3 days Ago
Influencer and YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva shared a now-viral video from his visit to Torii, alleging that the restaurant served paneer containing starch. Gauri Khan’s popular Mumbai restaurant, Torii, known for its luxe interiors and celebrity clientele, is now in the spotlight for an unexpected reason. The eatery, owned by the entrepreneur and interior designer wife of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, has come under fire after a social media influencer accused it of serving “fake" paneer.
Influencer and YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva shared a now-viral video from his visit to Torii, alleging that the restaurant served paneer containing starch, a marker of adulteration, according to his test. In the video, Sarthak performs an iodine tincture test on a piece of paneer served at the restaurant. This test, which is commonly used to detect the presence of starch, turned the paneer black and blue when the iodine touched it.
Reacting to the colour change, Sarthak declared, “Shah Rukh Khan ke restaurant mein paneer nakli tha. Ye dekh ke mere toh hosh udd gaye the." As part of a content series, Sarthak visited several celebrity-owned restaurants in Mumbai including Virat Kohli’s One8 Commune, Shilpa Shetty’s Bastian and Bobby Deol’s Someplace Else to examine the quality of the paneer being served.
Using the same iodine test, none of the paneer samples from those outlets turned black, suggesting the absence of starch. The video triggered a buzz online, prompting Torii to respond. Commenting on the video, the restaurant wrote: “The iodine test reflects the presence of starch, not the authenticity of the paneer.
As the dish contains soy-based ingredients, this reaction is expected. We stand by the purity of our paneer and the integrity of our ingredients at Torii." Sarthak, while maintaining a cheeky tone, replied, “So am I banned now?😵💫 btw ur food is amazing 👀" Dr Kiran Soni, head of the Department of Nutrition and Health at Yatharth Hospital, Greater Noida, explained that while the iodine tincture test can detect starch, it doesn’t necessarily confirm whether paneer is fake.
“Since pure paneer is made from milk proteins and does not naturally contain starch, an iodine test that results in a colour change could indicate the presence of synthetic or adulterated paneer," she said in an earlier interview with HT Lifestyle. However, Dr Soni also noted that commercial paneer producers sometimes add starch to enhance texture or weight. Moreover, batter coating or soy-based ingredients could also skew the iodine test results.
“A dark colour reaction does not automatically mean the paneer is entirely artificial, it could simply be mixed with starch," she clarified..
