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Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
Copyright © 2025 Foodies Only
7 min
28/01/2026
When it comes to food, India is quick to adapt. Especially if it’s loaded with masalas and spices, simmering in flavourful curries, or stretched and baked like many of our flatbreads. However, when sushi and pasta came knocking, the adaptation wasn’t as easy. It took some clever hacks, sourcing, and the changing spending habits of Indians for them to settle within the likes of parathas, butter chicken and naan.
Pasta and sushi did not come to India the way the likes of say biryani or malai kofta did. The former arrived in India; the latter were born here. It all started with globalisation, as the ‘American dream’ became more accessible. Soon enough, America wasn’t the only land that Indians were exploring. It started with pizza, and slowly, pasta and sushi followed suit. However, the challenge was to make the dishes a hit in a country that was not used to foreign cuisines. With some smart adjustments, sourcing, and taste tests, along with the emerging middle class with their disposable incomes, this was made possible.
Throwback to 1991, when India underwent economic liberalisation, marking a watershed moment that changed the nation's relationship with food. Faced with a severe balance of payments crisis, the government under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh introduced sweeping reforms that slashed import tariffs from 200% to around 40%, ended import quotas, and opened doors to foreign investment. Then, India joined the World Trade Organisation in 1995, further opening its doors for imports to enter the country.
Italian cuisine took a while to enter India, and no surprise, it was an American corporation that paved the way. Pizza entered India in 1996 when Domino's Pizza opened its first store in New Delhi, soon followed by Pizza Hut, which also launched in June 1996. These American chains, ironically, became the primary ambassadors of Italian cuisine in India.
Liberalisation of the markets, leaning towards globalisation, meant Indians vied for foreign products, especially American, be it their candy or pizzas. After all, American ads and content were all over television to create this thirst and pizza was seen more as a slice of American life rather than an Italian dish. Both chains faced a monumental task – building the entire 'pizza' category in a market where the concept was alien to most.
While Pizza Hut positioned itself as a fine dining experience where the ambience mattered as much as the food, Domino's focused on delivery (cue their 30-minute or free motto). The pizza boom also created familiarity with Italian flavours – tomato sauce, cheese, oregano – preparing local taste buds for the broader Italian cuisine.
Unlike pizza's dramatic entrance through multinational chains, pasta seeped into Indian homes more gradually, but not as the homely or finer foods category it belongs to. India already knew noodles, so this one did not struggle too much to adapt to daily life. Further, the busy lifestyles of urban consumers created a demand for convenient food products, with pasta emerging as popular among working professionals and students.
There was a rising number of women also joining the workforce, and with the emergence of nuclear families, cooking time at home was limited. Brands responded with pre-cooked, microwave-ready, and single-serving packs designed for India's changing household structures. The pasta was barely Italian, and recipes from brands mixed Indian spices into it to make it rival the likes of everyday Indian food.
Sushi also followed a similar route as pasta (or rather pizza) to find its way to India. Its global journey began in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s, starting from an exotic ethnic speciality to haute cuisine and eventually a mainstream delicacy. Perhaps not the same, but its popularisation was definitely because of the West.
Tokyo restaurant in New Delhi, opened in 1989 with help from the India Tourism Development Corporation, was India's first Japanese restaurant, created to address complaints from Japanese executives about the dearth of their beloved cuisine. However, it shut down due to a lack of fresh fish and authentic ingredients.
Sakura at The Metropolitan Hotel in New Delhi opened in 2000 and became an early pioneer, introducing Indians to authentic Japanese cuisine when the population was largely unfamiliar with it. Sushi was here to stay from hereon, and from Delhi, more restaurants started opening up in every city, to others as Mumbai and Bangalore. It was initially catering to expatriates and well-travelled Indians, but today it is a favoured dish among an ever-growing majority.
The 1991 reforms triggered the evolution of India's middle class as they started dominating the workforce with more jobs in cities and towns, which increased access to consumer goods and credit. This expanding demographic became the influencers in being the driver as well as the beneficiary behind changing tastes.
As the middle class grew more affluent, consumers gained disposable income to explore diverse food options, leading to demand for variety and quality beyond traditional dishes. Chains like Café Coffee Day and Barista emerged, offering affordable spaces where young adults could experiment with new tastes. Food delivery platforms like Swiggy and Zomato also popped up, making it easier than ever to sample global cuisines from home.
Both pasta and sushi underwent significant localisation to succeed in India. Filipino sushi chefs played crucial roles as cultural intermediaries in Delhi, adapting dishes to local tastes through practices like torching sushi platters and smoking sushi rolls in glass jars.
The introduction of vegetarian sushi proved particularly significant, as many of those with disposable incomes wanted vegetarian fare, and even those with non-vegetarian palates did not find raw fish to be palatable. With vegetarian options featuring paneer, avocado, and local vegetables, sushi became accessible to a wider population.
Domino's and Pizza Hut also had to make several changes to succeed, with the most significant being menu modifications suitable for Indian audiences. The chains focused on creating products adapted to different regions and incorporating local tastes (paneer, specific sauces, and customisations).
Both cuisines have transcended their origins to become integral parts of urban Indian food culture. Today's reality differs starkly from the pre-1991 era. Exclusive online delivery services like Sushi and More operate multiple outlets across Mumbai, Delhi, and Gurugram, catering to Indian weddings with thousands of guests, running sushi-cooking courses, and delivering to celebrities' homes.
New Japanese restaurants, including Tsubaki, Taki-Taki, and Wakai in Mumbai; Harajuku Cafe and Mensho Tokyo in New Delhi; and new Izumi and Kofuku outlets in Goa, have opened within a single year, proving this is no fad.
The transformation is complete. Sushi and pasta are no longer foreign curiosities in India – they are weeknight dinners, birthday party orders, and college hostel staples. A generation of Indians has grown up never knowing a time when these foods were unavailable or exotic.