Sonia Gandhi's love for Indian food was not instant. However, once she started enjoying the cuisine, there was no looking back and this revelation is proof.Sonia Gandhi loves Bengali and Gujarati cuisine.
Sonia Gandhi's relationship with Indian food was not always a comfortable one. While she now counts Bengali food, Gujarati cuisine from Surat and several Indian classics among her favourites, it took her time to develop a taste for the country's diverse food traditions.In an interview with HarperCollins, the publisher of her newly released autobiography Belonging: A Journey of Love, Sonia spoke about her evolving relationship with Indian food, learning to cook and the dishes she enjoys today."I love Indian food.
Bengali food I love. Believe it or not, I love Gujarati food from Surat," she said, admitting that it took her a while to get used to Indian cuisine. "It was difficult for me to enjoy Indian food right at the beginning."Her initial hesitation around Indian food is something she has spoken about in her autobiography.
Sonia recalls how she would hold her breath while walking past an East Pakistani restaurant in Cambridge because she disliked the smell of spices. Her first taste of tandoori chicken at a London restaurant left her mouth "on fire." But Rajiv Gandhi soon began taking her to a little restaurant on Charlotte Street serving North-Western Indian dishes cooked in a tandoor, and the dish eventually became one of her favourites.
She also revealed in the new video that she did not know how to cook when she first arrived in India, but gradually learnt along the way.So, what are her favourite dishes now? Kebabs, chicken tikkas, tandoori chicken and dal feature prominently on her list.
She also mentioned Kashmiri haak, a traditional Kashmiri leafy green preparation, which has a particularly special place in her household. In fact, Sonia revealed that one particular dal has been a constant in the Gandhi household since the day she arrived."So in our house from the day I came to this house till today, the only dal cooked is a arhar ki dal.
No other dal," she said.The conversation also touched upon Sonia's mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, and her relationship with cooking. While Indira herself could not cook, she apparently had a remarkably developed sense of taste and knew exactly how a dish could be improved.As Sonia recalled, she would know what was missing from a preparation and suggest what needed to be added to make it better.Sonia Gandhi’s memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, was officially released on November 10, 2026.
It is currently receiving raving response from readers.- Ends