Hansal Mehta’s Khana Dil Se Episode 2 Brings The Timeless Story Of Nihari To The Table

After opening with Gujarat's iconic Undhiyu, Khana Dil Se returns with Episode 02, a soulful exploration of Nihari, one of the subcontinent's most celebrated slow-cooked dishes.

Rooted in the lanes of Shahjahanabad, shaped by the royal kitchens of Awadh, and carried across borders through generations, Nihari is more than a recipe, it is history served in a bowl. From coal fires lit after Fajar namaaz to modern-day home kitchens, the episode traces how this deeply comforting dish continues to bring people together across cultures and memories.

In this episode, creator Hansal Mehta and Chef Shamsher Ahmed revisit Nihari's rich culinary legacy while making the dish accessible for contemporary homes, whether prepared traditionally with mutton or through a vegetarian adaptation, paired with warm Khamiri Roti.

Blending cinematic storytelling with culinary heritage, Khana Dil Se continues to celebrate India's regional food traditions not as recipes alone, but as living emotional archives passed through generations.

Created by Hansal Mehta in collaboration with Chef Shamsher Ahmed, the series is presented by JioMart, official quick commerce partner.

During the announcement of the show, Hansal Mehta and Vijay Subramaniam commented, Hansal Mehta said, "Food is memory. When you cook something from another culture, you're not just following a recipe, you're stepping into a piece of someone else's life. A recipe carries within it an entire history: of land, of migration, of a grandmother's hands. These are probably humanity's most durable cultural documents, passed down through generations, across borders, surviving when almost nothing else does. That's what makes food such an honest way to look at people and who they really are. With Khana Dil Se, we want to use every tool available to us, including AI, to trace those stories before they disappear."

Vijay Subramaniam, Founder and Group CEO of Collective Artists Network, said, "At Collective, we've always believed that storytelling evolves with the tools available to us. India's culinary traditions are among the richest cultural archives in the world, yet so many of these stories remain undocumented. Khana Dil Se brings together creators, filmmakers, and technologists to surface those stories in a way that hasn't been attempted before."

Produced by Vijay Subramaniam and Sahil Saigal, with AI technology and production by Galleri5, distribution and marketing by Terribly Tiny Tales, Khana Dil Se is a Collective Studios and True Story Films production.