Saransh Goila

Some Lesser Known Facts About Saransh Goila

• Saransh Goila grew up in a middle-class family in Delhi.

• His parents named him ‘Saransh’ after film director Mahesh Bhatt‘s 1984 film of the same name.

  

• Saransh began cooking at the age of 12. He has often mentioned that watching his mother cook inspired his love for food.

• Goila initially wanted to be an actor, but at 18, he decided to pursue a career as a professional chef.

  

• Saransh Goila specialises in Indian cuisine.

• Saransh later moved from Delhi to Mumbai and struggled to find authentic butter chicken. This pushed him to create his version of the dish.

• While working on the recipe, Saransh Goila perfected his own version, which he named ‘Goila Butter Chicken’. It soon became hugely popular at his takeaway outlet in Andheri, Mumbai.

• ‘Goila Butter Chicken’ soon got a lot of praise from food lovers, locals, Bollywood actors, television stars, and even chefs, including Sanjeev Kapoor.

• Saransh worked as a kitchen executive at The Leela Palace in Bengaluru from July 2008 to May 2009. During this period, he trained under top chefs to gain the skills needed to run a specialised kitchen in a year.

• In 2011, Saransh participated in the cooking game show ‘Food Food Maha Challenge,’ hosted and judged by chef Sanjeev Kapoor and actor Madhuri Dixit. He won the show and earned the title of ‘India’s first SuperChef.’

  

• In 2012, Saransh Goila hosted ‘Roti Rasta aur India,’ a food travel show on the Food Food channel. He travelled 20,000 km across India in 100 days, exploring rural cuisines, meeting local families, and cooking meals on the road.

  

• In June 2012, he started working as a part-time television presenter with Zee Entertainment in Maharashtra.

• Saransh Goila worked as a chef consultant for the Food Food channel from December 2012 to June 2015. He served as the onboard food editor, responsible for developing, editing, and styling food content for India’s first 24-hour food channel, which was previously known as ‘Zee Khana Khazana.’

• He served as the brand ambassador for Bergner, an Austrian kitchenware brand, in Mumbai from January 2013 to January 2014.

  

• Saransh appeared as a professional chef on Sony Entertainment Television’s show ‘Sanjeev Kapoor ke Kitchen Khiladi’ (2013-2015). The show featured fun cooking battles between home cooks and professional chefs.

  

• In 2014, he hosted ‘The Spice Traveller,’ a food travel web series on his self-titled YouTube channel, where he explored the different food cultures of Great Britain.

  

• In January 2015, Saransh Goila launched Sadak Chef as his brand to express his passion for street food and culinary exploration.

• Through ‘ Sadak Chef,’ he shares recipes, travel stories, and insights while travelling across India to document and celebrate the country’s rich street food culture.

• In July 2015, Saransh authored ‘India on My Platter,’ a cookbook and travel memoir that documents his culinary journey across India through local recipes, food stories, and regional cooking experiences.

  

• In January 2016, Saransh joined Marico Limited in Mumbai as a chef consultant. He worked on representing Saffola oats and oil and helped to expand their product range until July 2018.

• In March 2016, Saransh Goila co-founded ‘Goila Butter Chicken,’ a part-time delivery and takeaway venture in Mumbai that serves his signature butter chicken along with a few regional dishes inspired by his culinary travels.

  

• In 2017, Saransh met marketing executive Divya Rao at Miss Malini during a Goila Butter Chicken food event, where he prepared a ghee-free rajma chawal for her on request, as she was the only vegan in the team.

• Saransh later went to meet Divya, as he was curious about the person who had requested a vegan meal. They ended up chatting about London and travel, and despite their different food choices, they instantly connected and became close friends.

• Over the next six months, Saransh and Divya grew closer as friends. On a road trip to Vangiri, Tamil Nadu, they watched a meteor shower together. It was then that Saransh hoped Divya would notice his feelings, and she did.

• Divya was initially unsure about dating a chef due to her vegan lifestyle, but their strong connection overcame that. After six months of friendship, they began dating in December 2017.

• In 2018, Saransh Goila appeared as a guest judge on an episode of Network 10’s MasterChef Australia Season 10, where his signature butter chicken was featured as the dish for a pressure test challenge.

  

• That same year, Goila launched ‘Run to Eat,’ a food travel series where he combined his love for running with exploring local cuisines across the world, including countries like Singapore and Australia.

• Saransh Goila is an avid animal lover and has two cats, Rumi and Skittles, as pets.

  

• He consumes alcohol occasionally.

  

• In June 2025, Saransh proposed to Divya on a quiet stone bridge in Lower Slaughter, Cotswolds, England. He planned it with a photographer named Poppy Carter and others.