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Preparing and showcasing rice-based foreign dishes out of indigenous Indian rice varieties have attracted lots of traction at the ongoing two-day mega Bharat International Rice Conference 2025, being held at the Bharat Mandapam.
Ritika Gill, Head Chef, Indian Federation of Culinary Association, talking to ANI from the live cooking counter set up at the conference venue, said, "We are here, we are cooking since yesterday. We are doing international cuisine, but with our Indian rice." She said they have prepared sushi, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai dishes, using Indian rice varieties. "We are using our own product from Meghalaya, from Punjab ,from everywhere. (we are) using our product," she explained. Chef Gill praised the Bharat International Rice Conference, terming it "a beautiful platform to showcase our Indian rice" and said it will 100% help boost India's rice exports. While speaking to ANI, she was preparing kheer, a very simple sweet dish made out of rice. "I'm using this Buddha Ratna's Kala Namak rice and it has come out beautifully and I would encourage that we should promote our own rice from India and this platform will be, is a very good platform for export also and we are hoping for the best that our Indian products is everywhere available abroad," she hoped. The live counter set up at BIRC 2025 is designed to support the indigenous varieties available in India. "We have a vast variety (of rice) here and we should promote. And what we are doing here, this only, that we are cooking international cuisine, but with Indian rice. So delegates are actually very happy to try Indian rice, but their dish. So we are very happy to do that here," she added. By showcasing a live demo, she said they aim to attract foreigners. "If you see here also, there are a lot of -- around 70 to 80 countries participating -- and the delegates are here from almost all parts of the world and they are trying (our rice dishes). This counter is only for them to taste our Indian rice," Chef Gill said, pointing to the foreign visitors who were around the counter. Organised under the institutional support of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, other government and industry-specific bodies, the two-day conference brought together global buyers, exporters, policymakers, and technology leaders to deliberate on the future of India's rice trade and agricultural innovation. The mega rice conference aims to tap into the global rice trade worth Rs 1.8 lakh crore, organisers have said. Deals close to Rs 25,000 crore are likely to be signed, the organiser reiterated. Representatives from at least 80 countries joined the meeting. (ANI)
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