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Kikli Delhi: Chef Amninder Sandhu's Love Letter to Punjab There's something to be said about a restaurant that refuses to take shortcuts. In an age where 'authentic' has become the most overused and meaningless word in the culinary lexicon, Chef Amninder Sandhu has done something rather remarkable with Kikli, her Punjabi restaurant in Connaught Place. She's gone back to the source. The name itself tells you this isn't your average butter chicken dispensary. Kikli is a traditional Punjabi folk dance—two people spinning in tandem, arms interlocked, whirling faster and faster until the world becomes a blur. It's exhilarating, slightly dangerous, and decidedly not for the faint-hearted. Much like Sandhu's approach to this restaurant. A Space That Breathes Punjab Walk into Kikli and you're immediately struck by the scale of it. This is no cramped dining room with tables squeezed together. The massive space features a central courtyard with large trees—a deliberate nod to the courtyards of Punjab where families gather, where life happens. Custom tiles echo phulkari motifs, those vibrant embroidered patterns that are synonymous with Punjabi culture. Rustic chairs bring the unpretentious charm of a dhaba, while colourful walls adorned with stucco peacocks—chowk-poorana mudwork, to use the proper term—recreate the wall art you'd find in Punjab's villages. It's not cosplay. It's context. The Research Project Here's where Sandhu's project becomes truly interesting. Rather than relying on family recipes or cookbook research, she embarked on what can only be described as a culinary anthropological expedition. For over a year, she traveled through Punjab—Bhatinda, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Amritsar, and the villages in between. She didn't just eat; she watched, learned, and most importantly, listened. It was in Dyalpura Bhai Ka, at a farm in this modest village, that Sandhu discovered the hara—a traditional cooking setup using cow-dung fire with a closed chamber that circulates smoke. This centuries-old technique lends a distinctive flavour to dals, chana, and saag, those dishes that define Punjabi cooking and demand patience.

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This post was published on 19th October, 2025 by Rahul on his Instagram handle "@rahulprabhakar (Rahul Prabhakar)". Rahul has total 65.1K followers on Instagram and has a total of 2.3K post. Rahul receives an average engagement rate of % per post on Instagram. This post has received 42 comments which are greater than the average comments that Rahul gets. Overall the engagement rate for this post was than the average for the profile.