawn from the book’s pages, translating conversation into flavour. Guests experienced, in three curated courses and a traditional sweet, the very thesis of ‘Qisse Kuchh Khaas’ that Basmati is a living bridge between memory and modernity, between the intimacy of home and the theatre of the banquet.
‘Qisse Kuchh Khaas’ is now part of Kohinoor’s continuing effort under AWL Agri Business to document and disseminate India’s culinary heritage while serving contemporary needs. From Traditional and Super Value Basmati to Brown Rice and Ready-to-Cook Biryani Kits, Kohinoor’s portfolio speaks to occasions as much as to appetites; the book adds a cultural companion to that pantry, inviting readers to cook, reflect and share. AWL Agri Business and Kohinoor have bottled that story between hard covers, so the fragrance and the folklore travels even farther.
